Mary Kay Letourneau Interview vs May December Scene: Watch Differences
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It was a scandal that loosely inspired Netflix’s May December and now viewers are starting to see just how similar some of the material is. A Mary Kay Letourneau, Vili Fualaau interview from 2018 resurfaced online, and some lines of dialogue are directly pulled from IRL—a broadcast special on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night in Australia with host Matt Doran.
Mary Kay Letourneau would become infamous after she developed a close relationship with one of her students, Vili Fualaau, which turned inappropriate, and it became sexual when he was 13. In 1997, the illicit relationship was discovered, leading to Letourneau’s arrest. In November 1997, Letourneau plead guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape, and she was sentenced to six months in jail.
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As part of the plea deal, she agreed to undergo sex offender treatment and not have any contact with Fualaau. Despite this court order, Letourneau and Fualaau continued their relationship, and she was arrested again in 1998 for violating the terms of her plea agreement and even became pregnant during this time. This time, she received a seven-year prison sentence after which, shockingly, Letourneau and Fualaau married.
May December is a drama-comedy directed by Todd Haynes and stars Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, and Charles Melton. The movie follows Elizabeth Berry (Portman) as she shadows Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore) for a movie role based on Gracie’s scandal where she was caught having sex with 13-year-old Joe Yoo (Melton). The latter two end up marrying and have three kids more than 20 years later. With Elizabeth’s presence, the Atherton-Yoo family’s dynamic slowly changes after having bigger realizations. Now, an old Mary Kay Letourneau, Vili Fualaau interview has resurfaced and how we can see how well-researched the film is.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Mary Kay Letourneau Interview vs May December Scene
On social media, viewers began to notice similarities to a clip from a 2018 interview Fualaau and Letourneau did with Channel Seven’s Sunday Night in Australia when their conversation with host Matt Doran turned increasingly awkward (watch the interview here).
The awkwardness began when Doran probed Letourneau about how she could’ve thought the interview with her student was appropriate. She was the adult in the situation, after all, and even though she maintained Fualaau pursued her, she should’ve known better.
“Who was the boss? Who was the boss? Who was the boss back then? Who was the boss back then?” she berated her then-husband. “Who was? Just say,” she said again. “This is ridiculous,” Fualaau finally said. “This is getting weird. He finally relents after another glance at her. “I was the pursuer.”
The scene in May December takes dialogue almost directly from this exchange, albeit in a different setting. It occurs close to the end of the film—exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes in—when Joe (loosely based on Fualaau) confronts Gracie (loosely based on Letourneau) in their bedroom.
“I think that there are a lot of things we haven’t talked about in a long time. Maybe ever. Things about our relationship. What if I wasn’t ready to making those kinds of decisions? What if I was too young?” he begins. “You seduced me,” Gracie responds. “But I was 13 years old,” he starts. “I don’t care how old you were, who was in charge? Who was the boss? Who was in charge?” she presses.
Mary Kay Letourneau & Vili Fualaau’s children
In the same interview, Mary Kay Letourneau & Vili Fualaau’s children reflected on their parent’s relationship. “I think I understand about it, just like how it was surprising to people,” Audrey said. “It’s been feeling different because it’s not really been brought to our attention, just because we grew up with it, so we’ve adapted to it.”
As mentioned, Letourneau gave birth to both girls while she was in jail for sex offenses. Audrey was born while Letourneau waited for her initial sentence—six months with three months suspended, for second-degree rape of a child after engaging in a sexual relationship with Fualaau when she was 34 and he was 13 in 1996.
As part of a plea deal, the disgraced teacher was court-ordered to have no contact with Fualaau but violated the court order. Thus, she was arrested again in 1998 and this time, she received a seven-year prison sentence from 1998-2004. She gave birth to Georgia during that time.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
May December is available to stream on Netflix.
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