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Until very recently, Robert Downey Jr. has been tipped to win the Best Supporting Actor award at the upcoming Oscars ceremony for his incredible turn as Lewis Strauss in director Christopher Nolan's much acclaimed epic Oppenheimer. However, a new contender has arrived on the scene, one who could be set to take home the golden gong.
If you have been keeping up with awards buzz, you will be aware that of course we are talking about Charles Melton, the former Riverdale star who has delivered a sublime performance in drama May December. In Carol director Todd Haynes' latest movie, Melton portrays Joe, the husband of Julianne Moore's Gracie who is being studied by actor Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) for an upcoming movie. Why is a film being made about Joe and Gracie you may ask? Well, they caused a tabloid scandal 20 years prior as the relationship started when Joe was a minor, sending Gracie to jail.
Melton has certainly been drawing the eye of award voters with his brilliant portrayal, recently being named the best Outstanding Supporting Performance at the Gotham Awards. This win alone places him on the path to Oscars glory as the two previous winners (Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2022 and Troy Kotsur for CODA in 2021) went on to take home the Academy Award.
And so, Melton has emerged as a new favorite. But how is he feeling about this? When the Inside Total Film podcast and GamesRadar+ sat down with the star (alongside Portman and Moore), he humbly responded to all the speculation: "It feels cool, you know. I just keep going back to those 23 days that we filmed this in Georgia. That was the gift. Working with Todd Haynes, Natalie, and Julie. I just felt so empowered along the way and I learned so much about my own process as an actor. There’s just so much to explore with the character Joe with Samy’s [Burch] script - honestly, that was the gift."
It's clearly a role that means a lot to Melton, with the actor telling us that he really connected with Joe upon reading the script: "Samy’s script was just a beautiful blueprint to explore Joe. Some things helped inform the character, but personally, sometimes I can find certain parallels where the experience is different but the feeling is almost similar," Melton said.
"There’s a sense of responsibility that Joe had a such a young age, which made me think back to when I was 11. My dad sat me down and gave me this talk before he went off to war for a year, because I was an army brat. When you are a kid you are up for the responsibility, you’ll put on that shoe that’s a little too big, you will agree to do it for your dad. So, Joe stepping into this sense of responsibility, that was something i really related to, as far as doing so at such a young age."
As awards season approaches, we'll keep our fingers crossed for Melton as the Oscar nominations start rolling in.
May December is in UK cinemas and on Sky Cinema now. Meanwhile in the US, it can be streamed on Netflix.
For more from our interview with Melton, Portman, and Moore, listen to the latest episode on the Inside Total Film podcast.
