Nicholas Galitzine Ate 5,000 Calories a Day to Become He-Man

Nicholas Galitzine didn’t just play the most powerful man in the universe — he had to build the body to match. The 31-year-old Masters of the Universe star is opening up about the extreme physical transformation required to bring He-Man to life, and it involved eating up to 5,000 calories a day, three hours of daily weightlifting, and not a single day off for the better part of a year.

“We started out really trying to pack on as much size as possible,” Galitzine told E! News at the film’s May 18 premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. “You know, having up to 5,000 calories sometimes, weightlifting for three hours a day — and then we streamlined it.”

“It was an every day a week thing,” he added. “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.”

And when the cameras weren’t rolling, the work didn’t stop either. “You’re shooting a scene, 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,” Galitzine explained. “And that kind of goes on for about five months.”

The Moment Filming Wrapped — and the Meal That Followed

He described the regimen as “something I had to really work through on a day-to-day basis,” but was quick to add that he genuinely enjoyed the challenge. Still, the second it was over? He went straight for comfort food.

His first meal after wrapping was a combination of sushi and pizza. “I just was like, ‘Give it. Give it all to me,’” he told PEOPLE. “Food is everything to me. It truly is.”

Then came the whiplash. Just three weeks after finishing Masters of the Universe, Galitzine went straight into The Mosquito Bowl, a World War II film — and his new director had one very specific note. “He 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?’” Galitzine recalled.

“So it was kind of music to my ears. I’d lay on a couch, I ate potato chips and I said, ‘This is the kind of prep I love.’”

At the Variety premiere event, he described the deload in even more colorful terms. “I was like, ‘Macaroni cheese,’ but you don’t even want to know,” he said, laughing. “It was sickening.” And as quickly as he’d built up the He-Man physique, it started to fade. “It takes so long to put on — it’s so quick to come off.”

Why Director Travis Knight Always Believed in Galitzine

Director Travis Knight says he knew Galitzine was right for the role long before the physical transformation happened. “It’s a very daunting ask to ask any actor and say, ‘Hey, you’re going to be the most powerful man in the universe.’ That means boulder shoulders. That means giant biceps. That means rippling pectorals and six-pack abs. Who wants to embrace that?” Knight said at the premiere, laughing. “But my man Nick, he completely embraced what that means.”

“Nick is an extraordinary actor,” Knight continued. “But no one’s ever really seen him as an action hero. I knew Nick had all the qualities that you needed to bring a character like [He-Man] to life. He has vulnerability, he has charisma, he has charm, he’s very funny — and then he had to transform his body.”

Camila Mendes, who plays Teela in the film, was equally overwhelmed by the moment. Standing on the purple carpet next to a giant poster of herself, she said simply: “It’s pretty effing cool. I feel like I’m pinching myself.” She reflected on what it meant to premiere a major studio film at the iconic Chinese Theatre. “I never thought I’d be premiering a massive film at the Chinese Theatre. It’s just so surreal. You never know if these things are going to happen again, so I’m just enjoying it. I’m being present.”

As for whether the world will see more of Galitzine in the role, Knight was measured but left the door wide open. “I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves,” he said, “because we approach all these things as if we have one chance of telling a story and we put everything we had into it.” Then he smiled: “If the world wants more, we’ve got more stories to tell.”

Meanwhile, There’s a Royal Wedding on the Way

Between the He-Man bulk and the WWII deload, Galitzine also found time to film Red, White & Royal Wedding, the long-awaited sequel to Red, White & Royal Blue. He returns as Prince Henry opposite Taylor Zakhar Perez, with Uma Thurman back as the U.S. president and Lena Headey joining the cast.

“It’s so rare that you get to return to something, so it felt like a really wholesome experience,” Galitzine said at the premiere. “You’re getting to work with Taylor and Uma again, and Lena Headey joining us. I had a great time filming it.”

Masters of the Universe hits theaters this summer. After everything Galitzine put his body through to get there, it better be worth every calorie.