RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE
↳book > screen
“Baby.” It’s become a thing: baby. He’s knows it’s become a thing. He’s slipped up and accidentally said it a few times, and each time, Henry positively melts.
- - - - - - -
“Hello?” It’s Henry’s voice, sweet and posh and shaky and confused, and relief knocks the wind out of him.
He hears Henry’s exhale over the line. “Hi, love. Are you okay?”
He laughs wetly, amazed. “Are you kidding me? I’m fine, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Just hold on until I get there, we’re gonna figure this out.” “I will.” “I’m coming. I’ll be there soon.”
Henry exhales a wet, broken laugh. “Please, do hurry.”
matthewlopez: One of my favorite moments in Casey McQuiston’s novel is when Henry explains himself to Alex in an email, using the literary tradition of a fairy tale. I wanted to get that idea into the movie and so I wrote this scene inspired by that moment in the book. I ended up cutting it as we didn’t ultimately learn anything we didn’t already know/intuit and because the three and a half minutes the scene runs was ultimately hindering our momentum. It was a painful but necessary cut and I’m happy to finally share the scene with you all. The speech ran over a page and half in the shooting script and Nick performed it beautifully in a single extended take that we then got coverage on for the end. For those of you who know the film (and there are a few of you), it was intended to go after the scene between Alex and Oscar in the kitchen and before the scene on the raft. I hope you enjoy!