Red, White & Royal Blue’s Taylor Zakhar Perez felt ‘enormous’ pressure playing an LGBTQ+ character

Taylor Zakhar Perez has opened up about the pressure of playing an LGBTQ+ character in Red, White & Royal Blue.

Perez plays Alex Claremont-Diaz, the bisexual son of Ellen Claremont, the first female president of the US (played by Uma Thurman), in the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s hit queer romantic novel.

The story goes a little something like this: Alex has major beef with Britain’s Prince Henry (Cinderella star Nicholas Galitzine), and, after being forced to reunite at a royal wedding, the pair drunkenly scuffle before ending up sending the wedding cake flying.

To prevent an international incident, they have to undergo a PR stunt that frames them as the best of friends. That faux friendship soon blossoms into a full-blown love affair, with Alex, who is bisexual, and Henry, who is gay and in the closet publicly, enjoying a fairytale romance – and lots of great sex.

In an interview with Newsweek, Perez, 31, spoke about working with director Matthew López and the need to carefully depict Alex’s sexuality.

“From the beginning, there was an enormous weight on my shoulders, making sure that we were accurate with representation and accurate with character portrayal,” said The Kissing Booth star.

“I think it’s so easy for an actor to phone it in, I’ve seen it. That’s why I took it upon myself, knowing how important this film is for many communities.”

The original Red, White & Royal Blue book won a cult queer following when it was published in 2019, becoming a New York Times bestseller and winning a Goodreads award.