Sarah Shahi Says Red, White & Royal Blue Adaptation Is Like A '30s Or '40s 'Screwball Comedy' [Exclusive Interview]
Casey McQuiston's book "Red, White & Royal Blue" took the reading world by storm when it first came out in 2019. The story is delightfully charming and tells a nemeses-to-lovers tale between Alex Claremont-Diaz, the dashing First Son of the United States, and a seemingly aloof British prince named Henry. When the two get caught fighting by the tabloids, they set up a fake friendship to repair the damage their feud has caused to U.S. and British relations. That faux arrangement for Instagram, however, soon becomes something much more, even though a romance between the two may complicate diplomacy between the two nations even further.
I told you it was delightful!
The book was gobbled up by millions, became a New York Times bestseller, and was named on of the best books of the year by NPR, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Hollywood took notice, and producer Greg Berlanti of Arrowverse fame (and a new "Green Lantern" series at HBO Max) along with his partner, Sarah Schechter, produced a feature film adaptation with Amazon.
The movie shot in the U.K. this summer, with Uma Thurman playing the U.S. President and Taylor Zakhar Perez ("The Kissing Booth 2 & 3") and Nicholas Galitzine ("Cinderella") playing the First Son and British prince, respectively. Another star of the film is Sarah Shahi, who also recently starred with Dwayne Jonhson in DC's "Black Adam." During a recent interview with her, I couldn't help but ask Shahi about "Red, White & Royal Blue."
'It's just the best bubblegum you've ever had'
Here's what she had to say about her time working on the adaptation:
"I am such a fan of the director — he's a newcomer in a way. His name is Matthew López and he won a Tony for this incredible play he had written and he adapted ['The Inheritance.'] For those that haven't read it, the book is just amazing. It's just delicious bubblegum — it's just the best bubblegum you've ever had, and it was just incredible.
[Galitzine and Perez] are wonderful. It was fun and it was different. Stylistically, the movie is going to feel like some of the old movies from the '30s and '40s, like a Howard Hawks, like a Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, that kind of screwball comedy. So yeah, it was just amazing. It was all in London and it was almost like a paid vacation."
Imagining "Red, White & Royal Blue" as a screwball comedy with a '30s and '40s flair is something sounds like pure joy for me and likely for the many, many other fans of the book.
Sadly, we don't have news yet on when we'll be able to see "Red, White & Royal Blue" on Prime Video. Given that production has wrapped, however, it's likely we'll be able to watch it sometime in early 2023.