Nicholas Galitzine on Bringing "Debaucherous" History to Life in 'Mary & George'

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Nicholas Galitzine is about to be everywhere.

This spring, Galitzine—who had a breakout 2023 in Red, White, & Royal Blue and Bottoms—is starring in Mary & George (premiering today) as the scheming George Villiers, the future Duke of Buckingham, who seduces King James I (Tony Curran) in a quest for power, and in The Idea of You (streaming May 2) as boy band frontman Hayes who falls for art gallery owner Solène (Anne Hathaway).

But regardless of the character he's playing, be it 17th century duke or 21st century pop star, Galitzine tells Town & Country that he always approaches his roles "from a humanity perspective, and finding out who the person is, what are their wants, what are their obstacles, where the conflict is."

Ahead of Mary & George's premiere, Galitzine spoke with T&C about why audiences continue to be drawn to period dramas, George's arc in the show, studying history, and what he'd love to do next (hint: it involves Greek mythology).

It is quite the time for a show about the royals to be coming out as all eyes feel like they're on the royals—in fact, Kate Middleton just announced she has cancer. How does it feel to be in a project that is looking at royal history?

Look, it's important to note the very different circumstances. I send my condolences and it's incredibly sad, and I hope that she can get some amazing treatment. Our show covers a very different part of history and a part of history that a lot of people don't know about. I hope people are excited to get to know the Jacobeans because they don't get a lot of publicity! Usually it's the Elizabethans or the Tudors, they get all the attention.

Did you know anything about George before signing on to this project? What was your research process like?

No, nothing! The fact that he achieved as much as he did in his life—for better or for worse. [George was] such an interesting figure in history and it was such a joy to play him. A lot of [my research] involved talking to Benjamin Woolley, who wrote this incredible book, The King's Assassin, which was our main historical text for the show, and finding out the different versions of George throughout his life, how he evolved.

With a show like this, which is historical fiction, the script is bible and DC Moore's script was just such a joy to read and to chart this journey from fragile young man to essentially someone who had the power of the King of England.

What a trajectory for one person to rise so quickly—how do you understand George's relationship with power as the episodes go on?

It starts out as discomfort; it starts out as very much the machinations of his mother. Once he comes back from France and he really gets a taste of it and sees the doors that it opens, and he's able to really enjoy the fruits of his labor, the more intoxicating it all becomes. He becomes so far gone by the end of our show that it's, again, as I said before, it's so fun to be able to play someone who's such a huge arc.

The costumes were so growingly opulent as George's wealth grows; that was just such a joy. [I] had these extensions before George goes to France, to round his head out and make him feel more unrefined, and then we had this wonderful wig later on in the process when George is at the height of his powers as well.

What do you make of his relationship with James and how it evolves over the season?

I love the relationship with James and working with Tony [Curran], as well, and his wonderful portrayal of King James—it was so easy to act opposite him. There is a genuine love and a genuine tenderness there. It was transactional at time, and then it does become a very tainted by George's visions of his future and where he can go beyond James. S0, it's very complex, and that's all we want really as actors, to act out complex relationships on screen.

When you're working on a show rooted in the historical record, how much are you thinking about George's life before and after the story you're telling?

From an audience perspective, there will be people who want to know the wider story and, indeed, there was a lot that we didn't even have time to include in seven episodes. George's life after James's passing was pretty incredible as well, we touch on it very slightly in the show. I think there will also be people who just love what we've included in the seven episodes, and there's more than enough for people to sink their teeth into.

Why do you think viewers continue to be drawn to period dramas?

We're fascinated by people—and people who feel very different to us in a lot of ways. There are a lot of people who don't grow up with this education of the Jacobean era; there's so much on the syllabus in history lessons at class. So to see a really fun side of history—debaucherous, in some capacity—it's so watchable, what's not to like about it?

Were you a fan of studying history in school?

I was—I mean I have to say I did not love the curriculum of what they actually taught, and I actually think they taught some really boring parts of history in school. I have been into ancient history for a long time, like the dawn of civilizations I find really, really interesting and became maybe not an expert, but I became quite fluent in that part of history.

As an actor, would you want to work on a project that was set in Ancient Greek, Ancient Rome?

Yeah, definitely. I really would love to play Odysseus because, I grew up reading The Odyssey and I grew up reading The Iliad and there is just so much wonderful history there [in] Greek mythology and I'm surprised more people haven't done it. Obviously you need budget and scope to be able to do something [about] that part of history. But, I definitely would be up for that.

You've now played a prince, a duke, a boy band star... What's next for you?

God, yeah—just continuing this sense of unpredictability, that is the thing that I hope to achieve in my career: To put people in a position where they don't really know what I'm going to do next. That's really exciting for me. Definitely dipping more into different genre work is something I'm excited about.

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