Nicholas Galitzine may have seen all his strict diet and hard work in the gym pay off as he transformed into Masters of the Universe’s He-Man, but he didn’t care when that training ended.
“Three weeks later, I was cast in a movie, and the director said, ‘I want you to stop looking like you are, so eat whatever you want and stop lifting weights,'” Galitzine told me Monday night at the premiere of “Masters of the Universe” at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. “I said, ‘That’s music to my ears. I’m not going to do anything for three weeks.’ And let me tell you, it’s depressing. It takes so long to put on, but so quick to take off.”
So what did he eat outside of training? “It was something like ‘mac and cheese,’ but you don’t even want to know,” Galitzin says. “I felt sick.”
Director Travis Knight explained why Galitzine was perfect for the role even before seeing the physical changes. “It’s a very daunting ask to say to an actor, ‘Hey, you’re going to be the strongest man in the universe.’ I mean boulder shoulders. It means huge biceps. It means rippling pecs and six-pack abs. Who would want to accept that?” he said with a laugh. “But Nick, he totally accepted what that meant. And that meant he had to change his body. Nick is an extraordinary actor…but no one ever really saw him as an action hero.”
He added, “We knew Nick had all the qualities we needed to bring a character like[He-Man]to life. He had vulnerability, he had charisma, he had charm, he was very funny, and then we needed a physical change.”
Asked about the possibility of a Masters of the Universe sequel, director Travis Knight claimed, “I think we’re a little bit ahead of the curve because we approached all of these things and put everything we had into it as if we had one chance to tell the story.”
That said, he added, “If the world wants more, we have more stories to tell.”
When Camila Mendes, who plays Teela, arrived at the premiere, she gazed at her reflection on one of the giant posters lining the purple carpet. “It’s so cool,” she said. “I feel like I’m pinching myself. I’m thinking a lot about little Camila tonight, which I never imagined. I’m just trying to soak it in because this is such a precious opportunity. I never thought I’d be premiering a big movie at the Chinese Theater. It’s just so surreal. I don’t know if something like this will ever happen again. So I’m just enjoying it. I’m where I am right now.”
It wasn’t until recently that Galitzine saw the “Masters of the Universe” sign. “I wasn’t going out because I was shooting this tiny little indie movie and I didn’t have time for myself. And I just thought, ‘Oh, yeah, they must have started putting up He-Man posters yet,'” he said.
Meanwhile, in other news from Galitzine, he briefly touched on “Red, White & Royal Wedding,” the long-awaited sequel to “Red, White & Royal Blue.” Galitzine will return as Britain’s Prince Harry, while Taylor Zakhar Perez will reprise his role as Henry’s boyfriend, the son of the U.S. president (Uma Thurman).
“It felt like a really healthy experience because it’s so rare to be able to go back to something,” Galitzine said. “I get to work with Taylor and Uma again, and Lena Headey is also on board. It was a lot of fun to shoot.”
See photos from the Masters of the Universe premiere below.
Nicholas Galitzine and Dolph Lundgren
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Camila Mendes and Alison Brie
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Dolph Lundgren, Morena Baccarin, Camila Mendes, Nicholas Galitzine, Travis Knight, Idris Elba
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Idris Elba and Sabrina Doerr Elba
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Mattel’s Robbie Brenner and Inon Kreiz
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