May December's Charles Melton Knows This Moment Is 'Bigger Than Me'

"Joe, I believe, is living his story without saying anything. We can see it in his body, the way he moves and the way that he talks."

When you're a young actor who suddenly gets a pivotal role in a big movie with screen legends like Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, it can be life-changing, and that's exactly what's happening to Charles Melton after the release of the Todd Haynes' film May December. "I have a lot of people that I love and trust and [who] speak truth to me, that really kind of grounds me." Inspired by the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, the Washington state sex offender who raped a 12-year-old boy and later married him, Melton plays Joe as the adult husband of the sex offender, named Gracie (Moore) in the film. Portman plays Elizabeth, an actress set to play Gracie in the multilayered movie. Melton says he "came to Joe with empathy and without any sort of judgment. With this sense of caretaking for Joe and his experience." As the film progresses, we see Joe unravel in his slow, quiet way. "Todd plays a lot with mirrors. When we see Joe look at himself for the first time; to me, it's the first time Joe ever [really] sees himself, [the first time he] ever actually looked at himself."

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Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.

How does this moment feel for you?

It feels nice. It feels good. I'm just so grateful. I mean, I just keep on going back to those 23 days of filming, thinking about that experience. What a blessing. It feels so real. I feel like I have a lot of people that I love and trust that love me and speak truth to me, that really kind of grounds me. I work with my sister and she's with me almost 24/7, so she really keeps me humble.

Your character is so pivotal to the story, he is the story, yet has so few lines. Was it difficult navigating that acting dance, doing a lot with so little?

It really just started with Samy [Burch]'s material. And the complete guidance of who Todd Haynes is as a filmmaker. Just a visionary. He's a genius. I find that there are so many forms of storytelling where you can tell a story without saying anything at all. I think about Tony Leung and In the Mood for Love, there's so much pathos there, so much going on that's being communicated and he's not saying one word. Even performances like Heath Ledger and Brokeback Mountain, this internal kind of repressed grid that lives inside of him and how that kind of manifests through the body. That really [helped me be] able to align myself to Joe's story and just focus on the emotional complexities of who this man is, from an internal perspective, that kind of ended up shaping naturally this external kind of perception that we see with his mannerisms or the way he talks or the way his mouth doesn't move.

It's even down to his clothes. He's wearing these dad clothes that feel far too old for the man he is. And they're baggy.

That's April Napier, our costume designer, she's so brilliant. She's so amazing. I remember we spent a few hours during our first fitting and it was so informative of just Joe because we were wearing a bunch of dad clothes and bigger shirts, faded shirts. There's this interesting kind of line, Joe doesn't really know how to dress himself. But maybe he's not dressing himself. Maybe it's Grace who's dressing him. It really just helped him form another layer of the character.

Was it intimidating being on set with such powerhouses as Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Todd Haynes?

I was nervous, but I really went deep into the preparation, and I went deep into the script. I found new ways to discover Joe and who this man was, and I went to a few extremes to really immerse myself. And with Todd, Natalie and Julianne there, I felt so empowered, so invigorated, so trusted. Todd had this singular language with you. Everybody on set, when he's talking to you, it's just you and him. And he's like, you can do anything. And to have Todd Haynes telling you to trust in your instincts. You showed me who Joe is and was just trusting your instincts, then you are more encouraged to leap into that unknown. But Natalie and Julianne, we had so much fun in between takes. It was light, but there was this concentration, this hyper focus that I had to tell this character's story, this hyper concentration to do the work.

Is there a Todd Haynes film that stands out to you?

It's hard to pick with Todd Haynes. I mean, Safe. Masterpiece. I saw Velvet Goldmine for the first time last year, and I watched it six or seven times. There's Carol. Yeah. I feel like every [film] that has Todd Haynes is a masterpiece. Far From Heaven!

What about Joe did you relate to? And in that preparation you mentioned, how did you find him?

A lot of these things are instinctual. So you feel this instinctual feeling before you have this cognitive awareness of what it is that you're drawn to. That's where the preparation comes in. Joe serves as the rock of the family, the provider, the lover, loving father, provides for his family, loves his kids. And it makes me think about my mother. I'm Korean American. I'm first generation on my mom's side, I grew up an Army brat. My father met my mother in Korea. And when my mother first immigrated to the United States, she was pregnant with me in Juneau, Alaska. She was with my grandmother and my dad's three sisters while my dad was away at the Gulf War. Talk about strength. That sense of perseverance, that resilience. I have so much admiration for my mom, she's my hero. Looking at what she was able to do, in turn I could be like, what part of Joe is a part of the strength that this woman has, my mother has? When we were stationed in Germany, a military family always moving from place to place, I remember my dad sat me down when I was 11. He gave me this inspirational talk about taking care of my mom and my two younger sisters, because he was going away to war for a year, the next day, and he talks about integrity, honor, love, kindness, grace, so many things. And thinking about that at a young age—I would not change anything, my dad's my hero as well—but that sense of responsibility of the unknowing made me also think about Joe. The responsibility that he had at the age of 13 of being a father and putting on those shoes that are too big. Joe, I believe is living his story without saying anything. We can see it in his body and the way he moves and the way that he talks. And it's the most truthful when he's caught in between these two extreme characters, in Natalie and Julianne's characters. Gracie and Elizabeth are almost self-effacing in a way they're putting on, that's why that scene when Gracie is putting her face on Elizabeth's face is so incredible. You're just in awe. Joe doesn't know his story, but he's living in his story. It's fascinating when we see Joe, because Todd plays a lot with mirrors, when we see Joe look at himself for the first time, to me, it's the first time Joe ever sees himself, [the first time he] ever actually looking at himself. And going into the responsibility of being a father at such a young age, there's a lot of these roles that Joe had to take on. And a part of his identities are the concoction of his identity. We're all these things, even [him] being an X-ray technician. [An] X-ray technician's job is to take the photo and pass it on to somebody else that will diagnose. That is so symbolic of Joe. Joe can look at a photo, but there's no diagnosis, there's no acknowledgement, there's no asking himself questions. That could be a kind of parallel. But that was just the richness of the material that Samy wrote, and the empowerment, the guidance from Todd Haynes, and just the empowerment from Julianne and Natalie.

Did you ever see him as a victim?

As the person that's going to align himself to this character, in the sense of telling this character story, I really started with Samy's script, and came to Joe with empathy and without any sort of judgment. With this sense of caretaking for Joe, and his experience, and really understanding how he would navigate through that. As far as preparation, working with my coaches [and] script analysis, and I would do therapy as Joe, just really break down the psychology of who this man was and how he created this adaptive adult child in order to survive. Which was very exciting for me.

There's one scene where he's trying to talk with Gracie about what happened, and she refuses to listen. And he's begging for it, like he realizes his adolescence was robbed of him.

Looking at the metaphor of the butterflies and everything, there's different stages; when you look at the stage of the chrysalis, when the caterpillar is formed, if that chrysalis falls or if you touch that chrysalis, you can contaminate that chrysalis. A part of Joe's adolescence was taken from him. He had to adapt to the experience of what happened in his adolescence. And that shaped, in part, his discovery where we find him. For the first time when he's in that room with Gracie, asking the question we as the audience are asking, it's heartbreaking because Joe's not coming in pointing the finger and accusing anyone, he just wants to talk about it, to acknowledge it, to not suppress it any longer. He wants to bring it to the surface and ask, and that's why it's such a heartbreaking scene and he's gaslit by Gracie's character. It was a very heartbreaking scene.

It's almost like Joe can never get what he needs.

That's the thing. We all want to be seen. [It's] not in our control, but to be seen, to be heard. Joe's journey to that is a heartbreaking and beautiful one. And that's when it just brings me to the graduation scene where it's such a joyous and hopeful moment for Joe. It's tears of joy. It's tears of uncertainty. It's tears of his kids graduating. Joe is someone who puts everything before himself. Joe will eat the second plate, the third plate, the fourth plate, the fifth plate of the serving in order to make you feel good, aside from himself feel good. There's this codependency without resentment that Joe has that is so sweet.

And there's the interaction with Natalie's Elizabeth, the intercourse, where he's almost being used again.

We're seeing what happened to Joe, previously with Gracie, happening again as a 30-year-old man with Elizabeth. He's like, earnest. He's like, "Okay, what's next? Now we're in love?" It's so heartbreaking.

What do you think was the hardest part making this movie?

I think the hardest part was leaving Savannah, Georgia, after day 23. And knowing that was the last day. If I could stay with Natalie and Julianne I would. And everybody. It was such a beautiful family. It was it was incredible.

I'm so surprised it only took 23 days to shoot.

That's independent filmmaking for you. There's a shorter amount of time, there's a small budget, and every minute, every second counts.

There have only been two other Asian men to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. How does it feel to have your name in the mix?

I'm proud to be Korean American. And I know my mother is so proud, and my family and Korea are so proud. I understand that. Sometimes in life, the things we do, whether it be for the greater good of art and storytelling, or whatever, we can inspire people and generations of people. I am lucky and grateful to be the son of a white American father, and the son of a Korean mother who immigrated to the United States pregnant with me, who I remember quizzing and studying with when I was 12 years old when she got her citizenship in San Antonio, Texas. So certain things are bigger than me, or the self, you know? I'm grateful.

Speaking of your mother, you're starting a kimchi business with her. When will it be available?

The goal is in 2024, to be a full operation where people can place their orders for kimchi. But, you know, those are business discussions I need to have with my mother [laughs]. It's six generations of kimchi, a Korean kimchi recipe that's just evolved throughout the centuries.