BRB, Listening To Taylor Zakhar Perez Sing In ‘The Kissing Booth 2’ On Repeat
After watching The Kissing Booth 2, viewers were instantly drawn to not only the love triangles and the original cast, but also to one of the new faces in the sequel. Taylor Zakhar Perez plays Marco, a handsome newcomer to the school who majorly mixes things up in the world of Elle Evans. While the new guy's obvious good looks is one thing, fans are eager to know if Taylor Zakhar Perez is really singing in The Kissing Booth 2.
The character seems to be a triple threat in the film, with impressive talents including dancing, playing the guitar, and singing. Plus, did I mention he's a total snack? (If I didn't, Elle certainly did.) At first, his good looks are distracting, but once you hear him sing, it's obvious Perez has major skill. According to a July 23 interview with Glamour, it seems the actor really does have an impressive vocal range.
The Chicago native started acting in musical theater at a young age, and has had brief appearances on iCarly, Scandal, Young & Hungry, and Awkward. The Kissing Booth 2 is definitely his biggest role yet, though, and landing it was huge. Despite the gravity of the audition, Perez told Glamour her felt pretty confident in his singing and dancing abilities thanks to his years of training. After seeing him belt out "What I Like About You" on the streets of Santa Monica in the film, it's clear Elle — and the rest of the world — have reason to be blown away by his musical prowess.
“In the casting breakdown [for The Kissing Booth 2] it said, ‘Please submit professional singers and dancers. We would love to consider Eurovision or American Idol stars,’ or something like that,” Perez told Glamour. Since he's been training since he was a kid, he wasn't too worried about his skills. Still, he got some last-minute voice and choreography lessons to help improve his chances of landing the role... which worked, obviously.
While Perez felt pretty good about singing and dancing in the movie, he was concerned about one important component of Marco's character: his guitar skills. "I have never played guitar in my life," he said. "I grew up playing piano." It seems his other talents — not to mention dreamy good looks — were enough to land him the role, and a week after he got the part, he started taking guitar lessons.
Since The Kissing Booth 2 ended on a cliffhanger with Marco right at the center, it looks like there's a pretty good chance his character will return, should Netflix renew the franchise for a third movie. Fingers crossed there's plenty more screen time for Perez's talents in the near futures.
The Kissing Booth 2 is on Netflix now.
