Prime Video's royal rom-com Red, White & Royal Blue is shoring up its already loaded cast with three more talented stars. According to Variety, Sharon D Clarke, Thomas Flynn, and Malcolm Atobrah are boarding the production, which is currently underway in the U.K. They join a slew of A-listers including the film's royal couple Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine along with Uma Thurman as the President of the United States.
Red, White, & Royal Blue is based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston. It's a delightful queer love story centering on the staged friendship turned romance between Alex Claremont-Diaz, the Mexican-American son of U.S. President Ellen Claremont (Thurman), and Prince Henry of the U.K. Upon attending a royal wedding, the pair are involved in a royal dust-up that requires both to propose a truce and make nice for the sake of the relationship between the U.S. and Britain. What starts as diplomacy turns into romance as they put their differences aside and discover a mutual attraction to each other. In order to protect Ellen's re-election bid and avoid scandal though, they have to keep their love a secret.
The book really established itself as a favorite thanks to TikTok and the #BookTok community, assuring that an adaptation of some sort would be coming to explore the budding relationship of Alex and Henry in great detail. Aside from its leads, the film has an ensemble cast that features Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry, and Sarah Shahi as stars alongside Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Aneesh Sheth, Polo Morin, Ahmed Elhaj, and Akshay Khanna. It also marks the feature directorial debut for Tony Award winner Matthew López who tuned up a script originally penned by Ted Malawer. López, McQuiston, and Michael McGrath are all set to executive produce while Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schecter produce through their company Berlanti/Schecter Films.
Aside from being a Tony-nominated actress for her performance in Caroline, or Change, Clarke has also taken on some major on-screen roles with the Elton John pic Rocketman being one of her most prominent credits. She's also been a longtime cast member on the BBC drama Holby City, appearing most recently on the series in 2019. Among her most recent credits are La Fortuna, Doctor Who, and Showtrial, and she has a starring role in The Bagman on the docket.
Flynn comes into the film hot off of appearing in several episodes of the Netflix giant Bridgerton as Rupert Norton. His career is on the upswing as he's also slated to play alongside Elvis star Austin Butler in the upcoming period piece Masters of the Air. Atobrah rounds out the group of new additions, bringing in experience from New Skool Life, Intergalactic, and Death in Paradise.
Red, White & Royal Blue is shaping up to be a massive hit for Prime Video considering the strong cast and social media buzz for the book. We'll have more here on Collider as production continues on the highly anticipated adaptation.
In the mood for more romance? Check out the trailer for Bridgerton Season 2 down below.