Inside Nicholas Galitzine's Masters of the Universe Transformation

Nicholas Galitzine Reveals Challenge Behind Transformation as He-Man

Yes, Nicholas Galitzine has the power.

But even with the Sword of Grayskull on hand for his role as the iconic superhero He-Man in the June 5 release Masters of the Universe, transforming into the ultra-buff Prince Adam of Eternia, "was an every day a week thing," the 31-year-old told E! News' Will Marfuggi at the flick's May 18 premiere. With mere months between filming the historical fantasy romance 100 Nights of Hero and his turn as a World War II soldier in The Mosquito Bowl, Galitzine added, "It was a pretty short amount of time."

In an ideal world, the London native noted, "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 so, to confidently battle Jared Leto's Skeltor in the live-action Mattel adaptation, he had to commit to a no-rest-days type of schedule.

"So, you’re shooting a scene," he explained of the relentless routine. "They say, 'You have 10 minutes until the next set up,' you run outside, you hop on the assault bike, run back in, shoot a scene again, and that kind of goes on for about five months."

And, yes, it required a bit of a Herculean effort.

"We started out really trying to pack on as much size as possible," he explained of his remarkable transformation. "You know, having up to 5,000 calories sometimes, weightlifting for three hours a day and then we streamlined it."

Instagram/Nicholas Galitzine

Among the bits they trimmed: His daily calorie count.

"We started shooting and then I had to cut while we were shooting, which is pretty insane," he detailed. As a result, he continued, "You have that brain fog. So, I definitely felt like that was a thing but especially when you’re doing these action set pieces, you’ve gotta have energy for it."

Not to mention a sheer force of will. "There were periods where I was fasting for 18 hours, then doing a three-hour weight-training session fasted before stunt work," he detailed on Fandango's Big Ticket podcast. "It really tested my willpower."

Still, the results made him glad that he powered through. By the end of filming, he had bulked up so much, his family struggled to give him hugs. "My mom's a tiny little thing," he revealed to People. "She couldn't really reach around me. It's so cute."

Soon after, though, he was back to wrapping his fam in embraces.

His first official cheat meal post-filming was a combo 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."

Which made the next part of the process particularly delicious.

Slated to play a solider in The Mosquito Bowl mere weeks after filming, he recounted to E!, "The director 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?'"

The request "was kind of music to my ears," the Red, White and Royal Blue alum added, "I'd lay on a couch, I ate potato chips and I said, 'This is the kind of prep I love.'"

Of course, he's hardly the first star to have to weigh his proteins. Keep reading for more impressive film transformations.

(E! and Fandango are both part of Versant Media.)