Vili Fualaau is not a fan of the movie based loosely on his life.
Vili Fualaau is speaking out against May December. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mary Kay Letourneau's ex-husband reveals why he's offended by the film that's loosely based off of his life.
"I'm still alive and well. 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," he says. "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."
"I love movies -- good movies. 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," Fualaau adds. "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]."
In May December, Natalie Portman plays Elizabeth Berry, an actress researching the past of married couple Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton), who met when Gracie seduced Joe when he was 13. During the movie, Joe fathers children with his female abuser, whom he eventually marries. The film also features actual quotes from Letourneau and Fualaau's 2018 interview.
In real life, Fualaau, who, like Joe, is Asian/Pacific Islander, was 12 when Letourneau, his teacher, victimized him. In 1997, Letourneau pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Letourneau illegally continued her relationship with Fualaau, giving birth to two children with him by the time he was 15. Fualaau and Letourneau continued their relationship after she left prison in 2004 and got married the following year. They separated in 2017 and divorced two years later. Letourneau died in 2020 after battling stage 4 colon cancer for months. She was 58.
When ET spoke to Portman and Moore at the May December premiere in November, the actresses addressed the real-life inspiration for their movie.
"It was very much an inspiration, it's not meant to be a depiction of them," Portman said. "I think that Samy Burch, who wrote the script, her decision to start it 20 years after the tabloid events was an amazing decision. It allows you to see what happens after, and what happens to their lives and the stories they tell and what's true and what's not."
"Samy Burch used it as an inspiration, this is not a story about those people. But it certainly was a jumping-off point," Moore agreed. "For me, it was interesting watching some of the documentary footage and reading about the case... There are certainly things that I drew from [Letourneau], but the script itself was so strong and the character of Gracie was so finely drawn."
May December is now streaming on Netflix.
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