You could say Matthew López’s contributions to queer entertainment is worthy of a crown.
The out playwright, director, andscreenwriter made history in 2021 when he became the first Latino to win a Tony for Best Play, for The Inheritance, a two-part production about the effects of the AIDS epidemic on modern gay life.
Two years later in 2023, López made his directorial debut with Prime’s mega-popular LGBTQ+ rom-com, Red, White and Royal Blue. The film, based on Casey McQuiston novel of the same name, tells the story of Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the first son of the United States who, through a series of royal shenanigans, ends up falling for Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), a British prince.
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Upon its release on Amazon Prime, the movie became a juggernaut hit – becoming the No. 1 movie globally on the streamer during its premiere weekend, and continuing to chart in the top 10 movies weeks after its release. But more importantly, the film was praised for its LGBTQ+ and Latino representation – something that didn’t exist when López was younger.
“This was the movie I needed to see, that I didn’t get to see when I was younger,” he told QBurgh on why he felt the need to make the film. “And I say that not to self-aggrandize, but this is the story that I needed to see. That’s why I made the movie in the first place. I read the book and I thought to myself, ‘Where were you all my life?.. Where was this beautiful fairytale all of my life? Why didn’t anybody think to write a fairytale for me?’
“I needed to make it up to young Matthew… I needed something for the younger me to retroactively get. And so even though I had to wait until I was 46 and make it myself, I do hope that this is one of many things that makes life for queer audiences different than the life that I had growing up.”
In addition to being an important vehicle for LGBTQ+ representation, Red, White and Royal Blue also became something of a sex ed tool… in that, the film’s steamy sex scene taught a whole bunch of straights that *gasp* gay men can get down and dirty in the missionary position. Which hey, we call that a win. Thanks, Mr. López, for your contributions to Gay Culture™!
Joking aside, it’s clear López understands the weight of telling queer love stories, and having queer characters in his work, whether it is on the stage or on the screen.
“For decades, (Hollywood) culture (and the type of stories being told) was generally one monolithic thing, and then in the last — what would you say, 15, 20 years? — that has shifted tremendously,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Who gets to tell stories is changing. What those stories are going to be about — who they’re about — is changing.”
But even with this, López notes how it’s important the queerness of it all doesn’t completely takeover or sacrifice the story being told.
“I don’t mean to say that (telling queer love stories) isn’t important to me,” he said in the same interview. “That’s important or else I wouldn’t be telling the story. But it can’t be the sole reason the story is being told. The sole reason the story’s being told is it’s a good story. It’s a good story, because it’s a queer story, but being a queer story isn’t sufficient. It can’t just be that or else it’s just ticking a box. And you don’t have a story if you don’t have queerness…
“It isn’t trying to ask the audience to see queer characters the same way they see straight characters. It’s about looking at the soul of the human. Period. Full stop. And the soul of the humans that I often like to investigate are queer souls inhabiting queer bodies.”
Whether it is his award-winning work in theater or in film, we couldn’t be prouder to include López on Queerty’s Pride50. He has mastered the art of LGBTQ+ storytelling in a way that isn’t pandering or surface level. Furthermore, López is bringing much needed Latino representation to the industry, both behind and in front of the camera.
You could say we have nothing but royal love for him and his work!
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