There’s more toCharles Meltonthan meets the eye—though what meets the eye at the moment is pretty darn pleasing. It’s a rare overcast day in Los Angeles, and theMay Decemberstar and former model is lounging on a chaise in the lush pool area of a stylish house in Silver Lake, seemingly unaware of thePeoplephotoshoot commotion surrounding him.
Erik Carter
It’s hard to reconcile this ridiculously handsome, amiable guy—or as his formerRiverdalecostarCole Sprousejoked on Instagram, “slab of A5 wagyu beef”—with the repressed, prematurely middle-aged character he plays inTodd Haynes’scritically acclaimed Netflix drama.
It’s a stunning performance that garnered accolades almost immediately after the film’s release last November: wins for him at theGotham, New York Film Critics Circle Awards and nominations at the Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Awards, among them. (Though not at the Oscars, which many thoughtwas the biggest non-Barbie-related snub. But we’ll get to that later.)
Loosely based on theMary Kay Letourneau scandalin the mid-‘90s,May Decembercenters on Melton’s Joe, a 36-year old husband and father of three who entered into a relationship with his now-wife Gracie (Julianne Moore) when he was 13 and she was in her 30s.Natalie Portmanplays Elizabeth, an actress who shadows the family to research her role in a movie adaptation of their story—and triggers a re-examination of the couple’s long-buried past.“There’s this arrested development that Joe has, this kind of internal tragedy from his adolescence being taken from him,” says Melton. “[He has] the immense responsibility of being a father, while simultaneously experiencing the probing of tabloid culture. He had to survive and create this adaptive adult child in order to navigate his life.”
Heavy stuff for an actor who was previously best known for playing Archie’s nemesis Reggie Mantle on the long-running teen soapRiverdaleand starring in Ariana Grande’s “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored”video(which may or may not culminate in an infinity pool throuple). But he more than holds his own against his Oscar-winning collaborators—even if he won’t admit it.
“They just elevate everything around them. The way they work, their technicality, they’re masters of their craft,” he says of Moore and Portman.
Haynes, his director, begs to differ: “On top of his sensitivity and intuition and instincts, he is an incredibly skilled actor from a technical standpoint,” says Haynes, 63. “The physicality that he brings to the role of Joe is really not something that a novice or just somebody who’s just following their instincts would necessarily know how to do.”
No stranger to directing award-winning performances, Haynes (Carol,Far From Heaven) knew he had something special when he received Melton’s audition tape.
“Charles’s instincts and his choices were like no one else’s, in that he seemed to show you somebody who was not yet fully functioning, [who had] the sense of somebody who was kind of trapped in a long relationship that gave him a very specific role to play and limited all the other aspects of his person,” he says. “Most of the other actors felt available. Charles seemed to understand the dutiful side of Joe around Gracie and her anxieties and breakdowns, but he made it seem like something very private that really happened behind closed doors. His performance revealed things to me that really penetrated deeply into the story and into the past of this relationship.”
Portman says Melton’s layers extended offscreen as well: “He’s a super interesting person—I mean, he’s a college football player, then he’s like, ‘I’m reading about bell hooks as visions of sexual identity and gender identity,” recalls the star, 42. “Who are you? I love this! If this is what the new generation is like, bring it on."
Adds Moore, 63: “He’s so handsome, and he buried that in this performance. You don’t see that at all. You see a completely different person.”
Born in Juneau, Alaska to Sukyong, a homemaker, and Phil, who served in the military, Melton was a self-proclaimed “Army brat” who bounced around Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Korea (where Sukyong was born), Texas and Germany while growing up with his two younger sisters, Tammie and Patricia. But he considers Kansas home since he attended high school there and later went on to play football for Kansas State University. A few concussions later, he questioned whether his future should include more time on the gridiron.
In 2012, after hearing a radio ad for a talent showcase, he went to an open call where he garnered a lot of interest—and promptly dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles.
But nothing could prepare him for the awards season ride that the unnerving Netflix dramalaunched: hobnobbing with the likes ofBradley CooperandRobert Downey Jr., making kimchi with his mom andSteven Yeun, and having new professional opportunities offered to him, even if the whirlwind campaign didn’t end in an Oscar nomination.
“The moments that I’ve had and the words I’ve shared with people along this journey. . . that is what matters,” he says. “If I’m thinking about this or whatever may come, then I’m not really existing in the moment.”
When asked how he feels about Fualaau’s criticism, Melton says, “I really used my imagination to discover and explore the root of our human emotions. Emotions, whether it be sadness or repression or anger, they have many different faces. Exploring those faces with the guideline of [co-screenwriter] Samy [Burch’s] script was one of the most exhilarating things I could dream of.”
Melton, who’spreviously datedCamila Mendes and Chloe Bennet, seems to have a far less complicated love life than his onscreen characters.
Fittingly, the actor credits his parents and sisters with keeping him grounded amid the Hollywood blitz. “Moments, they come and go.Peoplemagazine comes and goes,” he says. “What doesn’t come and go is my family, and they’re with me at every moment. These are the people that love me, that I will be with in every part of my journey in life. They speak truth to me.”
Especially his mother, who Melton often takes as his date to industry events.
Melton paid that nurturing forward with the young actors who played his teenage children inMay December, Gabriel Chung, Piper Curda and Elizabeth Yu. He took it upon himself to fill in holes in their cinematic knowledge—the trio watchedThe Matrix, GladiatorandFight Clubfor the first time under his tutelage—and letting them do laundry at his Silver Lake home.
But Melton insists the experience wasn’t an attempt to Method-act being a thirtysomething father. “These are all things I would do naturally if I wasn’t playing their dad,” he says. “I allowed that to really just inform some of the choices that I made. My goal isn’t to be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to experience this so I can use it.’ No. It’s, ‘I’m going to experience this because this is who I am, Charles. This is what’s in my heart.’ ”
Those last two sentences appear to encapsulate the unique space Melton seems to occupy right now: a teen heartthrob turned prestige player. A father figure who isn’t above playing video games all day to cheer himself up when his favorite football team (thePhiladelphia Eagles, in case you’re wondering) loses. A rising star who hasn’t yet had his heart media trained out of his answers.
Says Haynes: “His lack of narcissism is really remarkable given what he looks like. There’s an innocence to that, to all of that where he seems to still be kind of astonished that people check him out.” He pauses. “And maybe that’s just another part of his really good acting.”
CreditsPhotographer:Erik CarterCinematographer:Eric LongdenGroomer:Candice BirnsStylist:Samantha McMillenWARDROBELight Blue LookPajamas: Prada, Slippers: BODE, Earrings: StarlingBrown LookSweater: King & Tuckfield, Trousers: AMIRI, Earrings: StarlingCream LookSuit: Todd Snyder, Sandals: Loro Piana, Earrings: StarlingJacket LookJacket, Pants, Shoes: BODE, Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples, Earrings: StarlingBlue LookCoat, Shirt, Tie, Shorts, Loafers: Valentino, Earrings: Starling
Credits
Photographer:Erik CarterCinematographer:Eric LongdenGroomer:Candice BirnsStylist:Samantha McMillenWARDROBELight Blue LookPajamas: Prada, Slippers: BODE, Earrings: StarlingBrown LookSweater: King & Tuckfield, Trousers: AMIRI, Earrings: StarlingCream LookSuit: Todd Snyder, Sandals: Loro Piana, Earrings: StarlingJacket LookJacket, Pants, Shoes: BODE, Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples, Earrings: StarlingBlue LookCoat, Shirt, Tie, Shorts, Loafers: Valentino, Earrings: Starling
Photographer:Erik Carter
Cinematographer:Eric Longden
Groomer:Candice Birns
Stylist:Samantha McMillen
WARDROBE
Light Blue LookPajamas: Prada, Slippers: BODE, Earrings: Starling
Brown LookSweater: King & Tuckfield, Trousers: AMIRI, Earrings: Starling
Cream LookSuit: Todd Snyder, Sandals: Loro Piana, Earrings: Starling
Jacket LookJacket, Pants, Shoes: BODE, Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples, Earrings: Starling
Blue LookCoat, Shirt, Tie, Shorts, Loafers: Valentino, Earrings: Starling
source: people.com
