Five months passed between auditioning and getting a call back for “Red, White & Royal Blue” star Taylor Zakhar Perez, but it only took him a few days to secure his role as Alex Claremont-Diaz after speaking with producer Sarah Schechter and co-writer, director and executive producer Matthew Lopez.
“I’m at my cousin’s wedding and David Rapaport calls me and says, ‘Hey, Sarah Schechter wants to talk to you about this project.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I auditioned for this so long ago.’ He said, ‘Yeah, they’re trying to find their Alex. They want to talk to you,'” Perez recalled. “I had a great conversation with Sarah. I had a great conversation with Matthew. Then I flew back two days later and had the camera read with Nick (Galitzine) on Zoom… the next day they said, ‘Can you come to London in four days?'”
As part of the diversity In the Streaming Room, presented by Prime Video, Perez, Schechter and Lopez discussed with senior TV features editor Emily Longeretta how they adapted Casey McQuiston’s 2019 novel for the big screen.
Red, White & Royal Blue is about the First Son of the United States (Perez) and the Duke of Cambridge (Galitzine), who are forced to pretend to be friends after a falling out between them makes international headlines. Initially filled with resentment, the pair build a genuine connection that eventually blossoms into romance.
Director Lopez first discovered the novel after his agent recommended that he adapt it into a musical. But after reading it, Lopez knew he had to turn it into a feature film, and he vigorously pursued the job of director.
“I basically made a fool of myself with Sarah Schechter, which I think set the tone of our whole relationship. I basically shamelessly advertised for the job,” Lopez joked. “I loved the book from the moment I started reading it. I loved the characters. I loved Casey’s writing style. I loved everything about it. I just knew I couldn’t sleep until I could make the movie.”
Schechter had heard about “Red, White & Royal Blue” “long before” its release in 2019. One of her bosses, Mike McGrath, was the first to tell her about the book, but was reluctant to email her the synopsis because the content was not suitable for adults.
“He came into my office and said, ‘I read this book. I’m a little nervous about emailing you about it because it’s kind of offensive,'” Schechter said. “Then I read it, Greg (Berlanti) read it. We all fell in love with it. There were multiple parties chasing Casey for the rights because it was so obviously going to be a fantastic movie if done well. We were very lucky. We partnered with Amazon and Casey ended up trusting us, which was incredible. We’re eternally grateful to them for that. Amazon was also just so supportive and really understood right away what it could become.”
Although thousands of fans had high expectations for the film, Perez knew he had the script and the novel, which he called the “Bible” and the “second Bible,” to make it a success. He also took preparation for “Red, White, & Royal Blue” very seriously, studying the source material carefully to figure out how he would play Alex.
“I re-read the book and put so much effort into finding these little, specific things that Alex would do. That’s what’s so fun for me personally as an actor because it gives you all these extra little details to think about and focus on,” Perez explained. “But it also gives the fans that (satisfaction). It’s enticing because you think, ‘Oh my God, I get it. I knew Alex would do that. I knew Henry would do that. That’s so Alex.'”
Watch the full conversation above.
