Joey King’s reunion with Kissing Booth 2 costar Taylor Zakhar Perez takes a somber turn as he recalls dedicating Red, White & Royal Blue to late sister Kristy after her sudden death

Joey King and Taylor Zakhar Perez from the Kissing Booth series both looked over the moon as they caught up as part of Variety’s actors on actors series.

But the conversation took a somber turn when Taylor, who played one of the leads in Red, White & Royal Blue, opened up about the difficulty of filming the hit gay rom-com while knowing his sister Kristy would never see him in it . , because she had died of an aggressive form of cancer shortly before the release of the Netflix film.

The actors, who first appeared together when Taylor joined the cast of The Kissing Booth 2, also reflected on the beginning of their working friendship and how Joey’s experience as a child actor in Hollywood allowed her to mentor Taylor.

Taylor, 32, was raising his late sister when he recalled how he effectively became the eldest sibling in his family, despite being the sixth of eight children, as his older siblings were significantly older and had already moved out while he still lived with him. his parents and younger siblings.

“First of all, I wanted to say I’m so sorry your sister passed away last year,” Joey said sympathetically after Taylor brought up the 12-year age difference between himself and his late sister Kristy, who was the eldest child. in his family.

“She was so amazing and seemingly so bright,” she added, before admitting that she didn’t know Taylor’s sister well.

“She loved you!” Taylor responded, noting that Kristy often asked how Joey was doing.

He mused that his co-star reminded him of his sister because they shared several personality traits.

‘You had very similar qualities. Just like, loving, caring and always accepting,” he said. “She was the glue that held 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 in early June 2023, the same month Taylor graced the cover of GQ to promote his Netflix rom-com, and just a month before the film’s premiere and two months before its August 2023 release.

“It was hard to make Red, White & Royal Blue – and I’m going to cry – knowing she didn’t get to see it,” he said, though he managed to keep the tears at bay.

“My director, Matthew López, said, ‘Do you mind if I put ‘For Kristy’ at the end of the movie?” Taylor recalled.

“That surprised me, that someone would be so thoughtful to think of my family in our time of need and mourning. We’re approaching a year and it’s tough,” Taylor admitted, his eyes seeming to blur.

“In the creative world, people throw themselves into projects to forget or calm themselves down,” he continued. ‘But I can’t. 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, marking 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 in his Instagram post at the time. “This photo was taken in Chicago in 1993 at our father’s auto body shop. The place where we were raised and where we gained our family values, work ethic and understanding of what it takes to make money. We all went through this ‘life training’ and she guided us every step of the way.

“She taught me not to sweat the small stuff and to 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 excited to see RWRB that I couldn’t imagine it premiering without her,” Taylor recalls. “She will continue to be 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 forever and beyond.”

Elsewhere in their filmed chat, Joey lit up when she remembered seeing Taylor’s kiss scene with his co-star 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 fourteen times to see you say, ‘Shut up, stop talking,’ grab him and kiss him,” she said about the movie. -screen kiss. ‘So steamy, so sexy.’

She added, “This film is huge for the LGBTQ community, and that’s a huge 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 during filming: ‘Do you normally stay friends with the people you work with? Or you get really close to them on set, and then you just don’t talk to them much. after that?’” she recalled.

“It was a sweet question because I felt like the subtext was, ‘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 big project, with an incredible number 1 on the call sheet,” he explained. ‘I’m going to say it: you lead a set in a way that makes everyone feel comfortable. You increase energy levels and people want to go to work. You were my intensive on how to lead,” he gushed.

‘You have become a sister to me, but you are also a role model and a mentor for how I want to be. I take it with me on every set I go to,” he continued. “It sounds corny, but you have completely inspired me.”