After months of casting for the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue, It only took a few minutes of an initial chemistry reading for producer Sarah Schechter and co-writer/director Matthew López to know that they had found the perfect leads in Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine.
“I think there was a time when we were desperate to ever find the right ones — don’t forget just the individuals — you had to cast a duo here,” López said during a panel for Deadline’s Contenders TV: The Nominees. “That chemistry reading was, I think I texted Sarah out of camera range on Zoom, like, ‘This is them. We found them.'”
López remembers not only his great interpretation of the scene, but also how the pair improvised and played together. “I remember thinking, ‘Man, if they can successfully improvise as a team on Zoom, I can’t wait to be in a room with them and actually work on it.'”
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Red, white and royal blue follows Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the United States, and Galitzine as Britain’s Prince Henry – who fall in love but must keep their relationship secret due to the public nature of their personalities.
Schechter and Perez spoke with López before the 76th Emmy Awards, where Red, white and royal blue is vying for the title of Outstanding Television Movie. After its premiere a year ago, the film nearly matched the success of the best-selling novel on which it is based, becoming one of the three most-watched romantic comedies of all time on Prime Video.
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“I think the book is so popular and the fans of the book care so much about it being respected, loved and appreciated,” said Schechter, explaining the care that went into making the film adaptation.
“When we were getting ready and Nick was dying his hair, he looked at fan art to make sure it was the right color,” she continued. “The best outcome is that people love what you’ve worked really hard on, but I think we were really conscientious from the beginning of trying to approach it as fans. And I think when you approach something as a fan, when you approach it as something you love, that love is contagious.”
In May, it was announced that Perez and Galitizine would return for a sequel that López is co-writing with McQuiston. It’s a new collaborative process and a different challenge for López, but he says the overall approach to the sequel will be quite similar to the first.
“When we started this process, I kept saying that we will have succeeded in this adaptation… if at the end of the film you feel the same as when you read the book,” López said. “There is no book to guide us, but we have Casey’s original thoughts and ideas.”
Of returning to First Son of the United States, Perez added, “He’s constantly flooded with a never-ending waterfall of optimism and is just nonstop positive. I think I’m excited to bring that back to the screen. And I think given the current state of the world, we could use a little bit more of that.”
Check back on Monday to watch the panel video.
