Nicholas Galitzine says he “feels so lucky” to keep playing gay roles

At this point, Nicholas Galitzine is an honorary member of the queer community. Though the actor is straight, he routinely gets cast in gay parts: a closeted prince in Red, White & Royal Blue, the king’s consort in Mary & George, and a gay rugby star in Handsome Devil, to name a few.

With so many gay roles under his belt, where does Galitzine stand on the debate of if straight actors should play queer roles? He was posed with the topic directly on a recent episode of SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, but he didn’t give a direct answer.

First, host Cagle asked about Galitzine’s relationship with his massive queer fanbase. “Is it fun or weird or what for you as a straight man to be […] an icon for the gay community, especially for young gay people?” he asked.

“I feel so overwhelmingly proud of the resonance,” Galtizine replied. “I feel like I’ve been able to have and been so touched by conversations I’ve had with people from the queer community.”

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“First and foremost, I love interesting, textured characters,” he continued. “I have a lot of care for my characters and I hope that is evident in the work that I do and I feel very powerful with their backing behind me, so yeah. Just very grateful.”

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Next, Cagle raised the topic of if Galitzine as a straight man should be playing the roles he’s become famous for.

“There are people that say only queer people should play queer characters,” Cagle said, opening the door for Galitzine to comment on the discourse — but Galitzine didn’t take the bait.

“I feel so lucky to have been able to play those young men,” he responded. “I mean, you know, you look at Conor Masters from Handsome Devil and Prince Henry from Red, White & Royal Blue. I mean, these are two young men completely trapped by circumstance and feel a sense of deep claustrophobia on their lives. They can’t be who they are.”

“They were just all really rich on the page, and I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to play them,” Galitzine concluded. 

Check out the interview segment for yourself below.