Nicholas Galitzine Admits His He-Man Body Vanished Almost Overnight

Nicholas Galitzine spent months turning himself into He-Man. Then he ditched the muscle in three weeks because the next job needed a different body. He just walked through the whole thing — what he ate, what he didn’t do, and why it was a little soul-crushing — and teed up what’s coming after he swings the Power Sword.

The He-Man build took forever; losing it didn’t

For the last couple of years, Galitzine has been showing flashes of the bulked-up, carved-out look he put together to play He-Man, the self-proclaimed most powerful man in the universe, in Masters of the Universe. Then came the next project, which asked for the opposite. The director ’s note to him, right before cameras rolled: don’t train at all for three weeks. Combine that with a comfort-food-heavy diet, and the mass basically evaporated — way faster than it took to add.

"And I’ll tell you, it’s depressing. It takes so long to put on, [but] it’s so quick to come off," he told Variety at the Hollywood premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

The 'do nothing' plan (and yes, mac and cheese)

His short-term 'training' to drop the muscle was literally rest and eat — which, let’s be honest, sounds fun for about a day. He even called out macaroni and cheese as part of the plan before admitting the whole routine got pretty gross, pretty fast. Still, it did exactly what the director wanted: it stripped the He-Man size quickly.

Masters of the Universe is almost here

Playing an action hero is new territory for Galitzine, and Director Travis Knight has been talking up how hard the actor went to get there. You’ll finally see the full He-Man package when Masters of the Universe opens in theaters on June 5, 2026.

Then it’s back to royal business

Soon after saving Eternia, Galitzine slides back into prince mode with Red, White & Royal Wedding, the follow-up to Red, White & Royal Blue (the hit adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s novel). He’s reuniting with Taylor Zakhar Perez and Uma Thurman, and he sounded genuinely happy to be back with the crew.

"It’s so rare that you get to return to something, so it felt like a really wholesome experience. I had a great time filming it."

• Nicholas Galitzine: Prince Henry
• Taylor Zakhar Perez: Alex Claremont-Diaz, Henry’s boyfriend and son of the U.S. president
• Uma Thurman: the U.S. president
• Lena Headey: Princess Catherine, Henry’s mother ( new to the sequel )

So, the short version: months to build He-Man, three weeks to lose him, mac and cheese was involved, and the guy’s calendar is stacked — action hero now, royal drama right after.