Todd Haynes’s May December has taken Hollywood by storm, but Villi Fualaau didn’t like what he saw when he watched the movie.
Fualaau, 40, told The Hollywood Reporter that no one from the Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman starring film had reached out to him about the project. “I’m still alive and well,” he says. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story.”
While the creative team behind May December have confirmed the Mary Kay Letourneau case played a part in the film, they have also said that it is not solely based on the real-life scandal. But that doesn’t change things for Fualaau. “I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it,” he told THR.
May December follows an actress named Elizabeth (Portman) who goes to research a real-life scandal for an upcoming film. She inserts herself into the lives of Gracie (Moore) and Joe Atherton-Yoo (Charles Melton), now married with children, decades after they were the hottest tabloid news when a 36-year-old Gracie groomed 13-year-old Joe.
In 1997, Letourneau, then 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony second degree rape of a child. Fualaau, her sixth grade student, was 12 at the time. Letourneau served time in prison from 1998-2004, during which she gave birth to two of his children. They married in 2005 and separated in 2019. Letourneau died of cancer in 2020.
The similarities in May December range from the ages that their rapes occurred, the tabloid frenzy to the married lives they end up leading could be ripped from Fualaau’s life. Fualaau told THR that he’s not opposed to having his story told as a fan of film. “I love movies — good movies,” he said. “And I admire ones that capture the essence and complications of real-life events. You know, movies that allow you to see or realize something new every time you watch them.”
While he’s upset about May December, he wants to find the right people to help tell his story. He says, “Those kinds of writers and directors — someone who can do that — would be perfect to work with, because my story is not nearly as simple as this movie [portrays].”
Aside from the buzzy inspiration behind it, May December has been a critical darling this awards season with accolades given to Portman and Moore. But the standout has been Melton, 33, best known for his role on The CW’s Riverdale. He has already taken home a Gotham Award and earned nominations for the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes.
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