LOS ANGELES — A new film generating Oscar buzz is loosely based on a Western Washington story that became a national tabloid sensation.
“May December” draws from the Mary Kay Letourneau case. She was a Burien teacher who made headlines in the 1990’s for pleading guilty to raping one of her 6th grade students. They later married and had two children.
More than a quarter century later, the story inspired the script for “May December,” directed by Oregonian Todd Haynes.
"Friends of mine, very dear friends of mine, beloved, brilliant friends of mine, were kind of obsessed with it. And so it was in the periphery of my awareness,” Haynes said.
But Haynes was drawn more to the script, which takes place 20 years after the crime and wedding. It asks the question: what would a marriage like that look like decades later.
Oscar winner Julianne Moore plays the Mary Kay-like character Gracie, and confirmed she drew from Letourneau to create her performance.
“The movie is inspired by that story, so it's not a depiction. But I did look at it for inspiration and watched some documentary footage and read some about the case, and it's fascinating,” Moore said. "There was a lot of her hyper-femininity that I drew from, and her insistence on romance."
In “May December,” Gracie and her much younger husband Joe live in Savannah, Georgia and are about to become empty nesters. Another “Best Actress” winner, Natalie Portman, plays Elizabeth, an actress set to portray Gracie in a movie.
For research, she begins spending time with the family - but her interest in their history turns into something more complicated.
Portman said playing a role that reflects an actor’s process was fascinating.
"I think it raised a lot of questions and made me think a lot more about those questions like, can we make art that's amoral? Can we depict something that's a crime without endorsing it, without exploiting it? What are the ethics of taking someone's real emotions and real trauma and turning it into art or entertainment?" she said.
In the middle of it all is the victim/husband Joe, who’s stuck in a state of arrested development. Charles Melton, of “Riverdale” fame, gives a heartbreaking performance. He didn’t research Vili Fualaau before filming, and instead chose to rely on the script and director for guidance.
"The set that (Haynes) created and how intimate we all became to tell this story - because every second mattered,” he said.
The entire film was shot in 23 days and many scenes are like master classes in acting – especially when Portman and Moore share the screen.
"I think that there is something that is blissful about those rare moments when you're just in it,” Portman said.
Moore added, "It's like being hypnotized sometimes, you're like 'I don't know why I'm doing this.' It's like it starts to take you over."
The movie raises more questions than answers, by design. It’s an intentionally unsettling depiction of love, marriage, obsession and self-awareness that challenges audiences to reflect on their reactions to what they’re watching.
"This sort of forces you to draw your own conclusions, because nothing is served up to you,” Moore said.
“May December” is rated R and is playing at Landmark Crest Cinema in Shoreline. It begins streaming on Netflix December 1.
Travel and accommodations provided by Netflix.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Email.