If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission.
Nicholas Galitzine has shown off his vocal chops as a One Direction-esque pop superstar (in 2024’s The Idea of You), an aspiring young musician (in his first film, The Beat Beneath My Feet) and a karaoke-singing prince (in Red, White & Royal Blue). But in his latest project, he’s breaking a sweat in the crowd as the new global ambassador of Armani’s Stronger Than You parfum.
The 30-year-old actor steps into his first role as the face of a fragrance in a campaign directed by Jonathan Alric, who forms half of the duo The Blaze with cousin Guillaume Alric. The new spot, out on Jan. 6, sees Galitzine feeling the beat of British electronic group Underworld’s “Born Slippy,” the same track made famous in Danny Boyle’s iconic film, Trainspotting. He may play the part well, but Galitizine says his club days are far behind him.
Related Stories
“It did evoke some sort of memories of youth and and ‘going out’ culture. I was joking that I hadn’t been in the club for quite some time, but it was like they made the most manageable, cost-free version of clubbing I think I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Galitizine tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I enjoyed [the club setting] for that day, but I’ve not come back to London and decided, Who wants to go to The Box? Not on the agenda! There’s a Box in New York as well… It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be kind of gross. They know what their crowd is.”
“I think it’s a youthfulness is probably the thing that stands out to me,” he says of the spirit of Armanis’ Stronger Than You fragrance, which has a base of vanilla with notes chestnut, lavender and sage.
Emporio Armani Stronger With You Fragrance
Galitzine next co-stars with Emma Corrin and Maika Monroe in the 100 Nights of Hero, based on Isabel Greenberg’s feminist fairytale graphic novel of the same name; and as He-Man alongside Alison Brie, Jared Leto, Idris Elba and Camila Mendes in Masters of the Universe.
The Mary & George star caught up with THR over a video call from his home in London, where he revealed that he’s also stepping behind the scenes as a producer and securing life rights “for certain people who I’ve really wanted to play,” his upcoming role as He-Man and whether he plans on exploring his musical side. He also addresses that not-so-secret YouTube channel recently unearthed by fans: “Don’t tell anyone about my YouTube channel. I can’t delete it. If you can find out how to delete a channel, link it over!”
The full campaign video for Armani’s Stronger Than You parfum hasn’t been released yet, but what can you share about the atmosphere of the shoot?
Okay, I kind of gave a little bit of it away, but it was this club-like setting manufactured in a warehouse in Bulgaria, where all good clubs are, you know? The set and the lighting were so beautiful and and well done. And under Jonathan Alric’s direction, it was just about embracing the music and feeling a sense of freedom and a wildness that I think, in his work [as one-half of the music duo] The Blaze, he portrays so, so well. I warned him that I’m not a dancer, I was like, You know I’m not a dancer. If you wanted someone who danced pretty well you should have hired a dancer, but you hired me.
It was just about a sense of freedom that you feel when you’re with your group.
You touched upon music, and just so you’re aware, your YouTube channel has many followers for having only two videos.
Truthfully, I don’t know how to delete that thing. I tried so many times. I have no idea how to delete that thing. I don’t think I’ve operated that YouTube channel in years.
You have 111,000 subscribers, and they’re all waiting.
Considering I’m just completely absent, that’s very impressive.
We’ll have to tell people not to expect anything there. But you’re also a musician, and coincidentally, one of your first films was with the late and great Luke Perry, The Beat Beneath My Feet.
Yes, my first-ever movie was playing a young musician. It’s funny, music’s kind of something that — I say less so in the last few years, obviously, I played a pop star in The Idea of You. But apart from that, it’s something more in the earlier parts of my career I played with. I feel like I haven’t earned the right to call myself a musician because it’s not something I’ve really strived to work at just yet, it’s something I really enjoy. I love playing, I love singing. But it’s not something I’ve unfortunately had the time to commit to just yet, which I know is disappointing to some people.
When you’re being offered all of these amazing acting opportunities, it’s very hard to say no. So, who knows, we’ll see when I can find some time. I thought I was close to finding some time earlier in the year, but then everything got very chaotic.
Alison Brie spoke with us not too long ago and some of the reasons she said “yes” to Masters of the Universe was that she really loved the script and partly because of you, too.
Isn’t she the most obnoxiously nice person you’ve ever met? She’s so bubbly. And by the way, a little tea, she’s an absolute machine in the gym. She doesn’t look like she’d necessarily be super strong. I trained with her in L.A. and then she just came here for a couple of days for a fitting and she is like a monster, like core for days.
It’s very surreal, you know, working with these people who you’ve admired for a while and then you hear them saying nice things about you. I kind of kick my feet giggling. It’s very bizarre because I think I just have to keep pinching myself, and I’ve had a few years now where I’ve worked with three or four Oscar winners and you try and absorb as much as you can. I’m still waiting for people to wise up and start figuring me out. But for now, I’m just kind of trying to get the most out of all of these amazing experiences.
You’ve been at it for more than a decade at this point. It was so great seeing you in our Actors Roundtable — you’re there in those spaces, so you’re doing something right.
Well, thank you. And I have a lot of really wonderful people around me who just harass all these publications to include me in it! It’s more that, really. I have really persistent team members. But I mean, that was a huge highlight. I try and get as much as I can out of those experiences and pick their brains and it’s been really rewarding.
Pivoting to your role as He-Man, you been binge-watching the old cartoon at all? How does it compare to the film?
I have, yeah. Look, what I will say is our version is quite different from the original animation, which we all agree was camp within its own right and worked so well for the time. But there’s been a couple of iterations, obviously since there was the Revelation version of Master of the Universe, and the comics themselves. And we’re very much treating our script as as Bible, you know. But it’s kind of amazing to hear what this show meant to a lot of people. It was really formative for a lot of people, so it’s exciting to do something that will have a nostalgia element as well as hopefully attract a bunch of new fans.
You had a busy 2024. Is there anything you’re prioritizing for yourself in 2025 as far as resolutions or otherwise?
It’s just continuing to seize the moment. I’ve spoken to this already, but I think the agency that I feel now is entirely different from anything I felt in my previous 10 years of working in this job. I love the ability to now be able to skirt between doing these massive budget movies and indie films. The film that I just did before this was [100 Nights of Hero] with Emma Corrin and Maika Monroe, and that was so gratifying in its own way. So I think the next year, apart from you know, this behemoth [of Masters of the Universe] that I still have to conquer, it’s just gonna be very director-driven stuff.
I’m producing a lot of my own stuff, which has been exciting in its own right. I think it’s just really trying to now that I have more ownership of what I’m doing, just trying to really push myself. And push the people around me, my collaborators. It’s been really great that I’ve been able to work with Amazon in such a large capacity, but I also want to bring things to them that they maybe haven’t considered before as well, and try to make my own mark on the industry and my career.
I hope that’s what next year nature will entail because obviously due to the strike, there’s just gonna be this big gap in content for a while, most of my stuff I think will end up coming out in 2026. I think it will just be a year of hard work and new challenges, which is really exciting.
The movie you mentioned earlier, 100 Nights of Hero, that’s in post-production now?
I’m so excited about that one. That was actually the job that I executive produced, I was cast first in it by Julia Jackman, who I’m so excited about as a director. Emma and Maika are both brilliant to work with, so fingers crossed it all edits well.
With that one, off the page it was so brilliant and unique, and it could become this feminist cult classic. Then the cast kind of continued to grow, Charlie XCX joined us, and Richard E. Grant and Felicity Jones, and it just kind of kept getting better and better. That one hopefully could be out in 2025 depending on the turnaround, because I think a lot of people liked [Emma, Maika and I] together as a trio, so I don’t think we’ll disappoint.
When you’re looking for projects to produce, what kind of stories stand out to you? Do you already have things in the production lineup?
There’s one thing which I think we may have sealed a really iconic director for, actually. But it’s still kind of early days, so I don’t really want to push too hard with it, or jinx it. But I think for me, it’s just subversive stories. I think with films like Anora and The Substance, there’s clearly a yearning for the odd and the eccentric and the human, the rawness of life. I gain so much nourishment from playing both sides and doing the really heightened action-y stuff. But then also I’m finding the really human stories.
I’ve had a lot of joy in getting life rights for certain people who I’ve really wanted to play. That brings its own set of challenges and the research for something like that is just so fun and eye-opening. It’s not a reinvention of myself by any means. I think people have noted that in the last few years, I’ve tried to diversify my work, and I think that’s gonna be even more prominent within the next year, which is a really exciting prospect for me.
I think all of my favorite actors have the ability to shift and change and evolve. That’s what creates longevity. So we’ll see if it all pans out as it’s supposed to. Believe me, I’m loose lips, I’m trying to hold it in.
You mentioned life rights — can share more, maybe what realms those people are in?
I mean one — how would you even classify a person’s life as a realm? — I’m not sure. One is a bit more actiony-oriented. It’s more physical and the other one is physical in a completely different meaning of the word.
So it could be either Arnold Schwarzenneger or Charlie Chaplin?
I’m being purposefully vague with you, but hopefully you’ll hear something in the new year, depending on how long it takes.
Are you also starring in the films you’re producing?
They’re both starring vehicles. I know a lot of people like to direct as well, but I don’t think I’m at that point really where I need to do that. Whereas for me, the producing gives me an overall perspective of the general creative of the job, whether that’s casting, or feel or cinematography.
But it’s also just about like really taking the ownership of seeking out interesting characters because you can’t always rely on the industry to see you as anything else other than what you are or what you’ve already offered them. I always say to other actors, don’t rest on your laurels, try and find these stories yourselves. It’s tiring waiting on other people to give you the opportunities that you want.
