Charles Melton didn’t hold back while discussing the experience of wearing a prosthetic for a sex scene in May December.
“It was very professional,” Melton, 32, told Variety earlier this month about filming the intimate onscreen moment between him and costar Natalie Portman. “The whole thing. Natalie, [director] Todd [Haynes] and I met to discuss the scene, walking through it and ensuring everybody was comfortable.”
Melton confirmed that he chose to wear a body prosthetic instead of completely exposing himself. “There were a few conversations about the prosthetic, regarding what was realistic and what wasn’t,” he explained.
The process, however, proved to be quite tedious for Melton. “I had to wear that prosthetic for nine hours that day,” he recalled. “I didn’t have anything to drink that morning or the night before. That was an annoying process but still very respectful.”
May December, which started streaming on Netflix in December, has already scored Melton multiple award nominations for his role as Joe.
The movie follows an actress named Elizabeth (Portman) who travels to meet and study the life of Gracie (Julianne Moore), who she is set to play in a project. Gracie’s notorious romance with Joe, who is 23 years her junior, is the subject of the fictional film. (The plot of May December took heavy inspiration from Mary Kay Letourneau’s infamous relationship with her student Vili Fualaau.)
In addition to wearing a prosthetic for the project, Melton also gained 40 pounds, which ultimately scored him the part.
“I’m so grateful Charles Melton came into our consciousness. I didn’t know him from Riverdale. His looks were almost a deterrent,” Haynes told Vulture in September. “I felt that Joe would be a good-looking man, but Charles has that sort of hunkiness and pin-up quality that wasn’t necessarily how I pictured him.”
The director praised Melton for his commitment to the project, saying, “[He did it] to change his chiseled self into something more familiar. A suburban man in this place. There’s such remarkable physicality in the choices he made as an actor. A friend of mine saw a cut of it and he said, ‘Charles moves like a child and an old man, a combination of the two’ — which makes so much sense given his predicament.”
Before May December premiered to critical acclaim, Melton broke down his preparation process, which he referred to as a “complex, compounded, voyeuristic experience” of the human condition.
“I asked my parents what it was like when I left the house, what kind of conversations they had in their own relationship. They said they were very sad,” he told Variety in May. “My mother is Korean, and I’m first generation on my mother’s side. She cooked every meal for me growing up. My dad was really good at letting go — at trusting that this new chapter would work out for the best.”
Melton has already brought home trophies from the Gotham Awards, New York Film Critics Circle and Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his May December role. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe and is considered a potential contender for the Oscars.
May December is currently streaming on Netflix.
