While Charles Melton gave a harrowing performance as an abuse survivor in “May December,” the actor is speaking out against employing Method acting techniques to embody characters.
Melton told i-D magazine that he went out of his way to “separate” himself from playing Joe Yoo, a father of three who was groomed by his employer (Julianne Moore) as an adolescent.
“I do have certain exercises that can separate the character from myself, and as I’m discovering how I like to work, I’m finding my technicality means I have the freedom to just let go,” Melton said. “I don’t need to suffer.”
The i-D interviewer asked if then Melton says no to Method acting, to which the “Riverdale” alum responded, “The idea of causing suffering and pain to others around you, in order to tell your story for the character…That is not my cup of chamomile tea.”
Melton balanced the intensity of the “May December” subject matter by being in therapy, getting acupuncture, painting, and watching sitcoms like “Abbott Elementary” with his sister.
Melton did, however, get into the mindset of Joe by watching “In the Mood for Love” and “Brokeback Mountain,” with the latter film showing a character’s “personal conflict” in the physicality of Heath Ledger’s performance.
“I was learning how certain emotions live in the body,” Melton said. “I can get so in my own head, going against my body’s natural instinct, because of all these structured ideas that almost restrain the performance. I probably need to chill out.”
He continued, “Because when you’re telling a character’s story you’re sort of like a vessel, and some of those things live in the body.”
Melton previously told IndieWire that “May December” screenwriter Samy Burch’s script had his character Joe bringing a “pureness” and “innocence” to the film. Burch also told IndieWre that she was most in awe of Melton’s physical performance as an emotionally stunted man.
“There are times when he really physically looks so young, carries himself almost as a middle schooler in this adult body, and then there are times when he appears to be 50 — someone that is the age that would be appropriate to have kids in college,” Burch said. “There’s this amazing ebb and flow of the two, and where they cross, and everything. It’s amazing.”
