‘Red, White, & Royal Blue’: How Matthew López created it
13.08.2023 - 02:33
/ qvoicenews.com
Like all good love stories, Prime Video’s gay romantic comedy “Red, White, & Royal Blue” has its cake and eats it too. Literally.
The adaptation of the New York Times best-selling novel by Casey McQuiston follows the first son of the United States of America, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez of “Minx”), and the second in line to the British throne, Henry Fox-Mounchristen-Windsor (Nicholas Galitzine of “Cinderella”), as their hatred for one another slowly evolves into a friendship and then a romance.
“Red, White, & Royal Blue” is directed by Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew López and written by him and Ted Malawer.
The story begins with a colossal public relations nightmare as Alex and Henry have a mishap with a very, very large dessert. In what could be one of the most awkward, cringiest scenes in cinema, the two have an embarrassing encounter during Henry’s brother’s wedding — that is, the wedding of the first in line for the British throne — that ends with them in a sweet, sticky mess on the floor. Surely a sign of things to come, right?
“I said to the actors and to everybody working on that scene that what the scene is about is a cake in trouble,” López says. “It is not about two people having an argument; it is about a cake in peril. And looking at it through that lens allowed us to know how to shoot it.”
He explains that by the time they shot the cake scene — about two weeks into filming — the cast and crew knew each other. They were comfortable with one another, especially Zakhar Perez and Galitzine.
“I just remember giving them permission to just be rude. You know, because, like, I didn’t worry about whether the audience would like them or not. (I said) be rude and be reckless. Because it’s, again,