Interview: Tony Winner Matthew López Hopes to Bring Joy Through RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE

While Matthew López didn't expect a movie as big as Red, White, & Royal Blue to be his directorial debut, he knew it was a story he had to tell.

When Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the President of the United States (Uma Thurman), and British Prince Henry’s (Nicholas Galitzine) icy relationship unexpectedly begins to thaw into a tentative friendship, the friction that existed between them sparks something deeper than they ever expected.

The film also features Uma Thurman, Sharon D Clarke, Rachel Hilson, and Stephen Fry.

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE, based on the New York Times best seller, will premiere globally on August 11, exclusively on Prime Video.

BroadwayWorld sat down with López, Tony winning writer of The Inheritance and Some Like It Hot, to discuss how he related to the project, why its meant to be a "rom-com fairytale" and isn't meant to address larger political issues, making the jump from stage to screen, and more.

I wanna start out by asking what initially made you want to adapt this novel into a film.

I read the book in early 2020 and I fell madly in love with Alex and Henry. It was the two characters. Everything else I loved as well, but those two people, that love affair that they have, it just turned all of my imagination on. I really wanted to make this movie in order to tell their story.

What was it like for you to make your directorial debut with this film?

It was incredibly exciting. I was looking at different projects to make at the same time and this was the one that sort of happened. I didn't necessarily think I was gonna be making such a big film for my first movie. I thought maybe I would start a little smaller, but this is the one that was ready to go. It was tremendous fun because I think if it had been a movie this big, but it had been a different story, it might have like swallowed me whole but because it was in service of telling Alex and Henry's story, everything was just fun and everything was exciting and the largeness of the film just sort of helped tell the story. This movie did need to be kind of large and this movie needed to have an epic sweep to it. It felt like toys to play with rather than like, like a burden to meet, you know?

I like that you say that this was sort of meant to be that first movie that you made your directorial debut with. Did that sort of like comfortability come with relating to the characters in any way? What was it like personally for you to do this?

I definitely relate a lot to Alex. I think Alex was my way into the story. I have very very little first-hand knowledge of what it means to be a prince. Alex is a person in the world. I am a queer, biracial person from the American South, just like Alex, my mom is white, my dad is Puerto Rican, and Alex's dad is Mexican. So there's a lot of ways in which Alex is sort of placed in the world. I come from working class family just like Alex did. So there was a lot of overlap. And then of course, there's a lot of ways in which we have nothing in common. But those places where we do, I got him and it really sort of, I felt like in some ways I could tell the story through his eyes. Alex was always my way into the story for sure.

Seeing these characters' stories be told right now in our current society was such a light. What was it like for you to be creating this film and releasing it on such a large platform during a time where our country is dealing with this hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community?

You know, I think that in some ways, I know that this movie was never intended to be a response to that because it was, the novel was written at a time when before this most recent spate of attacks on our communities. Even the filming of the movie was in England so we were in our little bubble far, far away from America when we were making the film. You can put yourself into a bubble when you make a movie, no matter where you are. But I do think that what I hope happens is in the midst of this, there is something to be said for escapism and there is something to be said for fairy tale and wish fulfillment.

This movie isn't designed to address the issues that you mentioned. It isn't designed to fix the problems. That was never what this book was intended to be and this film isn't. What I hope is that this film does in some ways give solace, in some ways bring joy. I think at the end of the day, bringing joy to people who are under siege is a very valuable, valuable tool in the arsenal.

I think Alex being someone who sort of sets a goal for himself and his family politically and that in the fairy tale version of it, he pulls it off. That these two people, through their queerness, can change the world. I think the other thing that you learn from this story is that like the best way to challenge the preconceived notions or to challenge authority is to be yourself. I think that you see that happening in America where in response to these draconian laws, it's like, instead of don't say gay, we're gonna scream it. I think that defiance, which has always been a hallmark of the queer community, is going to serve us well. In a very rom-com fairy tale sort of way, Alex and Henry do the same thing.

Switching gears, we love your work on the stage so much. But it's so exciting to see the extended amount of storytelling that you were able to do with this movie. What were some of your favorite differences that you found in your move from stage to screen?

I, of course, love having a bigger budget. I love having a larger palette to paint on. Switching gears and moving away from language to visuals is such a fun sort of way to retrain my brain. There's just something infinitely possible about what you can get out of any given scene based on how you shoot it, based on how you cut it, based on how you sound mix it, based on what song you use underneath it. There is something really, really exciting about it. It is a different set of tools.

It's like when you were a kid and you get that mega-box of 64 Crayolas with the sharpener in the back, you know? Like that's what it feels like, that mega box of Crayolas, which is fun.

Watch the trailer for Red, White & Royal Blue here: