Vili Fualaau was abused by Mary Kay Letourneau when he was just 12 years old and she was 34. She went to prison after pleading guilty of rape, but during her sentencing, she gave birth to Vili’s daughter. Then she gave birth to their second child, another daughter, in prison. Vili and Mary Kay later married when she got out of prison, and then they divorced in 2019. Mary Kay died in 2020. Vili still lives in Seattle and he’s still involved in his elder daughters’ lives and he recently welcomed a third daughter with a new partner. People have been talking a lot about Vili and Mary Kay in recent months because of Todd Haynes’ May December. May December is not a fictionalized version of Vili and Mary Kay’s story, but there are similarities between Vili and Mary Kay and the fictional couple played by Charles Melton and Julianne Moore. The script even “borrowed” Mary Kay’s “who was the boss” line from an interview. But, as I said, the film is not trying to be a dramatization of Vili and Mary Kay’s story. But Vili is still hurt that the film was made without consulting him.
In Todd Haynes‘ May December, Natalie Portman plays Elizabeth Berry, an actress obsessively researching a married couple with a scandalous past. The similarities between the couple’s story and the Mary Kay Letourneau case — which May December screenwriter Samy Burch has cited as her inspiration — are striking. But in an ironic twist, no one involved in the Netflix-produced May December has ever reached out to Vili Fualaau, who serves as the inspiration for Charles Melton‘s Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of Joe Yoo.
Fualaau has seen May December and came away deeply dismayed at what he feels is yet another example of Hollywood and the media exploiting his story and pain. What he can’t understand most is why he was never once consulted by the movie’s director, its screenwriter nor the actor — an awards season favorite — who plays a character so clearly based on him.
“I’m still alive and well,” says Fualaau, now 40 and still living in the Seattle area, where the scandal unfolded. “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 adds.
Letourneau died from cancer in 2020, as Fualaau sat at her bedside. Two years later, Fualaau fathered a third child from a new relationship. In September, he learned one of his two daughters with Letourneau, Georgia, is pregnant, setting the stage for him to become a grandfather. His story has indeed been a saga, and Fualaau is not opposed to the idea of someone making a thoughtful movie about his life. But May December is not it, he feels.
“I love movies — good movies,” he says. “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],” Fualaau adds.
My take: Vili can feel however he wants to feel about it. He makes solid points and it’s clear that Haynes, Samy Burch and Charles Melton all drew from Vili as an inspiration for that character. In retrospect, maybe they should have contacted him. But… May December is just a straight drama, and it’s not claiming to be ripped from the headlines or based on Vili’s story. Dramatists can find inspiration in real life events and make fictional art inspired by real life events. It’s also clear that Todd Haynes and Samy Burch wanted to frame this story through the actress doing research, and say what you will, but Julianne Moore’s performance is singularly her own, she’s not doing a Mary Kay impression or whatever.
IG courtesy of THR, additional photos courtesy of Netflix.
