Joey King and her Kissing Booth series costar Taylor Zakhar Perez both looked over the moon as they caught up with each other as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series.
But the conversation took a somber turn as Taylor, who played one of the lead roles in Red, White & Royal Blue, opened up about the difficulty of filming the popular gay rom-com while knowing that his sister Kristy would never see him in it, as she had died from an aggressive form of cancer shortly before the Netflix film’s release.
The actors, who first appeared together when Taylor joined the cast of The Kissing Booth 2, also looked back on the start of their work friendship and how Joey’s experience as a child actor in Hollywood allowed her to mentor Taylor.
Taylor, 32, brought up his late sister when he recalled how he became the de facto oldest sibling in his family, despite being the sixth of eight children, as his older siblings were considerably older and had already moved out while he was still living with his parents and younger siblings.
‘First of all, I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry about your sister passing last year,’ Joey said sympathetically after Taylor brought up the 12-year age difference between himself as his late sister Kristy, who was the oldest child in his family.
Joey King and Kissing Booth series costar Taylor Zakhar Perez looked over the moon as they caught up with each other as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series. But their conversation took a somber turn when Taylor recalled the death of his oldest sister last year
Zach’s oldest sister Kristy died in June 2023 at age 44 of stage four Colorectal cancer. She was survived by her husband and three children; Kristy (R) pictured with her sister Maria
‘She was so amazing and such a bright light seemingly,’ she added, before admitting that she didn’t know Taylor’s sister well.
‘She loved you!’ Taylor replied, noting that Kristy would often ask how Joey was doing.
He mused that his costar reminded him of his sister because they shared several personality traits.
‘You guys had very similar qualities. Just like, loving, caring, always accepting,’ he said. ‘She was the glue that kept our family together.’
Taylor went on to explain how difficult the release of Red, White & Royal Blue was, as his sister was no longer alive to celebrate his career milestone.
She died early in June of 2023, the same month that Taylor graced the cover of GQ to promote his Netflix rom-com, and just a month shy of the film’s premiere and two months ahead of its August 2023 release.
‘It was hard doing Red, White & Royal Blue — and I’m going to start crying — knowing that she didn’t get to see it,’ he said, though he managed to keep the tears in check.
‘My director, Matthew López, was like, “Do you mind if I put ‘For Kristy’ at the end of the film?”‘ Taylor recalled.
‘It was hard doing Red, White & Royal Blue — and I’m going to start crying — knowing that she didn’t get to see it,’ he said, though he managed to keep the tears in check. He shared a photo of himself as a child with Kristy shortly after her death last year
‘My director, Matthew López, was like, “Do you mind if I put ‘For Kristy’ at the end of the film?”‘ Taylor recalled, calling the offer ‘so thoughtful’
‘That blew my mind, that somebody was so thoughtful to think of my family in our time of need and mourning. We’re coming up on a year, and it’s tough,’ Taylor admitted as he seemed to get misty eyed.
‘In the creative world, people throw themselves into projects to forget or to soothe themselves,’ he continued. ‘But I can’t do that. I need to be with my family.’
Shortly after Kristy’s death last year, Taylor shared a sweet black-and-white photo of himself as a child with his big sister to mark her death from stage four colorectal cancer. She was survived by her husband and three children.
‘Rest in power, my wonderful sister Kristy,’ he wrote at the time in his Instagram post. ‘This photo was taken in Chicago in 1993 at our dad’s auto-body shop. The place that raised us and gave us our family values, work ethic, and understanding of what it takes to make a buck. We all went through this “life training” and she was with us guiding us every step of the way.
‘She taught me to not sweat the small stuff and love unconditionally, she also taught me to “f*** it” and know how lucky we were,’ he continued
‘She was the proudest sister, knew every quote, dance, and song from my projects, and was so looking forward to seeing RWRB that I can’t imagine it premiering without her,’ Taylor recalled. ‘She will remain our guide walking with us through life and celebrating us as we continue to grow with her in spirit.’
He concluded with sweet parting words: ‘I love you infinity and beyond.’
Elsewhere in their filmed chat, Joey lit up as she recalled seeing Taylor’s kissing scene with his costar Nicholas Galitzine in Red, White & Royal Blue.
‘I was sitting in bed kicking my feet and giggling under the covers, because I had to rewind that scene about 14 times to see you say, “Shut up, stop talking,” grab him and kiss him,’ she said of the on-screen kiss. ‘So steamy, so sexy.’
She added: ‘This movie is huge for the LGBTQ community, and that’s a big responsibility.’
The actress also recalled her early days on the set of The Kissing Booth 2 with Taylor and how he quizzed her about the future prospects of their friendship.
‘I remember you asked me a question in the middle of filming — “Do you normally stay friends with people that you work with? Or do you get really close to them on set, and then you just don’t talk to them very much afterwards?”‘ she recalled.
Elsewhere in their filmed chat, Joey lit up as she recalled seeing Taylor’s kissing scene with his costar Nicholas Galitzine in Red, White & Royal Blue. ‘I was sitting in bed kicking my feet and giggling under the covers, because I had to rewind that scene about 14 times…’; still from The Kissing Booth 2
She also recalled Taylor asking her early in the shoot if they would still be friends after it was over; pictured in The Kissing Booth 2
Taylor also took the opportunity to praise his former costar for serving as an inspiration to him; still from The Kissing Booth
‘I’m going to say it: You lead a set in a way that makes everybody feel comfortable. You raise the energy levels, and people want to come to work. You were my intensive on how to lead,’ he gushed about Joey
‘It was a sweet question because I felt like the subtext was like, “Are we going to be friends after this?” And I told you, “It depends,”‘ she added.
Taylor also took the opportunity to praise his former costar for serving as an inspiration to him.
‘Kissing Booth was my first major project, with an incredible No. 1 on the call sheet,’ he explained. ‘I’m going to say it: You lead a set in a way that makes everybody feel comfortable. You raise the energy levels, and people want to come to work. You were my intensive on how to lead,’ he gushed.
‘You’ve become a sister to me, but also, you’re a role model and a mentor on how I want to be. I take it with me on every set I go to,’ he continued. ‘It sounds corny, but you totally inspired me.’