The Big Picture

May December is a comedy drama that challenges expectations and keeps viewers guessing throughout the film. Director Todd Haynes and actor Charles Melton discuss their experiences working on the film and the challenges they faced during the tight shooting schedule. Haynes and Melton also talk about the unpredictability of the script and what drew them to the project.

Todd Haynes, the filmmaker behind Carol and Velvet Goldmine, is back with a dark comedy drama that tells an unexpected story. In Netflix’s May December the tone is as unpredictable as its script, which, the director tells Collider’s Steve Weintraub, “walks you around your expectations” and puts you “at odds with your own presumptions” as the story unfolds.

Loosely based on a real case, May December enlists the talents of Academy Award-winners Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore to tell the story of actress Elizabeth Barry (Portman) and her time spent with convicted rapist, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore), who’s currently residing with and raising children with her victim, Joe Yoo, played by Charles Melton. In order to prepare for her role as Atherton-Yoo, Elizabeth spends time with Gracie, studying her mannerisms, her temperament, and her life to better understand how to get into her head. While learning about this family unit, Gracie and Joe begin to see the cracks in their controversial relationship.

While discussing the movie, Haynes and Melton share what it was like exploring Samy Burch’s first feature-length screenplay, and how even they couldn’t pin down the two leads. Melton shares the connection he feels with his character, Joe, and how he discovered an approach to acting that he enjoys while on set. Haynes reveals which May December scene he was most anxious about filming after reading the script, working on a tight, 23-day schedule, and recalls why Carol was the film that went through the most transformation in the editing room. You can watch the interview in the video above, or you can read the full transcript below.

May December Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past. Release Date December 1, 2023 Director Todd Haynes Cast Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Andrea Frankle, Charles Melton Rating R Runtime 117 minutes Main Genre Drama

COLLIDER: An individual question to start things off for each of you. I’m gonna start with you, [Todd]. I’m a big fan of your work. Of the films you’ve made, which film changed the most in the editing room in ways you didn’t expect going in?

TODD HAYNES: That’s such an interesting question. That’s a really interesting question because there are films I’ve made that have very complex editorial structures, like my Bob Dylan biopic, I’m Not There, for instance, or Velvet Goldmine. Both of those are music-driven, popular artist-driven stories. But I would say in some ways, Carol, I think, underwent some transformative decision-making in the editing room. It was just too big and long a film, and it sprawled in some different directions. We were happy with all the components, but you have to make tough choices sometimes and eliminate things, and sort of sear into what the real core of the story is, and that happened in the process of cutting Carol.

Image via The Weinstein Company

Individual question for you, [Charles]. You are so good in this role. It’s such a great role. So, I guess the big question is how much did you pay Todd to be in it?

CHARLES MELTON: So, I’ve been stalking Todd for about 10 years now…

HAYNES: Charles, do we have to get into this?

MELTON: No, no, no, no. [Whispers] A lot of money. A lot of money.

Being serious though, this is a great role for you. How much did you really want this one?

MELTON: When I read Samy’s script, I immediately felt this connection to Joe, who this man was, his feelings. Though our experiences are different, I found a lot of parallels in my own life. To have this opportunity, it was a six-week process of auditioning and each day, it wasn’t like, “I gotta book this job,” it was more like just discovering the way I wanted to work and that I had this opportunity to work like this. And just diving into who this man was and what he represented and this responsibility that he had at such a young age that he carried to the age of 36, and this repressed human who kind of starts asking himself the question that he’s never really had the chance to ask, as we see in the movie.

‘May December’ Will Keep You Guessing Until the Third Act

One of the things that I really dug about this film, one of the many things, is that I watch a lot of movies, and often I can predict what the next scene is gonna be and where it’s all going. This script has none of that. I really had no idea where it was ultimately gonna go. Can you talk about that aspect of the script, that it keeps you guessing at all times, and it never judges anyone in the film?

HAYNES: That’s such an interesting question. I felt the same way when I read it. There’s a treacherousness about how it walks you around your expectations, I think. You begin to be at odds with your own presumptions about one character or another. Neither of the central female characters are ever redeemed in the film, and you keep shifting your sense of reliability or trust in one versus the other. But what’s so lovely about the way it’s structured is that it’s the third act that opens up this space for Charles’ character Joe to really find the focus of the film, but it happens with such a different kind of language and it’s very delicate and it’s very tender and the rest of the film hasn’t really been that way. So, that third act is really something that the film earns.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

MELTON: Everything Todd said.

For both of you, you’re looking at the schedule, you see what you gotta do, you have a limited time frame. What’s the day that you had circled as to, “I cannot wait to film this,” or, “How are we gonna film this?”

MELTON: For me, it was when Todd called me and I found out I booked the role of Joe. I was like, “I can’t wait.” Todd and I hung out. I went to Savannah a bit earlier to see him. I saw you in Portland or LA before that too. I don’t know. I just dove right in, and yeah, those 23 days – just life-changing. The way Todd, the director he is, the human he is, and everybody just were at the top of their game, it was just so collaborative and so intimate and so magical, the whole process.

Image via Netflix

HAYNES: There’re so many scenes I was looking forward to actually getting into once we saw how the language was being played out, the camera that holds and lets actors play within the frame, and the mirror scenes where the actors are playing directly to the lens of the camera. But it is, I would have to say, Elizabeth’s monologue that happens toward the end of the film, which is one of the simplest scenes to shoot, but one of the most important scenes, dramatically, in the film. The whole idea of the static camera around the mirror originated when I first read that scene and how I wanted to shoot it. But that scene came on the second to the last day of our shoot, so we built up to the scenes in the end, and that was the second to the last day. It was just a remarkable, inexplicable thing to watch that actor, Natalie Portman, create.

Filming ‘May December’ in 23 Days

Yeah, when I was watching it, I was wondering how, because that’s a performance and you need to be emotionally ready to deliver that. I’m sure she knew that was coming on that day.

HAYNES: I mean, every day was loaded because it was such a tight schedule. Every day was like, “Okay, here we go! We need to get through it.” [Laughs] It was a challenge, but it just felt like we were on it together. Everybody had a role to play. Everybody was essential to the process of succeeding, so everybody felt needed. I think that shared the sense that we were all part of it. It was a true collaborative experience.

May December is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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