Nicholas Galitzine Admits To Feeling “Guilt” And “Uncertainty” Taking On Gay Roles As A Straight Actor 

Nicholas Galitzine has weighed in on his experience playing gay roles as a straight actor.

The actor, who has garnered praise for his portrayal of Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue and George in Mary & George, spoke with British GQ about being “a part of some incredible queer stories,” despite identifying as a straight man.

“I felt a sense of uncertainty sometimes about whether I’m taking up someone’s space, and perhaps guilt,” he explained. “At the same time, I see those characters as not solely their sexuality.”

Will & Grace star Eric McCormack also recently added to this discourse in light of his experience playing the gay role of Will Truman on the hit NBC sitcom, telling Good Morning Britain in March that straight actors playing gay roles is “part of the gig.”

“There’s no part I’ve ever played where I wasn’t playing something I’m not,” he said. “It’s part of the gig. And I’ve always said, if gay actors weren’t allowed to play straight actors, Broadway would be over. So this is what we do.”

In his interview with British GQ, Galitzine said he thinks of his identity as himself and not his role, and expressed a desire to be “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,” he shared. “I think that being my defining feature is something I’m constantly terrified of.”

Galitzine also reflected on his most recent role in The Idea of You alongside Anne Hathaway, and what he hopes viewers take from the film, which follows a romance between a 24-year-old lead singer of a popular band (Galitzine) and a 40-year-old single mom (Hathaway).

“Certain people might just see this as a smutty movie they’re gonna get titillated by for a couple hours, and I think it’s so much more than that,” he said. “The amount of people who have come up to me and said, ‘I had my reservations, but it completely surprised me,’ or ‘It has an immense depth to it, as well as just being a lot of fun.”