{"id":35558,"date":"2023-08-08T13:59:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T11:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1869892"},"modified":"2023-08-08T15:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T13:51:59","slug":"red-white-royal-blue-director-reveals-book-scene-he-had-to-include","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/red-white-royal-blue-director-reveals-book-scene-he-had-to-include\/","title":{"rendered":"Red, White & Royal Blue director reveals book scene he had to include"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew Lopez has adapted Casey McQuiston’s hit LGBTQ+ romance novel for the screen. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 08 August 2023 at 11:59 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Adapting a beloved book for the big screen always brings with it a certain degree of pressure \u2013 and Red, White & Royal Blue<\/a> director Matthew Lopez has revealed there were some scenes from the best-selling book he knew he could never leave out.<\/p>\n

The upcoming film is based on Casey McQuiston\u2019s hit LGBTQ+ romance novel of the same name, which quickly developed a devoted following after its publication in 2019.<\/p>\n

And ahead of its Prime Video<\/a> release, Lopez spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com<\/a> about the adaptation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are certain things in that book that, as the director of the movie, if I hadn\u2019t put it in the film I would never be allowed to direct a movie again,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>

Specifically, he singled out \u201cthe cake scene\u201d \u2013 a moment in which lead characters Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) embarrassingly fall into a giant wedding cake after an altercation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no chance that I was going to cut the cake scene out of the film,\u201d Lopez said, while also revealing an amusing behind-the-scenes detail about filming that moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about the cake scene is that that shot of the cake landing in their faces is actually me and my production designer throwing cake in Taylor and Nick\u2019s faces,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter about three weeks of filming [that] was a really great way for me to burn off some steam!\u201d<\/p>\n

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And that scene was just one of many that Lopez was excited to bring to the screen after first reading and falling in love with McQuiston\u2019s book in early 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I was preparing the film, I was really\u2026 I put a lot of thought and a lot of care into the V&A scene,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe got to film overnight at the V&A one evening and it was very magical.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, as a filmmaker looking at the book, there were just a lot of things that I was excited to film.\u201d<\/p>\n
It obviously helped that Lopez was such a huge fan of the book \u2013 and indeed the director confessed that once he had read it he was absolutely convinced that he had<\/em> to be the person to helm the adaptation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain things where you\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, I could do that\u2019 or \u2018Well if you pay me enough, I\u2019ll do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then there\u2019s, \u2018I can\u2019t live with myself if I don\u2019t try and make this movie\u2019. And that\u2019s where it lived for me with this one \u2013 I basically was very, very shameless in my attempts to be the person who got to make this movie!\u201d<\/p>