Nicholas Galitzine may be stepping into one of pop culture’s most muscle-bound roles as He-Man in Masters of the Universe, but the actor is not buying into rigid ideas of masculinity.
In a new interview with Men’s Health ahead of the film’s 5 June release, Galitzine opened up about the intense diet and training required to bulk up for the role, his thoughts on gender binaries, and why he finds the online “looksmaxxing” movement ridiculous.
Looksmaxxing is an internet subculture, popular among some young men and promoted by controversial influencers, focused on taking extreme steps to maximise physical attractiveness.
“I find this looksmaxxing to be a little bit comical,” Galitzine said.
“It’s very lacking in self-awareness at times, and there’s humour in it, but we’ve always done something of that iteration. Makeup is as old as time, and I suppose you could say that’s looksmaxxing in some ways. But where it’s going seems completely out of control.”
While Masters of the Universe is based on the original He-Man cartoon, a franchise often associated with broad shoulders, massive muscles and traditional action-hero masculinity, Men’s Health writer Evan Romano noted that the new film may have more in common with Barbie than a standard blockbuster.
Galitzine, who has become a favourite with queer audiences through roles in Red, White & Royal Blue and Mary & George, said he has little time for simplistic ideas about masculinity and femininity.
“I mean, I had fantastic male role models, really, in my father and my uncles, my grandfather, but I grew up around a lot of amazing women as well,” he said.
“And so these concepts of masculinity, femininity seem rudimentary.… How something as complex as humanity can be so binary is almost laughable. I really, truly believe this guy that I’m playing embodies the best of both worlds.”
The actor also said he hopes the film encourages young men to see strength as something that includes emotional honesty, rather than just physical power.
“For me, it’s not really a conversation that needs to be had; it’s just a reality,” Galitzine said.
“We are many, many things, and we should embrace those many, many things.… This notion of being able to talk about how we feel is obviously central to our movie, but something hopefully the movie can really perpetuate in other young men.”
For Galitzine, playing He-Man appears to be less about celebrating a narrow ideal of masculinity and more about challenging what strength can look like.
