Nicholas Galitzine Remembers His "Firsts"

My first celebrity crush was Jessica Alba.

I was obsessed with Jessica Alba for a period of time.

The lips, incredible.

Hi, Teen Vogue.

I'm Nicholas Galitzine, and these are some of my firsts.

[light upbeat music]

If I had to pick a dream person to be in a rom-com,

I'd say Ayo would definitely be on that list

because she's so charming and funny.

Get out of the freaking car! [passengers yelling]

I did a job in Ireland, and I was like,

we actually bonded over our love for Ireland.

And we actually I think stayed in really similar areas

in Dublin for both our respective times.

I mean, I don't think she was even working there, actually.

I think she was there to study or something like that.

But she is the pride of Ireland.

I can confirm.

My first impression when meeting Ayo was,

I just immediately wanted to be friends with her.

Obviously The Bear was kind of,

I think it had either come out

or was like in the process of coming out,

but she hadn't sort of blown up in the way that she has now.

I knew immediately, you know, she was gonna be a star,

I mean, obviously because of her talent,

but, you know, even more so than that,

I think her work ethic.

I think she's been, you know, hustling at comedy

for a really long time,

and she's a wonderful dramatic actress as well.

And I can't wait for people to see,

you know, even more stuff of her dramatically.

The first thing that people should know about me is

that I'm a very open person

unless I haven't had my first coffee of the day,

in which case, don't come say hi to me

because I'm gonna be in a terrible mood,

and I'm not gonna be open at all. [laughs]

It all depends on that first coffee.

The first coffee is integral.

I think Americans think that we're a lot more polite

and mild-mannered than we actually are,

and we can be very, very rude.

I can guarantee you that most English people you'll meet out

in public, you know, whether it's on the Tube

or, you know, just around London,

I mean, we kind of stay in our zone.

We're not very talkative.

Another thing that Americans get wrong, I'd say,

is that they either think that we're part

of the royal family or East End geezers who talk like this,

whereas the majority of us kind of sit

in this little middle zone as well.

There are more English people than just the posh

and the Cockneys.

My first celebrity crush was Jessica Alba.

I was obsessed with Jessica Alba for a period of time

and still am in a lot of ways, you know?

She's the most beautiful human being,

and the lips, incredible,

but also a wonderfully talented person

and an amazing businesswoman.

I've heard she has incredible business acumen too,

which I think is also very attractive.

My first audition was

for a tiny, tiny little movie called

The Beat Beneath My Feet.

I ended up getting the lead role in this,

and it was the first movie I ever did.

[energetic rock music]

[Character] Hi, love!

Put in some work, get into university,

or be a sad loser.

About a young wannabe musician

who befriends a disgraced rockstar who faked his own death,

which is kind of crazy to think.

And you know, there was a period of time where I was like,

Oh, this acting thing, I mean, it's very easy, you know?

You go to your first audition, and you get the lead role.

I mean, the rest of my career

is gonna be exactly like this.

And then, you know, obviously find out that wasn't the case.

The first thing that turns me off about a person

is the people who try and get on the Tube

before letting the people off the Tube first.

Like, just, just wait.

Just wait like one moment,

and then you can get on, you know?

That really irks me, I'll say.

The first thing that turns me on about someone,

I'd say, is authenticity.

If you get a sense from someone

that they are completely themselves,

you know, they've embraced their oddities and their quirks,

it just creates a really vulnerable space

between people where you don't have to kind of pretend

to be something else that you're not.

I think maybe perhaps when he comes back from France,

and he kind of sees this royal court

and I suppose the sort of stakes that it would take,

the sort of effort and commitment it would take

to ascend to sort of power or relevancy in this.

And I think, you know, the same could be said

for me at the start of my career climbing through the sort

of the echelons of this wonderful industry.

I mean, it's very daunting to begin with.

You know, he starts to feel more

and more comfortable in that setting.

And I think the same is true

as I've traversed, you know, every year in this industry.

So, yeah, I'd say there's a likeness there.

I mean, the first food I like

to eat when arriving in the UK is probably...

We're not exactly renowned for...

Oh, what I will say is like, good Indian food

'cause I feel like the US doesn't have as much sort

of Indian restaurants as, I mean, we're so known for that

in the UK, I feel like, you know,

given our large Indian population.

Love spice, but when it comes to curry, I love a lamb korma.

Trying to push myself.

You know, I'm trying to get ready

for hot ones, you know, eventually.

I don't want to have my palate destroyed

if I ever get invited on that show.

The first time I fell in love,

let's say my first girlfriend, she was from Spain.

We worked together in Abercrombie and Fitch.

I was very desperate for money at the time,

so that was my excuse.

I remember just like traveling,

you know, being so broke

and spending all my money traveling to Spain

to go and see her, you know,

sleeping in airports, taking buses,

and that's what you do for young love.

Very financially irresponsible of me,

but, you know, it seemed worth it at the time.

My first job was when I was about 14, 15,

and my friend and I started a car-washing business.

And we'd go round the affluent neighborhoods

knocking on doors.

We didn't have expertise in this area,

but we sort of hoped that our young charm

would kind of get us through the door,

And we realized the sort of effort that you had to put in

without all of the kit to wash a car,

and then to only get maybe 10 quid for it was,

it was kind of futile.

We disassembled the business after about a month or two.

We didn't fall into the car-washing business long term.

I think the first time I realized my work had had resonance

was after my second movie,

which was this kind of cheesy romance movie.

But we got invited to this film festival in Italy,

which was kind of for teenagers,

and I mean, about like 1,000 people showed up.

And I was just completely floored and blown away.

I was in New York at the time, and I just kind of,

I think I felt more perceived than I'd ever felt before,

and that felt like a notable shift for me.

My first interaction with Julianne Moore

was actually this cast scheduled meetup

where basically the entire cast

of the first three episodes got together in a room.

I remember feeling an immense warmth from her immediately.

Her smile is so large, and it really...

She just has a way of lighting up the room, I think.

It made her very human for me,

and I think then going into the process

and actually getting to know her,

that was very much confirmed.

You know, she's just such a sweet soul

as well as being immensely talented.

The first period costume I had

to wear was probably for Cinderella.

♪ Anyone ♪

Dude.

♪ Can anybody find me ♪

I don't remember exactly what it was,

but I'm sure it was some sort of waistcoat

and wide-collared and sort of riding boot-type costume.

Because it was not set in this real world world,

those were kind of a mixture of different periods, I think,

but it was so fun to wear

and difficult to move and dance in, that's for sure.

But they looked amazing.

Unfortunately, they don't let me have any of those things.

You really gotta become a bit of a thief on a film set

because oftentimes there's a process

by which they hold onto these things for years,

and then at that point, you know, you can't be bothered

to secure them yourself.

So you gotta steal props from set.

That's the only way to go.

Thank you, Teen Vogue, for having me.

I am Nicholas Galitzine, and these were my firsts.

[mellow music]