The Magnetism of Taylor Zakhar Perez The versatile talent talks

        The versatile talent talks about Red, White & Royal Blue, The Kissing Booth 2, and his upcoming projects.

   

    Justin French

    Coat, shirt, Balmain.

For decades, families with talented children have come together to jam out, whether on the global stage, like the Jackson 5 or Haim, or in a more humble manner, like Taylor Zakhar Perez’s family of 10. Surrounded by the barn cats that roamed the family’s property, Zakhar Perez and his siblings would put on sing-alongs, playing classic tracks from movies or sketch comedy shows. He would play the piano, his sister the violin, and his brother the guitar. With this, Zakhar Perez says, his hunger to perform began: “It was something I couldn’t shake off.”

While Zakhar Perez’s parents encouraged his artistic bent, he took his own route to Hollywood. His parents ran an auto body shop, while his mother took acting classes on the side. He didn’t have any connections in the industry or a breakout childhood role; he had to build his résumé brick by brick. “Hollywood loves to put people in a box,” he says. “If you do one thing successfully, then they want you just to do it over, and over, and over again. And so I’ve been really conscious with my team of making choices that keep me evolving rather than getting typecast.”

Zakhar Perez’s fight to make it began when he turned down a swimming scholarship at Fordham University to attend UCLA. An excellent swimmer in high school, he took a risk in coming to Los Angeles, pivoting from what had long seemed to be his plan. “It’s an industry where people are always looking for validation, and I think I just had to say, ‘I believe in myself, and I can do this, and I’m going to do this,’” he says. “I just had complete and utter belief.”

After starring in smaller “hot guy” roles in television shows, he earned his first big gig in The Kissing Booth 2 on Netflix, costarring with Jacob Elordi and Joey King. He reappeared in the franchise’s third film, and then the HBO series Minx.

But the cosmos shifted and his career reached a whole other level when he landed the role of Alex Claremont-Diaz in the Prime Video adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s novel Red, White & Royal Blue. Zakhar Perez starred as the son of the president of the United States, who falls in love with a prince of England, played by Nicholas Galitzine.

     

     Justin French

     Sweater, shirt, Gucci.

The steamy novel is beloved as one of the first big breakout queer romantic comedies, and gained a rabid community on BookTok. “I read the book when I had the first meeting...I had no idea what it was,” he says. “People were like, ‘This is huge on TikTok. People are talking about this,’ and I said, ‘Okay, I’m not on there.’ I mean, I have videos, but I haven’t posted in so long, because it’s just this endless pit of entertainment.”

“I want a career that I’m proud of, not one that      just checks all the right boxes.”

The frenzy began well before the movie premiered; after Zakhar Perez was cast as Alex, fans began stitching together clips of his and Galitzine’s past roles to form a love story. “I travel around the world quite often...and I have never been stopped more than I was for that film,” he says. “People lined up outside of a hotel in Paris to get a picture, because they loved Alex Claremont-Diaz so much. That speaks volumes about what these two characters mean to those who watch it.”

He notes that the story was especially impactful among the Latin and queer communities. “I’m very particular about projects I do, because I want to do films and TV that have something [to say]. Being able to do a romantic comedy that fit that bill was really special,” he says. “People in their 60s and 70s tell me...they wish they had this kind of movie when they were younger. So this isn’t a project I take for granted.”

     Justin French

     Coat, shirt, Balmain. Trousers, Dsquared2. Watch, Cartier. Socks, Falke. Loafers, Ferragamo.

Red, White & Royal Blue was released on Prime without the planned press tour, because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, but it nevertheless shot to number one and stayed there for three weeks. According to Amazon, it is still one of their top three most-viewed romantic comedies. Now, two years later, a sequel is on the horizon. Both Zakhar Perez and Galitzine are set to return, but by design, he knows next to nothing about the project so far. “I purposefully said, ‘Please do not share with me anything until we are ready to prep it, because I want plausible deniability,’” Zakhar Perez jokes. “I have not read a script, but I hear it’s very good.”

Meanwhile, he’s also been dipping a toe in the fashion world, sitting in the front row during fashion weeks and recently starring in a viral Lacoste underwear campaign (for those wondering, he spends about an hour in the gym a day, seldom drinks, and thinks twice about the food he puts in his body). Moving forward in his career, he plans on being selective with his projects, hopes to experiment in other film genres, and has plans to foray behind the camera. “I just got the life rights to somebody that I’m very excited about. I’m flexing a different muscle,” he says. “I want a career that I’m proud of, not one that just checks all the right boxes.”