Galitzine is on the rise if you know where to look. The last verb is important because his appearance often influences his character. But when you ask the 29-year-old British actor to talk about his aspirations, his plump lips and defined cheekbones become irrelevant. Despite being obsessed with The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars as a child, he has never done any fantasy or science fiction. And I don't mind dipping into those formative genres. He admires the absurdity of the villains portrayed by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant in the Paddington films, and relishes the challenge of taking on such outlandish antagonists.
“It takes a lot of skill as an actor to jump into that space,” he says. “They both crushed it.”
One step at a time, right? Galitzine says he'll still play sexy roles as long as there's something special going on underneath. For these men, beauty can be both a tool and a curse. In his recently released Starz series “Mary & George,” sexuality is a source of power for George Villiers, an ambitious British courtier who rises in status by seducing King James I. But for “The Ide of You” pop star Hayes Campbell, It will be released on Prime Video on May 2nd. His exciting status is both a blessing and a curse to his existence, robbing him of his privacy. Coincidentally, both characters participate in his May to his December romance.
“I feel like I'm starting to surprise people with what I'm doing,” Galitzine said during a Zoom call in late March from her hometown of London, where she had returned to obtain a new visa from the U.S. embassy. He's been living in Los Angeles these days, but he jokes in an interview that when he first moved there, he was shocked by how pretty everyone looked. However, most actors strive to stand out and not fit into the box. Hathaway, Galitzine's more experienced co-star, wrote in an email that “how an artist rebels against typecasting…says as much about the artist as it does the performance.”
“One of the reasons you get a role when you're at an unknown stage in your career is because it's easy for people in power to see you in that role. It doesn’t mean I’m doing it,’” Hathaway continues. “Nick is inherently handsome, intelligent, sensitive, funny, sporty, and brave. … And I know he has so much more to show.”
BA quick thank you to Hugh Grant. During the Zoom, Galitzine digresses about Grant's situation. My career took a strange turn. Once a romantic hero, Grant now stalks the villain. Last year, he reunited with Paddington 2 director Paul King to play the noisy Oompa Loompa in Wonka. And “he's even more respected now than he was before, which is great,” Galitzine says.
Does Galitzine hope to emulate these choices? One day? He craves versatility and looks through a list of actors he admires, including James McAvoy, Brad Pitt, Matt Dillon, and Michael Pitt. “I'm so in awe of my contemporaries,” he adds, naming Barry Keoghan, Paul Mescal and Leo Woodall. His current North Star may be Ryan Gosling. His Oscar-nominated performance in Barbie reinforced what loyal fans have known for years. Gosling can do drama, but he's also very good at comedy.
So might Galitzine. He has been an actor for 10 years and appeared in the 2019 psychological horror series “Chambers,” the 2021 musical film “Cinderella,” and the 2022 romantic drama “Purple Hearts.” And Royal Blue” became a big hit. Although he plays a straight man opposite co-star Taylor Zakhar Perez (though not literally, as evidenced by the film's raucous gay sex scene), he is still too young to play Prince Harry. There was a lot of demand for physical comedy.
He has recently noticed that his projects tend to be released in pairs. Red, White and Royal Blue is a gonzo comedy about lesbian high school students (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) who set up an extracurricular fight club to pass the time during the Hollywood actors and writers' strike. It was released around the same time as “Bottoms”. Spend more time with the people you love. Galitzine plays a football player who cheats on his girlfriend and constantly humiliates himself. Hathaway, who has also worked on recent projects with Julianne Moore, who played her mother in Mary and George, said that what he learned most from Bottoms was its emotional rawness. It is said that the idea was to focus on that part of the world.
“Nick was at his own pace,” says Sennott, who co-wrote the film with director Emma Seligman. But Galitzine admits that he had to overcome a significant amount of anxiety in order to take the silliest of steps.
“In a way, I think it's also acting,” he says. “We're trying to induce fear in a productive way.” And if that seems like an exaggeration, it's because “as actors, we're very arrogant and pretentious people.” I joked.
RGalitzine, who grew up in the Hammersmith area of London to an English father and Greek mother, thought he might continue playing rugby professionally until he tore his rotator cuff. He started acting “later in life,” right after graduating from high school. He was scouted in 2013 after auditioning for the musical Spring Awakening at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
About 10 years later, he sings on stage again. This time, in The Idea of You, he appears on screen as Hayes Campbell, one of the five members of the fictional boy band August Moon. Hayes meets Solene Marchand (Hathaway) at a Coachella meet-and-greet that her divorcee attended with her teenage daughter. They start sneaking around after he stops by her Los Angeles art gallery. Screenwriters Jennifer Westfeldt and Michael Showalter, who also directed the film, based the film on Robin Lee's 2017 novel, with Lee previously telling Vogue: “This is definitely not Harry Styles. “It wasn't supposed to be a book about women,” but instead “it's a story about a woman coming closer.” She turns 40, regains her sexuality and rediscovers herself. ”
“For me, Hayes needed to be obviously sexy and attractive and someone that the audience would fall in love with, just like Solene,” Showalter says. “There needed to be humility, and there needed to be a real human being.” In other words, Hayes is a 24-year-old who single moms would actually want to date, and underneath her playful exterior. He needed to be seen as a mature and grounded person.
“Nick might be a good match for Lamp,” Hathaway says. “He's a very approachable person.”
Galitzine was interested in how Hayes would deal with the claustrophobia of fame, and when Hayes and Solene's relationship was reported, she faced all kinds of hate online, and Solene's Encouraged self-discovery. “I feel a responsibility of support, allyship, and partnership, both in Hayes and myself,” Galitzine says. “I really enjoyed working with Annie. … I think we all understand how important it is. [this film] It's also for her. ”
Lately, he's been challenging himself to pick roles that he believes will somehow “move the needle.” He and Moore began filming “Mary & George” early last year, almost immediately after Moore finished “The Ide of You.” The series also contrasts how young men and older women navigate the world. Set in 16th century England, George Villiers infiltrates the king's court at the behest of his scheming mother Mary. He initially acts as a pawn in her plans to advance his family's status, but over time he learns to use King James (Tony Curran) for his own purposes. I learned. “He controls a lot of people through sex,” Galitzine says of George, a fictional version of the real-life duke. “His sexuality liberates him in a powerful way.”
Galitzine, who is straight, has played several non-straight characters. “I never want to occupy a space that feels best played by a queer person,” he says. “To me, they appeared as human beings of great quality.'' Even though “Mary and George'' takes place centuries ago, George was not ostracized for his homosexuality, and neither was the king. be. Although the Duke may have additional motives, the series still depicts their relationship as genuine and their sexual encounters as tender and loving.
“Fundamentally, we wanted this show to not be afraid of male bodies,” said creator DC Moore. He credits the two actors with developing a trusting relationship that lends itself to what Galitzine describes as a “shared responsibility to portray this relationship in an honest and compelling light.” The humor in “Mary and George” is sharp, sometimes cruel, and often peppered with ahistorical F-bombs. But as George lay on the floor next to a stressed-out King James, their banter softened and became more like the everyday chatter of longtime lovers. Galitzin and Curran improvised that conversation.
“As a writer, in some ways I should be furious,” Moore says playfully. “But it's two actors playing intimacy.”
aPlaying contrasting strongmen like Hathaway and Julianne Moore reminded Galitzine of her younger years. “The people I work with still think I'm very pale and very young,” he says. While it may be good to feel like his career is only just beginning, it's also pretty jarring. After all, he's been an actor for 10 years. He can't even remember who he played in that production of “Spring Awakening.”
“Was it Mr. Moritz?” he wonders out loud, racking his brain. “Oh my god, it seems like a lifetime ago.”
Let's get back to my future dreams. A science fiction festival? absolutely. Stage acting? Hmm, no, thank you. (“My agent in the UK really wants me to do a play, but I don’t know yet,” he says. “The last time I auditioned was for “The Iceman Is Coming.'' (The role ended up being played by Austin Butler.'') He has been trying to become a voice actor for several years now, hoping to do a project as bizarre as “The Bottoms.'' “They won't have me,” he laments. “But let's get it clear.”
He doesn't take it lightly. Nearing the age of 30, Galitzine is living a married life. Wisdom: “The closer we get to death, the less grateful we are.” In any case, he remains in the space between a coming-of-age story and a solid leading role, so this It's difficult to get through the times. He'll probably play young and hot, but interesting! — in the near future, he notes, most of his favorite actors now have “great lines” on their faces. Not only do they sound smart, they look smart too. He can't wait to join them.
“From a professional standpoint, it's pretty exciting, right?” he says. “All these great roles start appearing when you're in your 30s, 40s, 50s. You feel like you're on the cusp of something exciting happening.”