Nicholas Galitzine bulks up to play He-Man in Masters of the Universe

Nicholas Galitzine stars in Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe.

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The question isn’t, “Where is Nicholas Galitzine keeping his He-Man action figure?” The question is, “Where isn’t Nicholas Galitzine going to keep his He-Man action figures?”

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“It’s funny that you think I only have one. I have a houseful of action figures now. It’s really wherever there’s space,” Galitzine says with a laugh in a video call from Los Angeles on a recent weeknight.

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After a who’s-who of young Hollywood actors vied to star as the ‘80s Mattel toy and cartoon hero in a big screen reboot, Galitzine, who is best known for playing Prince Henry in Prime Video’s popular adaptation of the gay love story Red, White & Royal Blue, won the job to front the live-action remake in 2024.

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In the new movie (in theatres June 5), Galitzine plays Prince Adam, the hero of Eternia, who is dispatched to Earth in the film’s opening moments after the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto) launches an attack on his magic-filled home planet.

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Directed by Bumblebee filmmaker Travis Knight, Masters follows Adam as he returns to Eternia to take his destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe.

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On Earth, Adam is a shell of his heroic self — until he finds his magic sword and rediscovers the transformative phrase, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!”

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Of course, that famous line is what brings him back to his home world, where he reconnects with his childhood friend Teela (Riverdale alum Camila Mendes) and her father Man-at-Arms (Idris Elba), along with Eternia’s other defenders, including Ram Man (Jon Xue Zhang), Trap Jaw (Sam C. Wilson), Fisto (Johannes Haukur Johannesson), Roboto (Kristen Wiig) and his loyal feline friend Cringer/Battle Cat.

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For Galitzine, 31, playing an iconic character who has featured in comic books, animated shows, feature films and a line of action figures is the “role of a lifetime.”

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“It’s an incredible honour and responsibility,” the British actor says. “I remember reading the script for the first time and just falling in love with this character.”

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Bulking up to play He-Man wasn’t easy

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Galitzine says transforming his body to play He-Man required months of training and there were no shortcuts.

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“It’s not fun and it’s not quick,” he says of the long process to achieve bolder shoulders and bulging biceps. “Making this movie, I have never seen a better craft services and for the entire six-month shoot and I don’t think I had a crumb of it.”
But Galitzine knew the relentless hours in the gym had paid off the first time he appeared on set in costume, brandishing He-Man’s sword and armor.

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Nicholas Galitzine stars in Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe.

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“You’ve lived with your own body over the course of five, six months, so you’re kind of getting your cues from other people’s faces,” he recalled seeing the enthusiastic reaction from the cast and crew. “But I remember seeing Travis for the first time as He-Man and we embraced and it was quite emotional … That really put in perspective all the hard work that I put in getting into shape.”