Nicholas Galitzine Says He’s Straight, Feels “Somewhat Guilty” For Taking Gay Roles, And Is “Terrified” Of Being Defined As “A Cut Of Beef”
Nicholas Galitzine, who has played several gay or queer characters both on TV and in films, says he has felt “somewhat guilty” over the possibility that he, as a straight man, is “taking up someone’s space.”
In an interview with GQ, Galitzine, currently starring as a queer character in the Starz drama George & Mary, said, “I identify as a straight man, but I have been a part of some incredible queer stories. I felt a sense of uncertainty sometimes about whether I’m taking up someone’s space, and perhaps guilt. At the same time, I see those characters as not solely their sexuality.”
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Galitzine also currently stars opposite Anne Hathaway in the romance film The Idea of You. Last year he starred opposite Taylor Zakhar Perez in the Prime Video gay royalty romance film Red White and Royal Blue, and has portrayed a closeted gay rugby player in the film Handsome Devil (2016) and a bisexual character in the 2020 The Craft: Legacy.
The 29-year-old actor, in a recent interview with HuffPost U.K., said he thinks “there’s sort of a plethora of reasons” why he has been offered so many gay or queer roles. “One, I have so many friends within the community, and I know so many of them didn’t feel like they had these stories growing up,” he said, adding that he’s intrigued by the “underbelly of vulnerability and having to hide oneself” and that the roles have “all just been really rich characters in of themselves.”
In the GQ interview, Galitzine also addressed his leading man good looks, saying, “I think the most important thing to me is that I’m taken seriously as a performer. I’m not gonna ask you to cry me a river here, but it’s been difficult being part of a conversation that feels very much like I am a cut of beef at a meat market. I think that being my defining feature is something I’m constantly terrified of.”
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