Here’s What It Actually Takes to Date Nicholas Galitzine
The natural progression for men of a certain age in Hollywood right now seems to go like this: star in acting projects that get meme’d within an inch of their life, become an object of thirst because of those projects, book a campaign with Bumble, then go even more viral. Barry Keoghan did it for Valentine’s Day, and thankfully for literally all of us, it’s Nicholas Galitzine’s turn. The 29-year-old actor already completed steps one (Red, White & Royal Blue and The Idea of You) and two (please enjoy) and now he’s here to teach people how they should actually speak to one another on dating apps. Thank god!
Bumble still believes in letting women message first but understands that can be...a lot of work. So the Opening Moves feature allows women to supply a prompt for their matches to respond to in order to get the conversation flowing faster. In a new video, the internet boyfriend of the moment tells users how they can and should respond to these prompts. Men, please take notes.
This video inspired many follow-up questions, so we got on a call with Nicholas to ask all about his real life relationship habits. Yes, I did try to get him to confirm or deny whether he’s actually in a relationship. Unfortunately, his publicist had other plans.
What is your favorite way to make a first move in real life?
Be authentic. Don’t be creepy. Don’t overthink it too much. Sometimes it’s really nice to compliment an item of someone’s clothing rather than make it a purely superficial thing. Whether they’ve got really cool shoes or a jacket, whatever. That’s a really great, authentic, not weird way to compliment someone.
Because you’re really complimenting their taste, which feels different.
Exactly. It can come across unsettling if you’re just purely complimenting someone’s physicality, and this is actually much more of a reflection on who that person is, their taste, what they choose to dress themselves in.
What would you say to people who are not particularly good at responding on dating apps? Maybe they send a “hey” and they leave it at that.
I’ve dealt with these people in my day. It’s the people who just say “hahaha.” Try and replicate your real life energy. It’s hard sometimes in dating apps to replicate the humanity that we get a sense of in real life, but just try and motivate the conversation by asking something interesting or something that you would like to be asked yourself. Would you like to just get a “hey” back from someone? Probably not.
And I always feel like the heys were very telling about the person I was talking to. It’s like, okay, clearly, the effort’s not there.
Exactly. The heys, they’re kind of providing the litmus test for themselves. I’ve actually found out that a few heys weren’t just heys—there was a lot more than that. I like how we’re speaking about this. Maybe we’re onto something here. Maybe this is, like, a category of people. You know how there’s, like, soft boys and stuff like that? Maybe there’s heys.
Maybe it’s an undiscovered love language. What is a dating app habit that gives you the ick?
The hahahas, it’s not good. I would also say ghosting, but I think in some ways, hahas is worse than ghosting. That’s like...you want me to know how uninterested you are. Particular photos are a red flag for me. I don’t want to alienate people, but, like, we get it—you’ve been to Burning Man. You don't have to put all of your pictures in Burning Man. And the big hats that some of these women wear. It’s a very particular hat that is a Burning Man hat. But I hear it’s really, really fun. I haven’t been and maybe I should go. Maybe I’m just a judgmental person.
I think it’s that there’s a difference between going, enjoying, and making it your whole personality.
Okay, good, we’re aligned.
As an actor, you’ve worked to create chemistry onscreen with people for your job. How do you know that you have chemistry with someone in real life? What does it feel like to you?
Sense of humor is a big thing. Can someone throw it back to me, and is there a natural rapport? I think just sensing if someone’s an authentic person and they don’t switch up in different situations. They’re the same with you as they are with the waiter, as they are in the Uber. That becomes quite clear pretty quickly. It’s humor and kindness for me are probably my two pillars.
Yeah, I agree. I went on a date with someone one time and he was very nice, but I said to my roommate afterward, “I didn’t laugh the entire time.”
If you can laugh through the pain and the difficult times, that’s a real partner.
In your video for Bumble, you said that you would love to go on an escape room first date. Have you done this in real life, and how did it go? As someone who’s very bad at escape rooms, I would be so concerned for the success of the date.
Yeah, that would be a problem for me, if I feel like you weren’t pulling your weight. With an ex-girlfriend years ago, I went on an escape room date. What’s so interesting about it is seeing how someone acts under duress. Do they lash out at you? Are they a problem solver? It’s very symptomatic of what’s to come in the relationship. If they’re throwing abuse at you and swearing you, then maybe that’s a foreboding sign. Now thinking back, it was a date, but I also had my friends with me. That helped the situation. Maybe you don’t have to do it one-on-one.
Let’s say you are having a night in with a significant other. What is on the agenda for you? Are you cooking? Are you watching a movie? How are you putting the moves on?
I love a good movie night. Break out all the snacks. Get the Reese’s Pieces; get the popcorn. I love ordering sushi and then movie. A cute thing I did once, because I’m into woodworking, we did some some woodworking together. Maybe it’s on the more dangerous side to be playing with knives, but it’s cute to make something. Getting some canvases and painting each other is really intimate.
Woodworking is fun too. The stakes are high. There are knives involved. The adrenaline is pumping.
Sustained adrenaline for, like, two hours straight.
What qualities are you looking for in a partner when you’re dating?
Passion, a sense of adventure. Something that I’ve always maintained within myself, and that I bring to me with work and in my private life, it’s a sense of childlike wonder. Someone who can find a sense of wonder and humor and playfulness. I just like the funnest people to be around. In my life, both in my relationships and with my friends, they all share that same sensibility.
Curiosity too. Someone who is genuinely interested in the world around them. You meet people and you’re like, Why don’t you ask any questions?
To take it back to dating apps, I’ve spoken to women who didn’t ask questions. And people are so fascinating. We all come from really different backgrounds. There’s so much to explore. Curiosity and a sense of exploration are two things that I really respond to.
Because you are the face of a dating app for this campaign, it feels fair to ask, what is your relationship status IRL? Are you at liberty to be on Bumble right now?
*Nicholas gets very red in the face*
*Publicist chimes in* If we can move on from this question, please.
Okay, we’ll wrap with this: What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten about love?
Take it slow. You don’t need to rush it. We live in a very fast-paced world. We’re very used to instant gratification. The way we present romance in films and music, it’s very exciting and fast and hard. But all great love takes time. I look at my parents, who’ve been married for over 35 years, and they still bicker with each other a lot. There's always been good times and tough times. Anything worthwhile, it takes time. I always look at them in fondness and and hope for that in my own relationship.
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