Nicholas Galitzine is the Man of the Moment
Globetrotting actor Nicholas Galitzine slips into characters as easily as he slips into cities and styles around the world.
Nicholas Galitzine's next movie is Idea of You, starring Anne Hathaway, which is making its world premiere during SXSW. In honor of the occasion, and the release of the show Mary and George in which he stars opposite Julianne Moore, we're revisiting Galitzine's cover story from Fall 2023, where he chats about working with "Annie" and "Julie."
Photography by Lea Winkler
Styled by Sean Knight
In person, Nicholas Galitzine is stunning; is it any wonder that he’s found success not only as an actor but as a model? In June 2023, Galitzine was selected to be Fendi’s first global menswear ambassador as the brand launched its first-ever worldwide men’s campaign for Fall/Winter 2023. Not to sound like Ariel in The Little Mermaid, but the actor has always wanted to be part of that world. For Galitzine, it was about finding an entry into fashion that made sense and wouldn’t dilute his acting career. Before the advent of social media, it was fairly rare to see actors in ads. The idea of doing a large-scale fashion campaign still seemed like a novelty, but nowadays you’ll see an actor rocking brands or promoting products on their Instagram; it makes them feel less like an actor than a billboard.
“It can detract sometimes from an actor’s career if you see them too saturated in the marketplace,” says Galitzine, who, particularly at the onset of his career, wants to be seen primarily as an actor. Already he’s played a prince (twice!), a marine, and a dumb jock, and soon, opposite Anne Hathaway, he will play the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet. “I think if celebrity supersedes [acting], then you run into a really difficult problem…people stop seeing the roles you’re playing, and they just see this brand. And I think all the people I’ve admired as actors over the years—the people who are in their prime now—are incredibly specific about what they choose to associate themselves with.”
For Galitzine, those actors he wants to emulate include Cillian Murphy, Vincent Cassel, James McAvoy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, River Phoenix, and Paul Newman. “Someone like Cillian Murphy maybe isn’t overly present within the fashion world today, but I think you look back to someone like Paul Newman: he was a fashion icon in a lot of ways, but again, he was taken so seriously as a character actor, and as a leading man,” says Galitzine. After all, Murphy has recently done ad campaigns for Montblanc and Stella McCartney, but most still associate the actor with his piercing work in film. And when it comes to contemporaries Galitzine admires (“my almost contemporaries" he clarifies), the actor looks to Timothée Chalamet, who has a friendship and working relationship with French designer Haider Ackermann; Paul Mescal with Gucci; and Austin Butler with Saint Laurent. “[Butler’s] whole aesthetic is very YSL. I think I’ve always felt it’s how I wanted to proceed through the industry. I hope to replicate [this approach], I suppose, in some way, as well as find my own path through the fashion industry,” he says.
“I feel very much like a man of the world right now.”
Though born in London, Galitzine was not influenced by his home city when it comes to his personal style. “I feel like London can be very monochromatic, because the weather is so gray and mild for a lot of the year,” he says. “I come from a very multicultural background. I’m Greek, Russian, and English, and there’s a little bit of French in there. And my dad, however, despite being a mix himself, feels very traditionally English… he used to wear these impeccable suits. English style doesn’t overly appeal to me, but I suppose it comes with this elegance that I think I’m really attracted to. And I find overly traditional pieces to maybe not be as exciting, but variations on them can be really, really intriguing. So I never really want to restrict myself to one aesthetic or look, and I think that’s also in keeping with me being an actor and having to change my look all the time.”
Galitzine’s own style tends to be variations on classics, mixed with streetwear, but it also depends on where he’s living. On where he considers home, Galitzine says, “It’s tricky to say that I’m based in London, because while I just did an eight-month job there, I’d done four projects in a row without a break, and the first one was in New Orleans; then I went back to London, and then to Atlanta, and then to London again. So I feel very much like a man of the world right now.” The actor has actually been debating a move to the United States, but hasn’t quite pinpointed when that would be. When asked to weigh in on the decades-old debate of Los Angeles versus New York, LA might win out if only for the beaches. “I think I’m very connected to my Greek heritage. I feel more Greek than I feel English in a lot of ways, [and so] being by the beach in LA feels very nourishing from a creative standpoint and a mental health standpoint,” he says. “I mean, culturally, anytime I’m in New York, I feel it has an electricity to it. I know it sounds probably cliche to say, but my mom moved around a lot as a kid; she was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and then went to Greece, and then New York. But she spent a lot of time in New York, and my uncle grew up in, and spent most of his life in New York as well. I feel very comfortable when I’m there. And so that’s a long way of saying, I really don’t know.”
“I love that you’re probably assuming I’m even going to say LA or New York, but I did work in Albuquerque, and I had a great time there.” He laughs at this, and smiles, as he often does. There’s never a wrong answer when it comes to Galitzine’s thinking. The actor is very contemplative about his life and his career, and while he’s probably not moving to Albuquerque, he’d never rule it out. “I think the benefit of this job is that I can be extremely nomadic, and don’t have to settle anywhere. I mean, if anything, it’s difficult to stay anywhere because as soon as you decide to lay down roots, you are off on another job in, well, Albuquerque or New Orleans or wherever. So I think I feel maybe more calm in LA, but more excited when I’m in New York. I know a lot of East Coasters who say to spend your twenties in New York, have fun, go out, do it, and then find a place to settle. So who knows? I mean, I’m approaching the end of my twenties now, so maybe I need to retire to a cabin in Montana or something.”
“If celebrity supersedes [acting], then you run into a really difficult problem…People stop seeing the roles you’re playing, and they just see this brand.”
If there’s one thing about being a man of the world, however—it doesn’t leave much time for a personal life. “It’s definitely hard,” Galitzine says. “I mean, my last couple of girlfriends, I feel like we’ve had to go our separate ways essentially because of the travel. And it’s difficult. I mean, people who also work in the industry get it, but the job is definitely not conducive to nourishing relationships. And even with my family, it’s really difficult for them to not be able to see me as much as they’d like, because I’m constantly in different countries. I think you find out who the people are that you are really connected with; I’m one of these people who makes the effort to connect. Even if I’m on the other side of the world, if I care about someone, I take the time.”
In the meantime, Galitzine loves having “amazing adventures” across the globe. “In some ways, it’s a joy. I know that I can go to LA, to London, to New York, to Dublin, to New Zealand and Toronto, and I’ve got friends there,” he says. “I admire these couples who work within the industry who manage to make the relationships work and sustain them and nourish them despite the transience of it all. [But] I’m young, and I’m having a great time. Work’s been great to me, and I’m just trying to take it all in and not put any unfair pressure on myself.”
Thankfully the actor has had some pretty great mentors so far, including Uma Thurman and Julianne Moore. “I would say Julie was definitely a useful resource...she’s so light and bouncy and willing to divulge,” he says. When asked if Moore asks people to call her Julie, he says, “Yeah. It’s funny. I think we think of a lot of these people as both [their first and last] names as well. And I think that becomes a separate entity in some ways, and it’s dehumanizing, I imagine, in some capacity. And so, yes, Julie, Julianne…she’s so giving with her time, and she gave me some really great advice.” As for another iconic actress he’s on a first-name basis with: Anne Hathaway, or “Annie,” as he calls her. “She’s very specific about that,” he adds. “Which I really respect and understand. I mean, she and I became close friends, and I think you never want to assume that you’re going to become close with the people you work with. Especially when you’ve been doing this for years, it’s hard to make really human connections and then leave those behind…but Annie, she’s been through all of it. She’s wildly talented, and I was just in awe of watching her and seeing how able she is to access the deepest emotional parts of herself, but she’s also just very sensitive and really smart and a nerd in the best way. I’m just a young actor trying to make my own way. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work as I have already, but to also work with immensely talented people who are also kind.”
“I’m young, and I’m having a great time. Work’s been great to me, and I’m just trying to take it all in.”
Galitzine has already proven himself to be a shapeshifter when it comes to roles—even just this year he’s done wildly different performances within the same month; this has to come from his transience, from his ability to slip into any city, wearing whatever clothes fit his sensibilities at the time. “At the end of the day, my job is to submerge myself into different roles, and for people to believe that I can be a different person.”
GROOMING Jamie Taylor
SET DESIGN Kelly Infield
PRODUCTION Meagan Judkins FOX AND LEOPARD
PHOTO ASSISTANTS Robert Kozek and Kurt Lavastida
STYLIST ASSISTANT Cameron Greene
PROPS ASSISTANT Kayla Ephros
