The 'Masters of the Universe' star said that he fit in exercise on set whenever possible, but "enjoyed the challenge" of playing the muscular '80s action hero
Credit: Giles Keyte/Amazon MGM Studios
NEED TO KNOW
- Nicholas Galitzine followed an intense training regimen to play He-Man in Masters of the Universe
- The actor says that each day he ate up to 5,000 calories a day and lifted weights for three hours
- He maintained workouts on set, squeezing in exercises between scenes during the five-month shoot
Masters of the Universe star Nicholas Galitzine ate 5,000 calories a day to "pack on as much size as possible" to play muscular '80s icon, He-Man.
“It was an everyday a week thing,” Galitzine, 31, told E! News about his intense training routine. “It was a pretty short amount of time. You kind of would love to live in this character for a year beforehand, but the training very much changed as the movie went on.”
Credit: Nicholas Galitzine/Instagram
“We started out really trying to pack on as much size as possible,” he explained. “You know, having up to 5,000 calories sometimes, weightlifting for three hours a day and then we streamlined it.”
Galitzine shared that they added workouts whenever possible: “You're shooting a scene [and] they say, ‘You have 10 minutes until the next setup,' you run outside, you hop on the assault bike, run back in, shoot a scene again, and that kind of goes on for about five months.”
The Red, White & Royal Blue actor shared that the regimen was "something I had to really work through on a day-to-day basis,” but noted, "I really enjoyed the challenge.” But as the actor told PEOPLE, his first meal after filming wrapped was "a combination of sushi and pizza."
"I just was like, 'Give it. Give it all to me,' " Galitzine said. "Food is everything to me. It truly is."
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"Straight away" after Masters of the Universe filming ended, Galitzine started a different kind of prep to play a World War II soldier in The Mosquito Bowl, he told E! News. “The director said, ‘I've got terrifying nightmares that you're gonna show up on set on day one looking like He-Man. Can you just do nothing for the next three weeks?' ”
“So, it was kind of music to my ears,” he said. “I'd lay on a couch, I ate potato chips and I said, ‘This is the kind of prep I love.' ”
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