LONDON — During the silent few months in Hollywood when many actors went quiet due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Taylor Zakhar Perez, much like his character Alex Claremont-Diaz in the film “Red, White & Royal Blue,” based on Casey McQuiston’s 2019 romance novel, has had something to say.
He’s been discreet about acting projects, but he’s vocal about his work with Eco-Age, the eco-consultancy founded by Livia Firth, and about everything he’s learned, from supply chains to social sustainability.
“I started modeling when I was 15 years old and clothing always fascinated me and the process of [how and where it was made]. I was doing department store and catalog work back in the day, so going on location was just a ton of clothing, that was like going to Disneyland every time you had a job,” Zakhar Perez recalls on a Zoom video call in London, which he took while eating a chicken teriyaki bowl.
“When I got to Los Angeles, the clothes got cooler and more expensive,” he adds.
A friend in the jewelry industry recommended he watch the 2015 documentary “The True Cost” on fast fashion, and he says it shifted his mindset.
“We’re never taught any of this stuff. We hear about poor working conditions for factory workers; dye that’s being released into the waterways in different countries; the exploitation of women, but it’s never really at an arm’s reach,” says Zakhar Perez.
Shortly after watching the documentary, he was introduced to Eco-Age’s chief executive officer, Harriet Vocking, through the same friend who had recommended “The True Cost.”
The actor was then invited on a purely educational trip to learn about Lucara Diamond, a women-led diamond mine in Gaborone, Botswana.
At first, he was skeptical and questioned the company’s sustainability intentions, he says.
![Taylor Zakhar Perez on a farm visit](gif/lazyload-fallback.gif)
“What a lot of people don’t focus on with their company is the social sustainability aspect, and with Lucara Diamond, there are so many women at the mine with top-of-the-line equipment that [is] clean and safe,” Zakhar Perez explains.
Lucara Diamond is placing an infrastructure in Gaborone that will result in the community having a place to call home after the land is mined of its mineral, Zakhar Perez said.
Last year, he worked with Prada on its sustainable jewelry campaign, Eternal Gold, melting old jewelry to make new pieces, and after working to educate himself on sustainability, is trying to bring that information to his social media fan base.
“Sometimes people don’t care, they just want to see pictures of you on set; your shirt off or what food you’re eating — they just want stuff to scroll past, but why not diversify our platforms? You can educate, entertain and be goofy,” he says, admitting that he’s still trying to find a balance for what he puts out there to his 4.9 million Instagram followers.
Zakhar Perez grew up in Chicago, in a working class household of nine, where his parents had reiterated the importance of higher education and advised him to pursue a career as a doctor, lawyer or architect.
He now sees himself relaying the same messages to his young nephew Mikey, who he praises for being equally good at mathematics and soccer.
Zakhar Perez got his first taste of acting when he and his siblings would do their homework while attending his sister’s theater rehearsals.
“I liked the camaraderie and the creativity of the group. [Being one of seven siblings] you’re always performing in a way, whether it’s for your parents attention or for your older siblings’ attention,” says Zakhar Perez.
At school, he was on a swimming team that was ranked as the best in his state for almost 10 years. After school he would attend classes at his local theater.
“After high school, I moved to Los Angeles and applied to UCLA for biology, but I saw that I didn’t want to be a doctor as I kept taking acting classes in between jobs,” says Zakhar Perez, adding that his move to the West Coast was part of his plot to pursue acting.
Growing up in the suburbs, he was never surrounded by highbrow film and TV; instead his household was filled with old-school comedies from the ‘90s and “Saturday Night Live.”
His first foray into film was via regular family visits to the cinema to watch “Jurassic Park” and Marvel blockbuster films.
“As I got older and started watching Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival winners, your taste shifts, but I’m not going to lie, you have ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Barbie’ and ‘Avatar’ — those major movies are sick. How can you not like them? I cried so hard [at Avatar],” says Zakhar Perez.
“I’m open to crying. For a long time it was that South Side Chicago mentality of no crying in baseball, but with acting classes, you become more in touch with your feelings,” he adds.
In the absence of acting, Zakhar Perez hints at working with an outdoor company next year on a small collaboration.
Even though the prospect of launching a brand interests him, he says he “would do a face brand before I did a clothing line, because my mom was an aesthetician. I grew up in the world of ‘wash your face, put this on your face.’ Whereas with clothing, it seems like you have to keep designing for every season, which is a full-time job. I don’t think I would want to do that.”