Movies Charles Melton had to de-hunk, gained 40 lbs. for his role in May December, remained really hot Director Todd Haynes initially found the Riverdale star's looks "a deterrent." Same. By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on September 27, 2023 08:25PM EDT Charles Melton may have gotten his break as a really, really, ridiculously good-looking face in teen fare like Glee and Riverdale, but the former model is turning heads for his dramatic turn in queer auteur Todd Haynes' latest feature, May December. Even so, Haynes wasn't originally on board with that lantern jaw, as he thought Melton's blatant hunkiness wasn't appropriate for the character, a frustrated suburban dad. "I'm so grateful Charles Melton came into our consciousness," Haynes said in a new Vulture interview. "I didn't know him from Riverdale. His looks were almost a deterrent." Julianne Moore and Charles Melton in 'May December'. courtesy Netflix Melton plays Joe, the husband of Julianne Moore's scandal-plagued Gracie, with whom he had an affair when he was 13 and she was 36. The two are married and raising children when Natalie Portman's character, television actress Elizabeth Berry, comes to town to shadow Gracie for a film project, ironically bringing to light a lot of old issues. "I felt that Joe would be a good-looking man," Haynes explained, "but Charles has that sort of hunkiness and pinup quality that wasn't necessarily how I pictured him." Todd Haynes ain't lyin'. To wit: But since this isn't a Ryan Murphy production, pin-up hunk was not on the menu. While Melton did gain some sad-dad weight, Haynes was ultimately impressed by the 32-year-old's dedication to the role. "He gained 35, 40 pounds for the role to change his chiseled self into something more familiar: a suburban man in this place," Haynes recalled. "There's such remarkable physicality in the choices he made as an actor. A friend of mine saw a cut of it, and he said, 'Charles moves like a child and an old man, a combination of the two' — which makes so much sense given his predicament." May December hits select theaters on Nov. 17 before streaming on Netflix on Dec. 1. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Related content: How Todd Haynes' May December channeled Mary Kay Letourneau and classic female melodramas Todd Haynes gives some more details on his sexually 'explicit' gay period drama with Joaquin Phoenix Before Barbie, there was Todd Haynes' infinitely weirder Barbie movie about Karen Carpenter