"Riverdale" Star Charles Melton Gained 40 Pounds For "May December" — Here's The Story Behind That

    "I didn't know him from Riverdale. His looks were almost a deterrent."

    Obviously, you know Charles Melton from our dearly departed regular dose of absurdity known as Riverdale.

    closeup of Charles Menton in a suit

    Here's someone who didn't know Charles from Riverdale: iconic and accomplished film director Todd Haynes, who cast the actor in his extremely buzzy new film, May December.

    closeup of Todd Haynes at an event

    In the film, Charles plays Joe, the husband of Gracie (Julianne Moore) who first had a relationship with her when he was 13 and she was 36. It sounds like it's gonna be a huge awards contender, and Todd recently revealed that Charles himself went to extremes to take on the role.

    closeup of the Gracie and and Joe cuddling outside

    "I'm so grateful Charles Melton came into our consciousness," the director recently told Vulture, before explaining that he "didn't know" the actor from Riverdale and that his physical appearance was "almost a deterrent" from casting him.

    closeup of charles in riverdale standing next to someone else

    "I felt that Joe would be a good-looking man, but Charles has that sort of hunkiness and pinup quality that wasn't necessarily how I pictured him."

    charles kissing a costar in riverdale

    Todd then went on to explain that Charles gained "35, 40 pounds" to play the role and "change his chiseled self into something more familiar: a suburban man in this place."

    the director with the two actors on set in a kitchen

    "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."

    his character talking to a woman in a hospital

    You can read the entire interview here.