Warning: Discussion of child grooming and rape.
The man in the case that partially inspired May December, Vili Fualaau, just criticized the Netflix movie in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
Vili, now 40, was 12 when he was raped by 34-year-old Mary Kay Letourneau. Like in the movie, his first child was born while she was in prison. They ultimately split shortly before Mary Kay died in 2020, with Vili by her side.
Writer Samy Burch confirmed to AwardsWatch that the case and “tabloid culture” around it was inspired by Letourneau, but that “all the details were fictional.” Of course, there are many similarities between the real story and the May December version, and Julianne Moore ended up watching an A&E documentary on the case while preparing for her role.
“I’m still alive and well,” Vili began. “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.”
“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 continued.
In fact, Vili said that he wasn’t opposed to the idea of someone making a movie based on his life. “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.”
Ultimately, Vili felt that the movie was exploitation and that his “story is not nearly as simple as this movie.”
Representatives for Charles Melton, Todd Haynes, and Netflix did not respond to the Hollywood Reporter’s request for comment — but, given the amount of awards buzz over Charles’s performance, we’ll let you know if he addresses it over the coming weeks.
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