May December actor Charles Melton explains how he got into his character, Joe, by gaining 40 pounds, filming the rooftop scene, and confronting Julianne Moore's character.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 Joe represents the purity and innocence throughout May, December.
00:04 He's a loving father, a loving husband, a provider.
00:08 At times he's so much older than his age, and at times you can really see his adolescence.
00:14 I'm a part of this Facebook group.
00:17 Anyway, I know it sounds really dorky.
00:21 Not at all.
00:23 At a young age, he was given an immense sense of responsibility while being under public
00:29 scrutiny, that really kind of created this adult man-child.
00:36 Throughout the film, we see this arrested development come to the surface through Elizabeth's
00:41 character probing and asking these questions.
00:44 I probably shouldn't have said that.
00:48 You won't tell anyone, will you?
00:52 No worries.
00:53 We're in real time watching Joe as the audience process each and every moment.
00:59 There's so much power in quietness and subtlety.
01:02 I think about some of my favorite performances in "The Move for Love" by Wong Kar-Wai, Tony
01:08 Leung, and what he does.
01:09 He says so little, but it says so much throughout the film.
01:12 Heath Ledger and Brokeback Mountain just broke my heart.
01:15 The experience different than Joe's, but the feeling of this internal weight and repressing
01:20 that was really tragic, but also so beautiful.
01:25 When it came to the physicality of Joe and what he ended up looking like, I probably
01:29 put on close to 40 pounds, and that was really natural.
01:33 I really enjoyed eating anything I wanted to eat and as much as I wanted to eat.
01:38 Hey, it's okay.
01:39 You can come out.
01:41 That brief scene was one of the hardest days of filming for me.
01:44 I learned so much that day about Joe.
01:48 It was this constant evolution of understanding Joe.
01:54 We did that take 14 times, and after the fourth take, I think everybody was ready to move
01:59 on.
02:00 I think they had it, but I just kept on wanting to go.
02:04 Bad things, they happen, and we do bad things also.
02:10 My heart was breaking for Joe in between those takes.
02:12 I was sobbing and crying, and I just felt so sad and bad for Joe.
02:18 It's so heartbreaking when he's like, "I don't know if I'm creating a bad memory for
02:23 you in real time or if we're connecting."
02:25 For him to have that kind of awareness is so sad in that moment.
02:30 I still think about that scene and think, "I got one more take in me."
02:33 What if I wasn't ready to be making those kinds of decisions?
02:38 He asked that question I think the audience asked the whole time through.
02:43 "Why doesn't Joe talk about this?"
02:44 And that question, he musters the courage to ask her and to see the courage he has while
02:51 doing that, but also the fear and the pent-up just not knowing how to say these things that
02:57 are really formulating into words for the first time.
03:00 It was really sacred and magical that day.
03:03 What if I was too young?
03:07 That day was so ... You could hear a pin drop on the carpet.
03:11 I just remember Todd.
03:12 I don't even know if I want to share the notes that he gives me because they're so ... I
03:16 just want to keep that to myself.
03:17 I couldn't have done this without Todd guiding me the whole way through.
03:23 Then it kind of leads to that moment where he's watching his kids graduate.
03:28 Joe seeing what he's worked so hard for in his life to give his kids this life that he
03:33 hasn't experienced.
03:34 And it wasn't tears of sadness.
03:36 It was just tears of joy.
03:38 That's Joe just finally being able to breathe.
03:41 I remember my body even felt different.
03:44 It's a joyful, hopeful moment, especially for Joe.
03:47 And it just all came flooding through me.
03:51 Now that I've broken down Joe, you go watch me December only on Netflix.
03:55 I'm going to be watching you.
03:56 I'm going to be watching you.
03:57 I'm going to be watching you.
03:57 I'm going to be watching you.
03:58 I'm going to be watching you.
03:58 I'm going to be watching you.
03:59 I'm going to be watching you.
03:59 I'm going to be watching you.
04:04 I'm going to be watching you.