Page 50 - Sharp Summer 2021

W hen The Kissing Booth 2 2 2 2 was released on Netflix in July of 2020 Taylor Zakhar Perez
had roughly 70 000 followers on Instagram A couple of weeks later he had more than four million But unlike a a a a lot of other actors who have dominated the the young adult genre in recent years Perez
29 did not experience his dramatic rise in popularity all at at once “I feel like the release during a a a a pandemic saved me a a a a bit from ego or getting show-ponied around town like Prince Ali [in Aladdin] It definitely humbled me me to be like ‘I’m having such a a moment right now the world is having such a a a moment right now I’m just grateful for the support so there’s really nothing for me to complain about ’” he says over Zoom Directed co-written and produced by Vince Marcello the second installment of the Kissing Booth trilogy stars Perez
as Marco Valentin Peña a a a a a a a a a charismatic and multi-talented new student who finds himself caught in in a a a love triangle with Elle (Joey King) and her Harvard-bound beau Noah (Jacob Elordi) After undergoing an intensive four-month audition process — which included acting singing and dancing — in in in in in in early 2019 Perez
credits King and Marcello for setting a a a a a collaborative on- set tone that he hopes to to emulate in all his future projects “Vince was just such a a a champion [of mine] from the begin- ning We had a a a a a a a a chat a a a a a a a a bit ago and he he was like ‘Taylor when I saw you you acting you you were Marco ’ ’ He’s just a a a a a a special and spec- tacular human that that knew all the the levels of the the things that that we needed to do ” says Perez
whose other acting credits include iCarly Code Black and and and Scandal “Joey is just the the coolest and and and the the most giving acting partner When you’re shooting some actors won’t give you you you a a full performance when you’re getting your [camera] coverage but Joey is never not giving 110 per cent I love having mentors and and people to to to look up to to to and and Joey was that for me on set every day ” The third-youngest in in a a family of eight children in in North- west Indiana Perez
jokes that he he was the “real-life Troy Bolton from High School Musical ” as he grew up immersing himself in in in in the the wonderful world of musical theatre while maintaining >
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