Vili Fualaau Says May December Could’ve Been ‘a Masterpiece’

The central figure who inspired May December thinks he should have been contacted during the filmmaking process. “I’m still alive and well,” Fualaau told The Hollywood Reporter on January 4. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a rip-off of my original story.” Both director Todd Haynes and screenwriter Samy Burch have cited the case of the late Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau as a starting point, but that didn’t translate into a collaborative process with the film’s real-life counterpart. For Fualaau, his story began at 12, when Letourneau, his 34-year-old teacher, first victimized him in 1996. She had two of their children behind bars while serving time for child-rape charges. They married upon her release and separated in 2019. The following year, Letourneau died from cancer. May December follows a similar trajectory, even down to the racial dynamics. Charles Melton plays Fualaau’s onscreen facsimile, who married Julianne Moore’s character, the woman who seduced him when he was just 13 and she was 36.

“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,” Fualaau said. He doesn’t take issue with adaptations of his story — just stories that oversimplify his reality. “I love movies — good movies,” he explained. “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.” He added, “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].” May December is all about an actress (Natalie Portman) embedding herself in a scandal-ridden family to pilfer their story. You can’t deny it’s funny that Fualaau didn’t get the same opportunity.

• [the hollywood reporter]

Related

• What Do Fiction Writers Owe Their IRL Inspiration?
• Todd Haynes’s May December Is a Deeply Uncomfortable Movie
• Todd Haynes Plays the Superego
• May December May Cause Internet Brain