Nicholas Galitzine says his He-Man transformation demanded 5,000 calories a day and nonstop training
Galitzine offered a revealing look at the scale of the role
Nicholas Galitzine is stepping into one of pop culture's most physically recognizable roles, and the actor says the preparation was every bit as extreme as fans would expect. In an exclusive interview with E! News, Galitzine said his transformation for He-Man in Masters of the Universe involved consuming up to 5,000 calories a day, lifting weights for hours and fitting extra conditioning work into the short breaks between scenes.
The actor explained that the process changed as production moved forward. Early on, the focus was on adding as much size as possible, but later the routine shifted toward cutting and maintaining the look while filming. That combination made the job especially demanding because the physical target kept moving even as cameras were already rolling.
The workout plan became part of his day from start to finish
Galitzine said there were effectively no easy days during the five-month stretch. Even when a scene ended, he described rushing out to continue cardio work before heading back to set, which shows how little separation there was between performance time and training time.
That kind of schedule helps explain why major franchise roles can become all-consuming for rising stars. Playing He-Man is not simply about looking bigger in a costume. It requires sustaining a specific physical presence under the pressure of long shooting days, action work and close-up scrutiny from a fan base that already knows exactly how the character should feel on screen.
Nutrition became as difficult as the lifting itself
The actor made clear that food was not a side note in the process. Eating enough to build muscle was one challenge, but cutting calories while the production continued was another. He said that phase brought brain fog, which made the balancing act even harder while still needing the energy to perform in physically intense sequences.
That detail gives the story extra weight because it turns a standard transformation headline into something more concrete. Galitzine is not just presenting a finished before-and-after image. He is describing the day-to-day cost of maintaining that level of preparation for a major studio release. With Masters of the Universe set for theaters on June 5, attention around the film is likely to keep building as more of his preparation story comes into view.
The role arrives at an important time in Galitzine's career
Galitzine has already built momentum through projects that expanded his audience across romance, comedy and prestige streaming titles. He-Man now gives him a much bigger franchise platform, and his comments suggest he understands the scale of that opportunity.
For celebrity readers, the appeal of the story is straightforward. It combines a familiar Hollywood transformation narrative with a star whose profile is still climbing fast, while also giving a more specific sense of the discipline behind the image audiences will eventually see on screen.
