Fangoria Magazine
"May" Article - March 2003
(Part 2)

Article Written By:  Jeremiah Kipp w/ Fangoria Magazine

For all his diverse influeences, McKee primarily wrote May as an allegory for his own experiences growing up.  "I have a lazy eye that my glasses correct," he notes.  "I had to wear a patch over my eye when I was in kindergarden.  This is all drawn from my life, and included in May's story.  I also came from a rural area where no one really did what I wanted to do, and I was a loner in that respect.  When I went to college, there were thousands of people around me interested in the same things. I would connect with some of them on the level of cinema, but the more I got to know their personalities, the more I'd learn things about them that I didn't like.

"I would think to myself, 'Wouldn't it be cool if you could make this girl's sense of humor, that one's looks and this other one's intelligence, drawing their best qualities together into the perfect friend or soulmate?'" he continues.  "May is just a visualization of that concept, acknowledging that it's hard to find all those qualities in one person."

Finding an actress to embody May's own mix of adorable, pathetic and frightening characteristics was a challenge throughout the audition process.  Having seen over 60 actresses for the title role, McKee gradually zeroed in on Bettis.  Her extensive resume of stage and screen experience includes playing troubled teens in Girl, Interrupted and Bless the Child.  "For many years, I had drawn pictures of May [showing how he imagined her]," McKee says.  "Obviously, it would be impossible to find that exact girl.  But when Angela came in, I was impressed and intimidated be her [level of] skill.  This was my first solo film, and she had been acting for a while.  Angela brought insights into the script that nobody else had."

In particular, McKee was fascinated by Bettis' ability to reveal aspects of May through her vocal inflections.  "Angela was able to switch back and forth between this cute little girl's voice and the full woman May becomes," the director says.  "It was fascinating to watch, because we shot entirely out of sequence.  She was able to just turn it on at any time, being the dead-serious killer May becomes and 10 minutes later becoming the fragile little girl again.  Angela had many different ways of playing the scenes, and that helped the character evolve when we got to the editing room."

There's something unsettling  about May's apartment, scattered with broken doll parts, needles and scissors.  Her creepy doll Suzy stands out as especially haunting and macabre.  With its ghost-white face and pale blue eyes, it seems pulled from the world of Edward Gorey.  "The production designer [Leslie Keel] made that doll by hand," McKee notes.  "We based it on Angela's appearance---but it actually looks a little more like Leslie.  What I pictured originally was this doll my mother had ever since she was a little kid.  Its crystal blue eyes always used to freak me out."

Those childhood fear inform May's world, which has elements of a fairy tale.  Jungian scholars might have a field day over the growing cracks in Suzy's glass case that widen as May's grip on reality grows more fragile.  "The idea was that this doll would seem to have come from another world," McKee explains.  "It represents everything that's wrong with May---and there's a part of May that's stuck inside that case.  When that case finally shatters, she completely loses it."

As the main character sinks into madness, FANGORIA readers may find themselves more endeared to her would-be boyfriend Adam.  Sympathetically played by Sisto, he's a horror fan with a particular affinity for Dario Argento.  (He runs off to an afternoon screening of Trauma after having lunch in the park with May.)  Adam was loosely based on McKee and All Cheerleaders Die co-director Siverton---who also made Adam's gruesome short film Jack and Jill.  

"Adam's movie was a happy reunion for the cast and crew of All Cheerleaders Die, since a few of those people were involved," McKee reveals.  "It's also an emotional high point for anyone watching May, since it's dead center in the film and becomes May's last happy moment."  May's main criticism of Adam's film is that Jill probably would not be able to chew off Jack's finger in only one bite; she remarks, "That part was a little far-fetched!"e to the movie

Audience reactions to May have been surprising to McKee; he finds them more responsive to the movie's bizarre sense of humor than to its horrific elements.  "Most people are calling May a black comedy, which was not my intention.  I wasn't expecting the audience to be as vocal in their response, and it's a rush to see them laughing and screaming so much.  I'm really glad they're having a good time, but watching the film is a much different experience for me.  It's very personal, and I find a lot of what happens to May to be very sad.  I guess it strikes people as being so far out that they don't know what to do but laugh." ...

...PART 3