Actors' Sexualities Shouldn't Determine If They Get A Role, And 11 Other Things We Learned From The Director Of "Red, White & Royal Blue"

"I was so in the mood for sweetness and kindness and love and sincerity. That's what drew me to the project."

The movie adaptation of Red, White & Royal Blue is ALMOST here, and I can wholeheartedly say it's royally gay, fun, and very steamy...

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To celebrate, we chatted with the film's director, Matthew Lopez, to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on filming *those* sex scenes, casting Uma Thurman, and how he felt about turning such a beloved book into a film.

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Here's what we learned about the making of Red, White & Royal Blue, and what to expect from the movie...

1. When turning a 350 page book into the film, some moments (sadly) had to be left behind.

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Lopez: "First and foremost, it was about Alex and Henry for me, and inevitably there were going to be things left out. If it's not about Alex and Henry, it doesn't belong in the film – that was reinforced when I was editing the movie. There are some things we filmed that are in the novel that I had to take out. It was very clear to me the first time I saw an assembly of the film that anything not relevant to their love story just didn't belong in it."

2. Matthew LOVES the book, and considers this film to be the "ultimate" fan art for it.

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Lopez: "The dirty little secret of this movie is that it's basically the ultimate fan art that I've made here... I love the book so much. I want viewers of the movie to get to the end of the story and feel the same way readers felt at the end of the book, even if the journey to get there is slightly different."

3. This is Matthew's feature film debut, and he says his heart is what drove him to direct it.

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Lopez: "There was such a queer love going on in the book, and I genuinely fell in love with it. The excitement level for me to do this was so high. If anybody knows of my work as a playwright*, this isn't necessarily the first thing they'd imagine me doing as a filmmaker, but I was being led by my heart with this one."

Editor's note: Lopez is the playwright behind The Inheritance, which won Best Play at the 2019 Tony Awards and 2019 Olivier Awards.  He also recieved a Tony nomination for co-writing the 2023 adaptation of Some Like It Hot.  

4. This film was inspired by finding joy and hope again after the pandemic.

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Lopez: "It was 2020 when I first encountered the book and when I started to talk about making this movie, and we needed a lot of hope in the world. There is something incredibly hopeful about the book, and I remember wanting to live in that joy and that fantasy. So the timing for this was really important! I think if I had come to it a couple of years earlier, I might have gone, 'oh, let's do something less fun.' But I was so in the mood for sweetness and kindness and love and sincerity. That's what drew me to the project.

5. They went through a long and thorough casting process (especially for the role of Alex).

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Lopez: "I told the producers that if we didn't find the right people, we just couldn't make the movie. What I found in Nick was someone who could really take care of the role of Henry, he was a great protector of that character. Taylor, conversely, just had just this magnetism... A sort of old Hollywood magnetism that was just so undeniable! So they were both really suited to their roles."

6. The trust between Taylor and Nicholas is ultimately what led to their brilliant chemistry on screen.

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Lopez: "When we put them together for their chemistry read, it was incredibly exciting to watch them play together. I feel like just they decided to trust each other, and that decision to trust became actual trust, and that is what carried them throughout the whole filmmaking process."

7. The team worked with an intimacy coordinator to prep for those *steamy* sex scenes.

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Lopez: "I found such a great partner in Robbie Taylor Hunt, our intimacy coordinator. I could articulate what I wanted the scene to look like, how I wanted to shoot it, and what I wanted the effect of it to be, then he would create a plan for how to film it. Together with Taylor and Nick, the four of us would all agree what the final scene would be. The result of is that instead of having two actors perform a sex scene, they get to ~act~ a sex scene.

I think there's such a fundamental difference between working with or without an intimacy coordinator. Those scenes are all about the connection between the characters and the love forming between them. You should see it on their faces. We were very careful that we wanted to a) get it right, and b) make sure that those two actors felt safe and comfortable. Because we did that, they were able to really act the truth of that moment."

8. Matthew believes sexuality shouldn't determine whether you get a role or not, and although he endeavoured to audition queer actors, their personal lives were not at the front of his mind when casting.

Rob Youngson/Prime

Lopez: "Any actor will tell you that most of their time is spent auditioning and looking for work, and every time an actor has an opportunity to even be seen by a casting director and/or a director, that's a vital part of their career journey. I do think that the opportunity to be seen is what is lacking for so many queer artists, so it was important to me to open this up to as many LGBTQ+-identifying individuals as possible.

However, when it came to casting, I didn't ask questions about who these people were themselves. The only question I knew I needed to ask was, 'do I see these characters in you?' That was fundamentally it. At the end of the day, what was most important to all of us, I think, is that we told this story because we all loved the story."

9. However, the film does feature actors who identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Lopez: "One of the great things about this film is that we do have a lot of out queer actors in the cast; in fact, it's filled with people who identify in various ways, or choose not to publicly identify at all. There are also queer actors playing straight roles too."

10. Casting the role of the first female President of the United States came down to one simple question – would you vote for Uma Thurman for President?

Jonathan Prime/Prime Video

Lopez: "Any casting list for who should be the first female President should have Uma Thurman at the top! Our American casting director gave us a really great criteria for the role – would you vote for her for president? And whenever he asked that question, I thought, 'that really helps us a lot!' To be honest, Uma remained at the top of the list the whole time."

11. Matthew couldn't believe his luck when Uma – and Stephen Fry – said yes to appearing in the film.

Jonathan Prime/Prime Video

Lopez: "Uma is someone I've admired and loved as a moviegoer for years, and the same goes for Stephen Fry, honestly. Part of me didn't really think I'd get so lucky enough for either of them to say yes, but the fact that they did is such a dream come true."

12. And finally, there are apparently a ton of Easter Eggs to look out for... But you'll have to find them yourself!

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When I asked Matthew if there were any Easter eggs to look out for, he simply said "yes". When I asked him if he could tell us any, he said, "no, because then they wouldn't be Easter Eggs! Let's come back in three weeks and we can talk about them". So I guess, once you see the film, let us know of any Easter eggs you find...

Red, White & Royal Blue lands on Prime Video on 11 August. Let us know if you're excited to watch in the comments below!

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