Charles Melton on How to Prepare Riverdale for Movie Role – The Hollywood Reporter
Charles Melton and Natalie Portman in Netflix’s May December, directed by Todd Haynes. The actor says he paid 40 pounds for the role, which is an “outward expression of the inner work” to prepare for the character.
François Duhamel/Courtesy of Netflix
Charles Melton explains how his six years and nearly 100 episodes Riverdale Run set him up for his critically acclaimed supporting performance in Todd Haynes’ film. May Decemberfor which the actor gained serious Oscar buzz.
“Ten months a year, 22 episodes, and eight to 10 days to shoot one episode…that’s a lot of work in a short period of time, and it took everyone coming together to pull it off,” Milton says. THR. “That experience alone, working with almost 100 directors on this show, really gave me that confidence and that foundation — like my acting school in a way — to really be able to get on set like Todd Haynes and just completely let go.”
But the director never saw him RiverdaleSo Milton was an unfamiliar face when the actor auditioned for the role of Joe, a suburban father who, when just 13 years old, became sexually involved with a married mother of three, Gracie (Julianne Moore). The scandalous romance rocked the couple’s close-knit community, but Joe and Gracie married and had three children.
Once he had the script, Milton began “his journey to find Joe’s identity,” says the actor, discovering the preparation process along the way. When putting together his audition, he self-recorded for six hours — a significant time commitment, he admits.
“I have to completely exhaust myself and give every fiber of my being, just so I can look back and say, ‘Okay, I gave it my all, and there was nothing else I would have done differently.’” Milton says. He got him to the door: Heinz sent him notes. He self-recorded again (for another six hours), which led to a chemistry reading with Moore.
“I really felt like this six-week process was the best experience of my career, because I really learned how I wanted to work and how deep I wanted to go when it came to preparing to play characters like this, which was energizing for me.” Milton says. “I felt a lot of comfort and security and excitement as I delved into this man’s psychology and really turned to this physicality of how he approached his story.”
Milton was paid £40 for the role, although he and Haynes never discussed how Joe was supposed to look. Milton describes it as “a natural (and) external expression of the internal work I was doing with Joe. “When you look at the facts, this is a 36-year-old suburban father with three kids, a loving marriage, and a job,” Milton explains. “Like, where does his ego really find time to really look at himself?”
The actor ate a lot of Five Guys, pizza, and ice cream alongside his best friend, Kelvin Harrison Jr., who was preparing to play Martin Luther King Jr. in the Disney+ movie. Genius: MLK/X. “We would inspire each other, watch a bunch of movies, talk about our characters, and eat well,” he says.
There was no time to rehearse before the 23-day shoot, so Milton did not rehearse his scenes with Natalie Portman, who in the film plays an actress playing Gracie in a film about her life. He often dined with Portman, Moore, and Hines, where they got to know each other on a “human level.”
Given the subject matter, Melton says his way to decompress after filming was to watch Abbott Elementary every day, as well as Sunday football and Japanese anime TV series Demon Slayer. “That was part of my ritual, and then I did acupuncture three times a week to really relax, because we hold emotions in our bodies. So keeping my body as calm and relaxed as possible not only helped me, but it helped me with what I would do when it came to letting go of the artwork I made.” For Joe to really be there when I was on set.
Looking back, Milton was never intimidated by the subject matter or the complexities of his character. “There’s something about oppression and tragedy and loneliness that I’m drawn to in characters, and Joe had a complex mixture of all those things,” he says. “No matter the topic, just understanding this human being without any kind of opinion or judgment and complete empathy has really allowed me to go places that I always wished were possible with Todd, Julie, and Natalie.”
This story first appeared in the December stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
