In Todd Haynes’ Netflix drama “May December,” the subject of a decades-old tabloid sex scandal is visited by a famous actress set to portray her in a film.
Julianne Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who was 36 years old when she was caught having sex with Joe, a 13-year-old boy who worked with her at a pet store. After having his first child from behind bars, Gracie began her life with Joe (Charles Melton), who is now the same age Gracie was when they first met. Gracie and Joe have three children together, the youngest of them about to graduate high school, and are settling into quiet suburban life when Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) arrives at their waterfront home to study her subject and rock the boat.
If the story feels ripped from the headlines, that’s because the film is loosely inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau tabloid scandal of the late-1990s.
Julianne Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who was 36 years old when she was caught having sex with Joe, a 13-year-old boy who worked with her at a pet store. After having his first child from behind bars, Gracie began her life with Joe (Charles Melton), who is now the same age Gracie was when they first met. Gracie and Joe have three children together, the youngest of them about to graduate high school, and are settling into quiet suburban life when Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) arrives at their waterfront home to study her subject and rock the boat.
If the story feels ripped from the headlines, that’s because the film is loosely inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau tabloid scandal of the late-1990s.
- 12/1/2023
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix is creatively exploring a story that's ripped from the headlines in the new drama, "May December," which is set to release in select theaters on Nov. 17 and hit the streamer on Dec. 1. "May December" follows Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) and Joe Yoo ("Riverdale's" Charles Melton), who 20 years prior, began a romantic relationship at the pet shop where they worked when she was 36 and he was 13 years old. The two, now removed from the intense tabloid frenzy that once controlled their lives, live in Savannah with their children and find aspects of their past brought to light when actor Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) is set to portray Gracie in a new movie.
Though not exclusively based on a true story, the film is a fictionalized take on the 27-year-old case of Mary Kay Letourneau's highly publicized, scrutinized, and controversial relationship with Vili Fualaau, who she began sexually abusing when...
Though not exclusively based on a true story, the film is a fictionalized take on the 27-year-old case of Mary Kay Letourneau's highly publicized, scrutinized, and controversial relationship with Vili Fualaau, who she began sexually abusing when...
- 10/10/2023
- by Alicia Geigel
- Popsugar.com
Mary Kay Letourneau was charged with child rape when she was caught having an affair with her then-sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau. But what people frequently forget is that her now-husband wasn’t the only victim of her illicit actions nearly two decades ago — she had a husband and four children that were also affected by her illegal and horrifying affair. In 2015 — shortly after Mary Kay resurfaced for an interview with Barbara Walters — an insider told Radar Online that her first husband and college sweetheart, Steve Letourneau, has found happiness in his private life following the sex scandal. He went on to marry twice more and eventually "moved on" with his life after the limelight faded. Steve, around the time of his wedding to Mary Kay. (Photo Credit: ABC) When the one-time teacher was arrested in 1997 — and revealed she was pregnant with her first child by Vili (her daughter Audrey is...
- 5/30/2018
- by Carly Sitzer
- In Touch Weekly
Two decades after being found guilty of having a sexual relationship with her student, Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau are ready to share even more details about their controversial relationship. In a two-hour A&E documentary airing today, May 29, Mary Kay will open up about her life post-prison — and give viewers an inside look at her life now. In 1997, Mary Kay, who at the time was a 34-year-old sixth-grade teacher, was arrested and charged with child rape after her husband Steve Letourneau discovered she was having sex with her 12-year-old student Vili. While awaiting the conclusion of her trial, she gave birh to the couple's oldest daughter, Audrey. Shortly after, she was found guilty and sentenced to six months in jail and three years of sex offender treatment. However, two weeks after her release, she was found having sex with Vili in her car and was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years behind bars.
- 5/29/2018
- by Anna Quintana
- In Touch Weekly
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