Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman react after Vili Fualaau says he was 'offended' by 'May December'
After Mary Kay Letourneau’s ex-husband Vili Fualaau said he was “offended” that director Todd Haynes never reached out to him when filming the Netflix drama “May December,” the film's stars are speaking out.
The movie stars Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry, an actor researching the scandalous past of a married couple, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe Yoo (Charlie Melton), whose relationship began when Gracie, then in her 30s, sexually abused Joe, then 13.
Haynes previously acknowledged to TODAY.com that the movie, written by screenwriter Samy Burch, was inspired by Letourneau and Fualaau’s story.
At the 2024 Golden Globes on Jan. 7, Moore reacted to Fualaau’s comments while chatting with “Entertainment Tonight” host Nischelle Turner.
“Aw, I’m very sorry that he feels that way,” Moore said. “I mean, Todd was always very clear when we were working on this movie that this was an original story, this was a story about these characters. So that’s how we looked at it, too. This was our document, we created these characters from the page and together.”
In a separate interview from the Globes red carpet, Portman also told "Entertainment Tonight" that she was “so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s not based on them,” Portman said. “Obviously their story influenced the culture that we all grew up in and influenced the idea. But it’s fictional characters that are really brought to life by Julianne Moore and Charles Melton so beautifully, and yeah, it’s its own story. It’s not meant to be a biopic.”
Letourneau and Fualaau made headlines in the 1990s with their relationship, which began in 1996 when 34-year-old Letourneau, a married Seattle schoolteacher with four kids, raped Fualaau, who was then her 12-year-old student.
Letourneau pleaded guilty to child rape in 1997 and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, according to the Associated Press. At the time she was convicted, she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
Letourneau was granted parole in 1998 and barred from contacting Fualaau. But the pair were found together again shortly after her release. Letourneau was forced to return to prison, where she served the remainder of her sentence.
Just like with Gracie and Joe in "May December," who viewers meet 20 years into their relationship, Letourneau gave birth to her first child with Fualaau, daughter Audrey, while she was in prison. (The couple later welcomed a second daughter, Georgia, in 1998 while Letourneau was behind bars, making Fualaau a dad of two at 15.)
Read on to learn what Fualaau thinks of "May December" and what his life is like now.
Fualaau wishes the director of 'May December' had contacted him rather than make a ‘ripoff’ of his life
Noting the many similarities between "May December" and his relationship with Letourneau, Fualaau, now 40, told The Hollywood Reporter that he wished "May December" director Todd Haynes had contacted him to get a fuller picture.
“I’m still alive and well,” said Fualaau. “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 added.
Are Fualaau and Letourneau still together?
Fualaau and Letourneau married in 2005 after welcoming two daughters, Audrey and Georgia, together.
The pair defended their love story in interviews featured in a A&E documentary about their marriage.
They officially separated in 2019.
Letourneau died from stage 4 colon cancer in July 2020 at age 58 with Fualaau at her bedside, Letourneau's attorney David Gehrke told TODAY at the time.
“Vili moved back from California, gave up his life there, and for the last two months of Mary’s life, he stood by her 24/7 taking care of her,” Gehrke revealed. “So yes, they were divorced and they had their spats, but they were always in love with each other.”
Gehrke added, “(Fualaau) knew that this was Mary’s end coming, fast moving, and for her sake and the family’s sake, and for his sake, he came back up and was with her, and it meant the world to her. And I know it meant the world to Vili, as painful as it was.”
Fualaau recounted his final moments with Letourneau
Shortly after his ex-wife's death, Fualaau recounted the former couple's final moments together during a September 2020 episode of “The Dr. Oz Show.”
“I didn’t see her chest moving, and I thought it, maybe, it was like one of those pauses she has and then she’ll come back. She’ll take a deep breath, and she’s gonna come back,” he recalled. “I would count in between those pauses, and it was just the longest count that I had.”
“And I turned off her breathing machine just to hear if she was breathing just really soft, and at that moment, I had to, you know, tell the kids that they need to call the rest of the siblings to come and say their goodbyes. This is it,” he added.
Fualaau said he would 'seek some help' if he were attracted to a minor
During the same episode of "The Dr. Oz Show," host Mehmet Oz asked Fualaau what he would do if he found himself attracted to a minor as Letourneau was to him.
“I’d probably go and seek some help,” Fualaau responded. “I couldn’t look at a 13-year-old and be attracted to that because it’s just not in my brain. It’s nothing that I’m attracted to. I mean, we all have our preferences, and that’s just not something that I would go towards.”
Still, Fualaau said he never considered Letourneau a "pedophile."
"There was no perversion," he explained, noting that Letourneau had never been attracted to other minors.
"There's nothing I can say to people who don't care to listen and don't care to learn," added Fualaau. "That is my wife and she is my best friend and we had our kids together and we did get married and we had a whole life together."
What is Fualaau's life like now?
In 2022, Fualaau became a dad again when he welcomed a third child while in another relationship, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He learned in September 2023 that his daughter Georgia was pregnant with her first child, and he was about to become a grandfather.
Fualaau told "THR" he would consider the idea of someone working with him to make a more accurate movie about his life than what is depicted in "May December."
"I love movies — good movies,” he said “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.
“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),” he added.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
