Charles Melton Is All Heart |
Charles Melton signs on to our video call wearing a white T-shirt with the words “Autumn Durald Arkapaw” on it. The shirt became a hot item after Arkapaw was nominated for the cinematography Oscar earlier this year—and then made history as the first woman to ever win the category. Melton, who worked with Arkapaw on the 2019 young adult romance adaptation The Sun Is Also a Star, breaks out a megawatt smile when I point it out.
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Melton bursts with energy whenever he’s talking about a past collaborator of whom he’s a fan. And he’s building a career lined with them. After a breakout performance opposite Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes’s 2023 drama, May December, he signed on to star in the second season of Beef because of his admiration for its creator, Lee Sung Jin. He was drawn to his latest film, Her Private Hell, which debuted at Cannes, because of its director, Nicolas Winding Refn, who hadn’t made a film in 10 years. And he’ll be seen later this year in a new film by Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, the duo behind Sing Sing and Train Dreams (yes, he loved both movies).
The character of Austin in this season of Beef, though, may be his most personal role yet. Lee (who goes by Sonny) wrote the role specifically for Melton and even included a photo of him on his inspiration board. They carved out the character—a well-intentioned former football star who works with his fiancée (Cailee Spaeny) at a wealthy country club—together, pulling inspiration from Melton’s own experiences. On this week’s episode of Little Gold Men, Melton explains why he felt so protective over Austin, how fatherhood has changed him, and what he looks for in a director.
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