MEXICO CITY (AP) — “Red, White & Royal Blue” is a fantasy romantic comedy in which the United States and Great Britain are at odds over a royal wedding fiasco that must to be amended by the son of the US president and the younger brother of the crown prince to the throne. The problem is that they both like each other very, very badly.
The film, released Friday on Prime Video, is directed by playwright of Puerto Rican descent Matthew Lopez, who won a Tony for “The Inheritance.” It is based on the novel by American writer Casey McQuiston, which quickly became a bestseller after its debut in 2019 and caught the attention of Amazon Studios. Lopez co-wrote the script with Ted Malawer.
“I read the book shortly after it was published,” Lopez said in a recent interview via video call from New York. “I fell madly in love with him and I loved the characters, so I looked to do this, I wanted to do this movie after reading the book.”
It would seem that tackling royalties and US presidents involves protocol and can cause discomfort, especially if it’s a comedy, but Lopez, who makes his directorial debut with the film, said it wasn’t difficult to get it developed.
“There was a great desire to make this movie from everyone involved,” he said. “When I think about how difficult it usually is to make movies, this really seems like the big exception; It wasn’t always easy, but there was a great desire on everyone’s part for it to happen.”
McQuiston’s story shows how hate can turn into love. The prince named Henry is gay, the president’s son Alex Claremont-Diaz isn’t quite sure how he identifies, but when they are forced to go on a publicity tour to restore their image with interviews and posing they begin to see that they don’t really dislike each other that much. Before society, both are still in the closet and their romance remains secret.
“I think part of the problem that Henry has, especially as a character, is that he’s forced by circumstance not to be honest,” Lopez said. “And this prevents him from being honest with himself.”
“Alex allows Henry to find who he is in life and be himself, and in doing so, Henry ends up changing the world.”
For his part, Alex has his own challenges as a young Latino in the United States. In dialogue, he tells Henry that growing up with a last name that ends in “z” in the country immediately creates an indelible mark. Lopez, who grew up in Florida, shares this sentiment with the character.
“There are not many people in positions of power who look like you and sound like you and that is a truth that so many people have experienced in life, it is a truth that I have experienced in my life,” he said. “I wanted to be able to say that in a movie and have people hear someone say it… A lot of people have told me how this resonated with them.”
Although the film is based on fantasy, it also recalls reality, such as the difficulties Prince Henry of England has faced in giving up his royal duties, and it also raises new vistas, with a US President: “I would like that.” , López said about the possibility of a woman leading her country.
The film has a stellar cast: Stephen Fry plays the King of Great Britain and Uma Thurman plays the American President, Taylor Zakhar Pérez (from “The Kissing Booth”) gives life to Alex and Nicholas Galitzine (from “Cinderella”), Henry.
Lopez said she had “nobody in mind” for the lead roles at first, so finding the right partner required an exhaustive search over the course of about five months.
“I literally saw hundreds and hundreds of actors,” he said. “It was a very painstaking process.”
But when he saw Pérez and Galitzine’s tests, he knew it was them and he was finally convinced with a chemistry test by Zoom.
“They got along so beautifully; It wasn’t easy, but at the same time it was incredibly clear once I got to know them both,” he noted.
For the filmmaker, recreating Buckingham Palace and the White House was a real joy on a production level, as was making his own version of Texas on the other side of the Atlantic.
“We shot everything in England, mainly London,” he said. “I think one of the funniest things about the book, and why it was a great opportunity to make a movie, was that people love stories that take place in fancy places.”
