Masters of the Universe star Nicholas Galitzine may identify as straight, but the British actor has become known for taking on complex gay and bisexual roles across film and television.
Galitzine’s profile has soared in recent years, following his performance as closeted gay royal Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue, George Villiers in the queer historical drama Mary & George, and now as He-Man in Masters of the Universe.
Following the release of Mary & George in 2024, Galitzine addressed why he has been drawn to gay and bisexual characters.
“I think with all of these characters the thing that I find really intriguing as an actor is that underbelly of vulnerability and having to hide oneself. I’m very interested in identity; George is very different in a way because his sex and his sexuality is his power,” he said.
In Mary & George, Galitzine appeared in several steamy queer sex scenes, with critics describing the historical psychosexual drama as a “horny romp”.
Reflecting on his LGBTQ+ roles, Galitzine said the characters themselves have always been the deciding factor.
“I think they’ve all just been really rich characters in of themselves,” he said.
“You know, you read that in the script it just becomes a bit of a no-brainer.”
Here is a look back at every time Nicholas Galitzine has played gay or bisexual characters on screen.
Angelo in Legends (2015)
Galitzine’s first television role came with a brief guest appearance in season two of TNT crime drama Legends in 2015.
Episode five, “The Legend of Terrence Graves”, explores the secretive personal history of former MI6 handler Terrence Graves, played by Ralph Brown and, in flashbacks, by Rod Hallett.
The episode reveals that Graves has spent years being blackmailed over a past gay relationship with a young man named Angelo, played by Galitzine.
Conor Masters in Handsome Devil (2016)
One of Galitzine’s earliest film roles came in John Butler’s 2016 LGBTQ+ comedy-drama Handsome Devil.
Galitzine plays Conor Masters, a closeted gay rugby player at an elite all-boys boarding school.
Co-starring Andrew Scott and Fionn O’Shea, the film follows Irish teenager Ned after he is sent to boarding school and forms an unlikely friendship with Conor, his roommate and the school’s star rugby player.
The film went on to win three awards at the FilmOut San Diego LGBT Film Festival in 2017.
Handsome Devil is currently available to stream on Prime Video and Disney+ in the UK.
Timmy Andrews in The Craft: Legacy (2020)
In 2020, Galitzine starred in Zoe Lister-Jones’ The Craft: Legacy, a reboot and sequel-of-sorts to the 1996 teen horror classic The Craft.
Galitzine plays Timmy Andrews, a high school bully and the film’s early antagonist, who later comes out as bisexual in a scene that offers a rare moment of bi male visibility on screen.
“It’s just… it’s felt good when it’s been with girls as well, so. It’s just hard for dudes,” Timmy tells Lily, played by Cailee Spaeny, during the coming out scene.
“I feel like there’s no room to be… everyone assumes you’re just gay, and that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, I just… I like both.”
The Craft: Legacy is currently available to rent on Prime Video in the UK.
Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
No list of Galitzine’s LGBTQ+ roles would be complete without Red, White & Royal Blue.
Galitzine plays Prince Henry, a closeted British royal, in Matthew López’s film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s best-selling 2019 romance novel.
Both the book and film follow the chaos, chemistry and transatlantic romance that unfolds after Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the President of the United States, is forced to fake a friendship with Henry, his royal rival.
“One of my great fears is being misunderstood,” Galitzine told British GQ ahead of the film’s release on Prime Video.
“Henry has to live with that every day…. It just felt like a beautiful story: someone who’s largely pretended to be someone else their whole life, and then this other person completely obliterates their worldview.”
While director Matthew López has said he does not want the film to be pigeonholed simply as a “gay film”, he has also stressed the importance of showing gay intimacy on screen.
Galitzine has echoed that sentiment.
“It’s a crazy thing to be intimate in that way with your friend,” he told British GQ.
“And we want people to fall in love with these characters, because their love has to be real.”
George Villiers in Mary & George (2024)
Galitzine stars as George Villiers, the lover and “favourite” of King James VI of Scotland and I of England, in Sky Atlantic’s queer historical drama Mary & George.
Inspired by Benjamin Woolley’s book The King’s Assassin and written by playwright DC Moore, the seven-part series tells the story of how George’s mother, Mary Villiers, played by Julianne Moore, moulds her beautiful and charismatic son to seduce the King and gain influence over the royal court.
If securing power requires getting very intimate with the King, George is more than willing to oblige.
Mary & George is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK and Ireland, and on Starz in the US.
With each of these roles, Galitzine has built a reputation for portraying LGBTQ+ characters with vulnerability, charisma and emotional depth — while continuing to spark conversation about queer storytelling, representation and who gets to tell these stories on screen.
