Todd Haynes Talks About The “Troubling And Fascinating” Dynamics of His Awards Contender ‘May December’ And Touches On New Gay Love Story With Joaquin Phoenix
May December, the title of Todd Haynes’s latest drama, reflects the director’s dance card for the year: having opened in Cannes, the Netflix title has been a festival favorite ever since, and will likely hang in there until voting closes after Christmas.
Its two star names, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, have been getting curious audiences through the doors, but what keeps the film playing in everyone’s minds is the moral maze of questions it poses.
Inspired by the real-life case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a Seattle teacher who went to prison for molesting a pupil and then, on release, married him, it stars Portman as Elizabeth Berry, an actress gearing up to play the part of Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore), a cheerful suburban mother with a checkered past, in an upcoming biopic.
But just as important as these two A-listers is newcomer Charles Melton, a young model-turned-actor who plays Joe, Gracie’s husband and the father of their three children.
