Red, White & Royal Blue Director Matthew Lopez says the film should not have gone into production unless they found the real life personas that could embody the characters from the hit novel.
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00:00 You've done some pretty stupid things in your day, but this.
00:03 Thanks for cake?
00:04 Henry shoved me.
00:09 Based on Casey McQuiston's critically acclaimed New York
00:12 Times bestseller, Red, White, and Royal Blue
00:14 marks the first feature film writing and directing
00:17 debut of Tony Award winning playwright Matthew Lopez.
00:20 What's Trending had a chance to chat with the director
00:22 on what went into making this production truly possible.
00:28 Matthew Lopez, known for his accolades in playwriting,
00:31 directed the film from a screenplay
00:33 he co-wrote with Ted Maloir.
00:34 The movie was produced by a multitude
00:36 of executive producers with collaborations
00:38 with two-time Oscar nominated director of photography,
00:41 Stephen Goldblatt, and Berlanti Schecter Films Productions.
00:44 I think it's the worst word you might
00:45 say to convince the world that we're actually friends.
00:47 I love hanging out with this guy.
00:49 The notable film stars Taylor Zakhar Perez
00:52 as the son of the President of the United States, Alex
00:54 Claremont-Diaz, and Nicholas Galistin
00:56 as Prince Henry of the Royal Crown.
00:58 The two evolved from holding grudges behind the public eye
01:01 to a romantic relationship for the world on display.
01:04 In her interview with Lopez, the Tony Award winner
01:06 stated that he would not have wanted to make this movie
01:08 at all if the team could not find the real life personas
01:11 to play the lead characters.
01:13 That was the one thing that I basically
01:15 said to the producers in the studio
01:17 that this is the hill I'll die on, right?
01:20 Like, if we don't cast correctly,
01:23 then I don't see any point in making the movie.
01:25 If we cannot find two actors who can really embody these roles
01:29 and bring them to life on screen,
01:30 then there's just no way I can see myself making this movie.
01:34 In addition to casting, director Matthew Lopez
01:37 mentioned that the production team set an incredibly high bar
01:40 for what they want to achieve in the movie.
01:42 Knowing the book had a large fan base,
01:44 the team wanted to honor the novel
01:45 and create something that was built to last and, quote,
01:48 "stick in people's minds."
01:49 And yes, aside from setting these high bars,
01:52 the team took time to intricately detail
01:54 components of the production behind the scenes,
01:56 including the infamous cake debacle at the royal wedding.
01:59 Lopez admits that although not all of the cake itself
02:01 was real, there were, in fact, buckets of icing
02:04 on set to cover the cast.
02:05 And everything on their suits was real edible cake.
02:08 But it was one piece.
02:10 It was-- I mean, it was quite big.
02:12 It was as well as big as it looks.
02:15 And it was made of foam rubber and latex.
02:19 One of the things that we really were conscious about
02:21 is it's sort of avoiding food waste.
02:23 Like, it was actually-- it was a conversation
02:25 that I had with my production designer.
02:26 We're just like, we're not going to, like, waste--
02:29 - Use real cake.
02:30 - Yeah, I mean, you have to use real cake in some instances.
02:33 But I would say 90% of what you see in the movie is fake.
02:39 - In the end, Matthew Lopez stated
02:40 that even though the book was quite lengthy in comparison
02:43 to the film, the team could not fit everything
02:45 they wanted into the movie.
02:47 In order to do the novel justice that it truly deserved
02:49 and keep the plot lines intact, Lopez
02:51 stated that the team kept their focus
02:53 on the relationship of their main subjects, Alex and Henry.
02:56 - When we were cutting the film and putting it together,
02:59 and we obviously, you know, we filmed more than we put
03:01 into the movie, as you always do.
03:04 It really was just-- it became incredibly simple
03:07 in that everything that was about Alex and Henry
03:10 and the relationship belonged in the movie,
03:12 and everything that didn't, didn't.
03:15 [WHOOSH]
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