Natalie Portman breaks down "scary" challenge of May December monologue
Portman's monologue towards the end of Todd Haynes's acclaimed drama is one of the film's most memorable scenes.
One of the standout moments in Todd Haynes's acclaimed new drama May December comes in its very closing stages – when Natalie Portman's Elizabeth delivers a memorable three-minute monologue straight to camera.
In the scene, Elizabeth is delivering the monologue not as herself, but as Julianne Moore's character Gracie – who she has been studying before portraying her in a television film – with the speech taking the form of a love letter that Gracie had previously written to her much younger lover Joe.
And, speaking during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Portman revealed how the monologue was "an incredible opportunity" for her as an actor.
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"It's very rare to get something that's written as precisely as Samy [Burch, screenwriter] wrote that, and then also to have it framed in that way that Todd chose to frame it," she explained.
"With this kind of straight onto camera, using the camera as a sort of mirror, which really kind of expresses that concept of reflection and identity and performance, like the reflection as the audience, in a way."
She added: "And then, of course, for the character to have this thing that is maybe the most truthful she is the entire film, but it's a performance, and to really kind of embrace the artifice of it.
"And the performative aspect of it was really exciting, it was very scary. But it was one of the most exciting challenges of my career."
Read more:
- Julianne Moore on exploring her "challenging" May December character
- Chicken Run sequel director on why some roles were recast and not others
It was Portman who first brought the film's script to Carol and Far From Heaven director Haynes after being sent it by producer Jessica Elbaum, and she explained that it allowed her to fulfil a long-term ambition of working with both the filmmaker and co-star Moore.
"I was blown away by the complexity of the characters," she explained. "Particularly to have two female characters in one film that are both so layered is so rare, and dealing with many of these questions of performance and identity that I knew Todd Haynes had grappled with so well in previous films.
"And, of course, [he] is just a master of depicting the complicated psyche of complicated women. And I dreamed of working with him forever – and Julie, of course – and so it was just the dream of all dreams when he agreed to make it and then also lured Julie into the play!"
May December is now available to stream on Sky Cinema and NOW. Check out more of our Film and Drama coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
