14 things you probably didn't know about Charles Melton, the breakout star of 'May December'

Melton has said in numerous interviews that he used to walk dogs to make money after moving to Los Angeles for an acting career.

He told the Los Angeles Times that he became a top-rated employee on a dog-walking app called Wag and walked over 300 dogs in two months.

In an "Actually Me" GQ YouTube video that was published in 2020, Melton said that he still had the app and customers still send him requests to walk their dogs.

"It boosts my morale sometimes on lonely days," Melton added. "I'll have like five notifications on my phone all from like dog requests, that's it. Not my mom, nothing."

Melton has two younger sisters, Tammie and Patricia, who he has posted about several times on Instagram.

In July, Melton shared a birthday post when Tammie turned 25, captioning the picture slideshow: "to the icon, happy birthday bb sis @tammieymelton ???? ily."

In another post in May, Melton also thanked Tammie for being by his side during his "May December" journey and going with him to his first Cannes Film Festival.

"To my incredible sister @tammieymelton who has been such a rock for me on this journey and during the filming of #maydecember. i'm so grateful to have you by my side," he wrote.

Over the last several years, Melton has been working with Special Olympics, an organization that aims to combat discrimination against intellectual disabilities through sports and education.

In September 2018, Melton first shared on Instagram that he visited Warren High School in Downey, California where he got to meet students from the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools (UCS) program for the first time.

People reported that Melton was there to tell the students that they were one of the top five UCS programs in the US, and was struck by their joyful reaction. In 2019, Melton hosted an advanced screening of his film "The Sun Is Also A Star" to UCS students in New York, according to the Special Olympics website.

In 2021, he was named a global ambassador for the Special Olympics organization.

Melton played football for Kansas State University, where he was coached by Bill Snyder, according to Good Morning America. Melton confirmed on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" that his nickname when he played was "The Kamikaze," for the way that he played the game. During his football career, he said that he sustained multiple injuries, including concussions and a broken hand.

Melton would go on to portray football player Reggie Mantle in the CW series "Riverdale."

Melton's mother, Sukyong, is Korean, and moved to the United States from Korea in 1990 after marrying his father Phil, who had been stationed in South Korea.

Melton told Good Morning America that a year after his parents moved to the United States, his father received orders to serve in the Gulf War in 1991 while Sukyong was pregnant with Melton.

"I can't imagine being a woman and coming from a different country to being pregnant with a baby, with me," he told GMA.

"Then spending a year with your in-laws and your sisters-in-law, who you've never met, while your husband is at war for the next year, not knowing if he's gonna come back, and that takes a lot and my mom did that," Melton added.

Melton's father's military occupation took his family around the world, from Juneau, Alaska (where Melton was born), to South Korea, Germany, Texas, and eventually Kansas, where he attended college, per the Los Angeles Times.

Melton said that when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career, his family — including his mother, his Halmoni (maternal grandmother), father, and siblings — supported him. He told GMA that his mother packed him cans of tuna and chicken noodle soup, while his Halmoni gave him assorted nuts and almonds.

Melton and his mother are still close.

"I wouldn't change my relationship with my mother for anything — like anything," Melton told GMA. "That's my queen."

Before Melton moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career, he modeled for brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Kenneth Cole, and MAC, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Melton is credited for an appearance in the season five "Glee" episode "New New York" in 2014, as well as a two-episode appearance in season five of "American Horror Story" as hotel guest Mr. Wu.

Melton stars in the video as the man who Grande seduces and urges to break up with his girlfriend.

Melton told the Los Angeles Times that he first started to seriously consider acting after hearing a radio advertisement for a program titled the Arts Showcase while he was still in college. He received a callback after attending a reading in Kansas — and then convinced his parents to lend him $3,000 to attend the actual showcase in Florida.

Melton told the LA Times that he turned to Winfrey's advice as he was trying to get started in Los Angeles.

"Oprah said something about doing things with purpose — if you're going to do something, be the best at what you do," he said. "I couldn't just hate walking dogs. I had to love doing it, because in my mind, I was thinking, 'I'll walk dogs and work Chinese takeout for the rest of my life until the day I die so long as I get to do what I'm passionate about.' That's when I realized I was willing to do anything to be an actor."

Melton told In The Know in 2022 that Neo from "The Matrix" was his biggest inspiration.

Melton told the LA Times that after seeing "The Matrix" with his father as a child, he told his dad that he wanted to "be in the movies."

Melton told Vanity Fair that while getting ready for "May December," director Todd Haynes circulated a list of films including "The Graduate" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Melton, however, continuously circled back to "Brokeback Mountain" — specifically Heath Ledger's performance.

"He has this repression, this internal grit that really inspired me," Melton said.