Nicholas Galitzine is weighing in on the conversation surrounding his sexuality after finding his niche playing queer characters.
The actor, 29, swiftly became the internet’s boyfriend after starring in Amazon Prime’s queer rom-com Red, White & Royal Blue, which tells the story of a prince falling in love with the president’s son. Six months later, he played George Villiers, the son of a countess who seduces King James I in the drama miniseries Mary & George.
“I identify as a straight man, but I have been a part of some incredible queer stories,” Galitzine told GQ in an interview published Wednesday, May 8. “I felt a sense of uncertainty sometimes about whether I’m taking up someone’s space, and perhaps guilt. At the same time, I see those characters as not solely their sexuality.”
The British actor also pushed back on fans conflating him with his characters. “I am Nick, and I’m not my role,” he said.
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Galitzine has been open about the gravitational pull LGBTQ+ stories have for him, telling Huffington Post UK that there are a “plethora of reasons” behind his desire to star in films with queer themes. “One, I have so many friends within the community, and I know so many of them didn’t feel like they had these stories growing up,” he noted earlier this year.
He explained that his role in Red, White & Royal Blue particularly spoke to his chums in the gay community. “My gay friends were like, ‘Wow, to have something cheesy and broad and wholesome is, like, really, really important,’ and I think the resonance of that means a lot to me,” he said.
There’s an added layer to the roles that stands out as well, Galitzine explained. “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,” he continued. “I’m very interested in identity.”
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Most recently, Galitzine starred alongside Anne Hathaway in the rom-com The Idea of You. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee, follows a divorced mother (Hathaway) who starts up a romance with a much younger pop star (Galitzine). While promoting the movie, which hit Amazon Prime on Thursday, May 2, Galitzine shared that he was drawn to the film’s subversive nature, which contradicts the typical rom-com archetypes.
“The notion that this movie promotes female pleasure as this sort of protagonist I think is really interesting and unique, and obviously displays an age-gap love that we don’t usually see on screen between a younger man and an older woman,” he told Hits Radio in March. “It was very exciting in that way, as well.”
