Nicholas Galitzine

Nicholas Dimitri Constantine Galitzine (/ˈɡælɪtsiːn/ GAL-it-seen; born 29 September 1994) is an English actor. After his acting debut in The Beat Beneath My Feet (2014), he appeared in an episode of the television series Legends, and had leading roles in the 2016 teen drama films High Strung and Handsome Devil. He later starred in the supernatural horror film The Craft: Legacy (2020) and the musical film Cinderella (2021), also contributing to the latter's accompanying soundtrack.

Galitzine's breakout role was the romantic drama Purple Hearts (2022). He achieved further prominence for romantic dramas Red, White & Royal Blue (2023), and The Idea of You (2024), as well as the comedy film Bottoms (2023) and the period drama series Mary & George (2024). In addition to acting, Galitzine has been a global menswear ambassador for fashion house Fendi since 2023, and global fragrance ambassador for Emporio Armani since 2024.

Nicholas Dimitri Constantine Galitzine was born on 29 September 1994 in Hammersmith, West London. He lived near actor Robert Pattinson, whom he considered his "career idol". His father, Geoffrey Leo Alexander Galitzine, is a co-founder of a glass recycling company and a former financier in the City of London. Despite popular rumours that Galitzine is a member of the Golitsyn family, a Russian noble house, they are not related. Galitzine's grandfather, Edward Ralph Alexander Tier, changed his surname to Galitzine on 9 April 1956; Nicholas's traceable paternal ancestors are British. His mother is Lora Maria Konstantina Papayanni, a Greek-American. He has an older sister, Lexi. Growing up, Galitzine visited his relatives in the Peloponnese, Athens, and the islands during the holidays, which helped him connect with his Greek heritage.

Galitzine described himself as being reckless in his youth, being a smoker at 13. He attended Dulwich College, and played rugby, track, and football. He played for the Harlequins Academy and aspired to play rugby professionally until a series of injuries including an injury to his rotator cuff led his interest to wane and consequently, he stopped playing. Galitzine was a part of Pleasance Islington, a youth theatre company. Galitzine first became interested in acting after his friends persuaded him to audition for a rendition of the musical Spring Awakening. He decided he wanted to focus on acting professionally in lieu of pursuing a university education, which he had recalled feelings of uncertainty for. His parents were "terrified" of the decision due to the uncertain path. Galitzine supported himself financially by working part-time jobs, including at a frozen yogurt shop alongside Simone Ashley, who later also pursued acting professionally.

Galitzine made his professional acting debut in the film The Beat Beneath My Feet (2014), starring alongside Luke Perry. He played a lonely teenage boy with musical aspirations who blackmails his neighbour, a former rock star, to mentor him. His casting was criticised by The Guardian for the belief that he was too conventionally attractive to play an outcast. In 2015, he appeared in a guest role in the episode "The Legend of Terrence Graves" of the TV series Legends. He played a blackmailer of an MI6 agent following their homosexual relations. He was named a "Star of Tomorrow" by Screen International the same year. He starred in the American drama High Strung (2016), in which he played a young violinist who performs in a subway station.

He played Conor Masters, a young closeted gay student, in the Irish comedy-drama Handsome Devil, which was later nominated for five awards at the 15th Irish Film & Television Awards. Empire commented that Galitzine "does good work" at portraying Conor's inner conflict. In 2017, he took part in the New Zealand mystery drama The Changeover and the American television film The Watcher in the Woods. Galitzine was cast in his first major TV role in the Netflix horror drama series Chambers. In 2019, he featured in the drama film Share.

In 2020, Galitzine played the bisexual teenager Timmy in The Craft: Legacy, a sequel to The Craft (1996). In 2021, he starred as Prince Robert opposite Camila Cabello in the musical film Cinderella, appearing on seven songs on the soundtrack of film. His debut single "Comfort" was released in June 2022. Galitzine starred in the Netflix film Purple Hearts, which was released on 29 July 2022. It was Galitzine's breakthrough role. He played Luke Morrow, a member of the United States Marine Corps, who marries Cassie Salazar, played by Sofia Carson, for her to receive military benefits; they then unexpectedly fall in love. To prepare, Galitzine went through basic Marine training.

In 2023, Galitzine portrayed a high school football player named Jeff in Emma Seligman's sex comedy film Bottoms. When talking about the film, Galitzine stated that he had wanted to act in a comedy, and enjoyed improvising on set. He portrayed the fictional Prince Henry in the romantic comedy film Red, White & Royal Blue, based on the 2019 novel of the same name opposite Taylor Zakhar Perez. The film released on Amazon Prime Video and was the streaming service's number 1 movie globally and one of the top three most-watched romantic comedies of all time in its premiere weekend; Galitzine was also praised for his performance by Rolling Stone and ABC News. For the role, Galitzine was nominated at the 4th Astra TV Awards for Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie. He is due to reprise the role for a sequel, titled Red, White & Royal Wedding, directed by Jamie Babbit.