Taylor Zakhar Perez

Perez was born in Chicago on December 24, 1991, and grew up in Chesterton, Indiana.^[7] He attended Chesterton High School and he has been a national level swimmer.^[8] Perez has a diverse ancestry, ranging from Mexican and Middle Eastern to Mediterranean.^[9] He is partially Croatian through his mother and partially Hungarian through his father.^[10]

His mother is an aesthetician and he is the sixth of eight children.^[11] Perez used to change tires at the family auto-body shop on weekends.^[12] When he received a swimming scholarship to Fordham University, he turned it down to attend UCLA, where he majored in Spanish culture and community and minored in film and television.^[13] Perez started off his acting career by performing at musicals in opera houses at an early age.^[14]

After a series of television guest roles since 2012, Perez starred as Marco Valentin Peña in Netflix's The Kissing Booth 2 in 2020.^[15] For his role, he took choreography and guitar lessons.^[16] It became the most-streamed film on Netflix during its opening weekend.^[17] The series was the second most streamed during its second weekend, with Forbes noting it as "one of the most popular movies ever on the platform."^[18][19] In October that year, Netflix reported that 66 million households watched the film over its first four weeks of release.^[20]

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Perez partnered with Variant Malibu, a 3D tech company to make face masks. They cut 90% of traditional manufacturing waste.^[21] He also designed masks with The Kissing Booth 2 co-stars Joel Courtney, Joey King, Meganne Young and Maisie Richardson-Sellers. The proceeds went to a Chicago organisation that helps disabled kids, adults and families with disabled kids in the Hispanic community.^[22] In 2021, Perez reprised the role of Marco Valentin Peña in The Kissing Booth 3.^[23]

In 2022, Perez starred in HBO Max's comedy series Minx as Shane Brody, a firefighter who becomes the frontrunner for debut-issue cover star of the first erotic magazine for women in Los Angeles.^[24] Talking about the challenges he faced playing the character, Perez said, "The biggest thing was grounding him, making him likable, and also playing against the line."^[25] Perez went on to star in gaming comedy film 1Up alongside Ruby Rose where he played Dustin.^[26]

In 2023, Perez starred in Amazon Prime Video's Red, White & Royal Blue as Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the United States, opposite Nicholas Galitzine.^[27] The film was released on August 11.^[28] For the first three weeks after its release, it was the top watched film worldwide on the platform.^[5][6] The Observer's Wendy Ide praised the charisma of Perez and Galitzine and credited it for the film's appeal: "It turns out that watching two impossibly beautiful boys making cow eyes at each other might be just the escapist pulp we need right now."^[29] A sequel is in development.^[30][31]

In February 2024, Perez was appointed the ambassador for that year's SAG Awards ceremony.^[32][33] In March 2024, he signed with talent agency Paradigm.^[34] In April 2025, Perez voiced Johnny Stompanato in the Audible audio drama The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery.^[35]

Perez has discussed environmental sustainability and Latin representation in the entertainment industry in interviews. He has participated in supply-chain visits with Eco-Age and The Woolmark Company, an Australian wool industry organization.^[36]

In January 2025, Perez was named global brand ambassador for Lacoste, and starred in their new underwear ad campaign.^[37][38]