‘The Idea of You’ Proves It’s Time Nicholas Galitzine Graduates to the Big Hollywood Movies

There are moments in Hollywood history where it becomes obvious that a hot young thing might actually have the mettle to stick around for a while. It can be the way a rising young star throws down a layered, sensitive performance that belies his years — as Timothée Chalamet did in Luca Guadagnino‘s Call Me By Your Name — or in how an obscenely handsome actor cast in a bit part is able to run away with a movie thanks to a heaping ton of charisma — like Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise. Sometimes, however, it’s less one major performance and the culmination of a resumé that keeps getting more and more impressive. Such is the case right now with Nicholas Galitzine…

If you know the 29-year-old English actor from anything, it’s probably one of the many romances he’s made for streaming services. He’s been Camilla Cabello’s Prince Charming in Prime Video’s Cinderella, a down-on-his-luck Marine entering a fraudulent marriage with Sofia Carson in Netflix’s Purple Hearts, a dashing, closeted, English prince in Prime Video’s hot 2023 summer hit, Red, White, and Royal Blue, and most recently, a cougar-struck boybander in another Amazon-produced romance, The Idea of You. However, he’s done more than just drown in his costars’ eyes and given TikTok kissing scenes to swoon over. Galitzine has also proven he can tackle comedy, as he did with a supporting turn in last year’s Bottoms, and that he’s got the dramatic chops to hold his own against Oscar winners like his Mary & George costar Julianne Moore. (In fact, in my Mary & George review, I pointed out that Galitzine had truly convinced me it was time for him to become a legit star.)

So given all this, plus his radioactive chemistry with Anne Hathaway and his dashing turn on this week’s Met Gala green carpet, can we make Nicholas Galitzine a Movie Star (with capital letters!) already?!?!

Now, I realize there are probably people out there who will be like, “Girl, he’s already a movie star! You just listed all the movies that he’s already starred in!” However, there’s a vast divide between starring in a handful of romances that bypassed the multiplex to land straight on streaming and being the kind of marquee name that brings butts to physical movie theater seats. In fact, there’s a lingering debate amongst media folks about whether or not the movie star is dead. I’m not quite that nihilistic, but I do think what a movie star is has changed. It’s the kind of actor who not only inspires ardent fandom, but who can deliver both award-winning performances and steady turns in blockbusters.

And I think it’s clear that Galitzine has the juice to do just that.

It’s not just that he’s proven himself to be a winning onscreen suitor, but that he’s often been the one lifting his costar up with his own incandescent form of chemistry. Now, in 2024, when Galitzine has been given formidable scene partners to spar with — Oscar winners like Julianne Moore and Anne Hathaway! — he’s proven that he not only can keep up with the real movie stars, but coax new layers of charisma out of them. Moore has never been so deliciously viperish as she’s been in Mary & George and Hathaway has recently unlocked a new level of kittenish sex appeal.

All of this is to say that I think Nicholas Galitzine is ready for the big leagues. He’s got the chops to star in a movie that actually runs in movie theaters, with posters and press tours and late night show-levels of buzz. He’s paid his dues; now lets get Nicholas Galitzine on the literal big screen.