The popular actor discusses his thoughts on the future of the beloved Prime Video project and reflects upon his professional journey so far in Hollywood.
With the much-anticipated Prime Video announcement last night that a Red, White & Royal Blue movie sequel is in fact happening, what could possibly be even better news than that? Well, one of its stars, actor Taylor Zakhar Perez, sees a real possibility of this story going even beyond two movies.
“It could be a trilogy,” Zakhar Perez told me on Thursday during our Zoom conversation. “I mean, could you imagine having the first queer trilogy for young people to login and see themselves on TV?” He added: “I would love for it to be a staple for Amazon and for people to come login and go, ‘Oh, this is my happy place, this is a teachable moment, but I also am going to laugh my ass off.”
Co-starring Nicholas Galitzine, written by author Casey McQuiston and brought to the screen by filmmaker Matthew Lopez, Red, White & Royal Blue has become a global phenomenon, telling the story of the U.S. President’s son, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Zakhar Perez), unexpectedly falling in love with the Prince of England, Henry George Edward James Hanover-Stuart Fox (Galitzine).
Before we can fully appreciate where Zakhar Perez will go next with this beloved project, it is helpful to understand where he came from and how he has arrived at this very special moment in his acting career so far.
Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Indiana, Zakhar Perez recalls how his early interests in the arts as an adolescent had a lasting impact on who he has become in adulthood.
When speaking about his late teenage years, Zakhar Perez said, “My parents were very open to me — as soon as I got a car, they were like, ‘Do whatever you want. Go to all the art things that you want — as long as you keep swimming, as long as you maintain a good grade point average.’ I was in Chicago probably every week for a few days by myself, going on castings, going on auditions — working. I learned a lot during those years of what I wanted to surround myself with.”
In 2010, Zakhar Perez decided to take a leap of faith out of the Midwest and move to Los Angeles, California to pursue his dream in acting. During his first five years out west, he worked beside his uncle in an art department production and remembers meeting “tons of prolific actors and actresses. Some of them were incredible, most of them were not, and think I learned along the way what kind of actor I wanted to be on the public-facing side because I never want to be made to feel the way they made me feel on-set.” He added: “So, I think in there is where I gained — and in theatre — the respect for the crew — the ‘below the line’ folks.”
Some of Zakhar Perez’s early breakout roles that garnered him some attention included him as firefighter-turned-pin-up model Shane on the series Minx, as well as for playing a potential love interest on-screen to his real-life best friend Joey King in The Kissing Booth Netflix films. So, how would Zakhar Perez describe his early mindset towards his Hollywood pursuits?
“For me, growing up, my dad and my mom being self-made and growing up in body shops, you have to be a self-starter. You have to be your own entrepreneur — you have to be entrepreneurial and that was just kind of in me, coming from a big family. Get in where you fit in. Everybody helps and be focused.”
He added: “I’ve sacrificed to get here, and at the same time, I see so many people out there sacrificing the same amount and just not getting anywhere. There’s just so much untapped talent in [Los Angeles], in New York, in Chicago — everywhere. The voices, the acting chops — it’s incredible. So, I’m just so grateful everyday to be in this position.
