May December's Director Kept Julianne Moore's Casting A Secret From Natalie Portman
Todd Haynes' "May December" is a tricky, difficult drama that tells a fictionalized version of the Mary Kay LeTourneau story. Some may recall that LeTourneau, a sixth-grade teacher, was arrested in 1997 for having targeted and statutorily assaulted 12-year-old Vili Fualaau. LeTourneau had two children with Lualaau, and when she was released from prison, the two married. They remained married for 14 years. In "May December," the LeTourneau-inspired character was renamed Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianna Moore), and her much younger husband, 34 at the time of the movie, was renamed Joe Yoo (Charles Melton).
Haynes' film follows a famous actor named Elizabeth Barry (Natalie Portman), who has taken a job playing Gracie in an upcoming drama. Elizabeth spends several weeks observing Gracie, imitating her mannerisms, and interviewing the people in her life. Why, Elizabeth wonders, did Gracie commit her terrible crime? How does Joe feel about it so many years later, still married to his victimizer? And how has their relationship affected the scandalized surrounding community?
"May December" involves a complicated interplay between its two lead actors, with each one seemingly in a state of sizing up the other. There is something of a power struggle, with Gracie insisting that her life illustrates a grand "verboten love story," while Elizabeth, an actor, is in a constant state of analysis, finding out who Gracie really is despite the fiction she lives inside of.
As Moore explained in a video interview with Vanity Fair, she was handed Samy Burch's screenplay by Haynes, who wanted to know if she was interested. Haynes, in turn, received the script from Portman, who wanted to make a film with the celebrated director. Moore was interested in a complex role like Gracie, of course, but she and Haynes kept that to themselves for a moment before telling Portman.
Don't tell Natalie
Moore recalled the journey Burch's screenplay went through on its way to her:
"The script, initially, for 'May December' went to Natalie. And Natalie was the person who sent it to Todd Haynes, who I've made many, many movies with. And Todd right away thought of me for Gracie and said, he wrote me an email saying, 'I'm gonna slip you a script.' Because he didn't want to tell Natalie that I might be interested unless he knew that I was gonna be interested in the script. And I was so excited to get an email like that from him. I was like, 'Wow, yes, yes, I am in!'"
It's worth noting that Portman is one of the producers of "May December," and she was one of the key players involved in assembling the project. It seems, though, that Moore and Haynes briefly squirreled away the script, pretending that it was all theirs. Moore and Haynes have indeed made many, many films together. Moore starred in the excellent 1995 film "Safe," as well as Haynes' Douglas Sirk riff "Far From Heaven" in 2002. She also played a singer in Hayne's Bob Dylan pseudo-biography "I'm Not There" and was one of the main characters of his kid-friendly museums-are-great film "Wonderstruck." They're wonderful collaborators who both bring their A-game to "May December."
Once the actor and director had conspired enough, they went back to their eventual star/producer and the cast was formed. Part of me suspects Portman wanted Moore to play Gracie anyway, but thought it was wiser to contact Haynes first, knowing he would call his muse. However things were arranged, it all worked out.