Taylor Zakhar Perez (The Kissing Booth 2 & 3, Minx) and Nicholas Galitzine (Cinderella, The Craft: Legacy) have been cast as the leads in Amazon Studios’ upcoming romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue, based on the Casey McQuiston novel by the same name. The film follows Mexican-American Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez), the First Son of the United States, who becomes entangled in a secret romance with his counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Galitzine). And no, it’s not that Prince Henry.
Red, White & Royal Blue will be the feature film directorial debut of Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew López (The Inheritance) and will also star Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi with Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Aneesh Sheth, Polo Morin, Ahmed Elhaj, and Akshay Khanna. Production begins this month in the U.K.
“It has been a thrill to hand this story over to Berlanti/Schechter, Amazon, and our fearless leader Matthew López and watch them make so many smart, bold, thoughtful choices to bring it to life,” said Casey McQuiston. “This casting is no exception. I absolutely can’t wait to see Taylor and Nicholas on screen as Alex and Henry.”
“Meeting with and auditioning literally hundreds of actors over these past several months has been a painstaking labor of love that has brought us this diverse and extraordinary cast, led so fantastically by Nick and Taylor,” said Matthew López. “I cannot wait for the fans of the book (and indeed for the world) to find out how remarkably gifted and perfect these two actors are for bringing Henry and Alex to life.”
The official synopsis is as follows:
The film follows the Mexican-American character Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) who, upon his mother’s election as President, is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, brilliant―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a long- running feud with his royal counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine). And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an altercation between the two, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows into something more meaningful than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could complicate his mother’s re-election campaign and upend two nations, and begs the question: Can love save the world after all?
