The First Son of the United States and a British Prince falling in love is a dream rom-com scenario. Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine bring Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry’s love story to life in Prime Video’s Red, White & Royal Blue.
Once Alex and Henry clear the air and realize their feelings for each other, their potentially world-changing romance ignites. But when their relationship is on the precipice of getting serious, Henry pulls back and returns to London without telling Alex. The ever-hopeful Alex flies across an ocean to declare his love and confront Henry about putting duty before his own heart.
Perez, the focus of TV Insider’s latest Scene Study, steps into the beloved role of Alex with ease. He looks back at bringing Alex and Henry’s romance and Alex’s rain-soaked declaration of love, a key scene from Casey McQuiston’s book, to life.
“This was actually one of the two audition scenes that I had, and they had been searching for Alex for a long time, and I guess nobody got it right,” Perez explained. “That’s kind of what I heard. And then when Nick and I did it, there was, I guess, a chemistry, and they really thought that we clicked together. Going into rehearsals, this was like the big scene next to the cake scene that Matthew [López] really wanted to focus on.”
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Unlike Alex, who has the freedom to love and express himself on his own terms, Henry is bound by his duty to the throne. In this scene, Alex is just focusing on his love for Henry and not any of the complications. He wants Henry to see their love is worth fighting for—face-to-face and on the global stage.
“I feel like this scene is such a pivotal moment in the film, but also in their relationship,” Perez noted. “People ask why this movie did so well on Amazon, why it was number one globally, even in countries where it’s illegal to be queer. And I think this scene is that scene that anybody can relate to, anybody that’s been in a relationship where one person is loving the other more than the other, and you kind of see yourself in either the Henry character or the Alex character. Alex is the one that’s loving more. Henry is trying to love less because it’s going to hurt more if he loves more.”
The actor pointed out that Henry’s never had anyone come into his life “who has met him where he is, and Alex goes toe-to-toe with Henry because that’s just how he plays. His mom is the president. He grew up in this political landscape, and he’s like, ‘No, I’m gonna fight for what’s right, and I’m gonna fight for what’s mine.’”
However, for Henry, the intricacies of the crown don’t make it easy for him to love out in the open. While Alex can easily jet across the Atlantic and storm a castle for love, the prince in this fairytale has to bring Alex back down to reality.
“The gravity of Henry’s situation on an international level has not sunk in with [Alex] yet. Until now. I think this is the moment where Henry does tell him what’s up,” Perez told TV Insider.
He continued, “I think it’s so sad that Henry is resigning to his life for the crown and is putting his happiness way, way, way behind his duties. I think that’s what’s really respectable about Henry and this character. I think a lot of people get into relationships where the little odd things are the cute things about their partner, and then sometimes they turn into something that’s annoying about their partner. And I like in this relationship that Henry likes how bombastic and optimistic and fun Alex gets to be, [he] doesn’t have a ton of responsibility, and can kind of code switch and go through life as just like a happy-go-lucky, really smart kid. And then I think Alex loves the challenge in a way of seeing Henry [and] helping him get out of his little palace that he lives in with his books and his dogs and really just being a bull in a china shop in Henry’s life.”
The Minx alum hopes that everybody has had an Alex in their life. “I’ve definitely had a person in my life that has made me see things differently, allowed me to have a paradigm shift, to feel like there is something on the other side,” he said, before adding, “I love that Alex is that person for Henry, and Zahra’s [Sarah Shahi] kind of that person for him.”
Perez, who will return as Alex in the upcoming Red, White & Royal Blue sequel, admitted that he’s much more “introverted” compared to Alex. “He’s just non-stop, go, go,” Perez said about his character. “His mind is having multiple conversations and is fixing multiple problems at once.”
He said that playing Alex felt like being in The West Wing. “It really reminded me of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing with Rob Lowe, and that’s kind of just how I sculpted my character,” Perez revealed. “I was like, alright, just have Rob Lowe thoughts as Sam Seaborn because that guy is like the smartest dude in the room, and I think it worked.”
Watch the full video above for more.
Red, White & Royal Blue, Streaming Now, Prime Video