HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN

The maths are in: 31.25% of Nicholas Galtizine’s roles are of the limp-wrist nature. With five out of 16 of his characters (not including his trailblazing role as “barista” in After Louise) identifying as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the British actor has become one of the most notable faces in queer storytelling over the past decade.

(That number increases to 37.5% with the inclusion of Bottoms, the lesbian comedy in which he stars as a straight himbo jock.)

In an interview with HuffPost UK, Galitzine – who identifies as a straight – explained that his attraction to queer roles stems from his intrigue in “that underbelly of vulnerability and having to hide oneself,” adding: “I’m very interested in identity. […] I think they’ve all just been really rich characters in of themselves.”

To commemorate the lovely rainbow tint over Galtizine’s filmography, as well as his highly-anticipated role as He-Man!, we’ve ranked all of his queer characters so far, from his debut television performance as an MI6 agent’s secret lover in Legends to his lauded performance as a versatile king-fucker in Sky Atlantic’s Mary & George. Extremely important journalism lies ahead.

5. Legends (2015)

In 2015, a 20-year-old Galitzine made his first-ever small-screen appearance with a guest role on TNT’s short-lived crime drama Legends, which stars Sean Bean as an undercover FBI agent who transforms into a different person for each case. (I wonder if he perishes in this one?) The season two episode ‘The Legend of Terrence Graves’ tells the story of former MI6 handler Terrence Graves, who has been blackmailed for years over his homo romance with a man called Angelo (Galitzine). Although it’s a very minor appearance via flashbacks, the scenes are still referenced by thirsty social media accounts – I haven’t looked, I swear! – as a result of Galitzine’s lack of… wardrobe. Angelo may be the cellar dweller here, but he deserves his flowers as the star’s first rainbow role. Come through, Angelo!

4. The Craft: Legacy (2020)

Galitzine embraced his inner bi-con in The Craft: Legacy (2020), Prime Video’s long-awaited sequel to the 90s sapphic witch classic The Craft (1996). As the classic high school bully archetype, Timmy Andrews, Galitzine subverts expectations when he comes out to the central quartet – played by Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone and Zoey Luna – by revealing that he “hooked up” with Lily’s (Spaeny) stepbrother Isaiah (Donald Maclean). With his tears, the girls – and the audience – see a new side to Tommy, realising his macho facade is a result of trying to fit in with society’s cis-het expectations of young men. Tommy then opens up about how ‘hard it is for dudes’ to be bisexual, telling them: “I feel like there’s no room to be… Everyone assumes you’re just gay, and that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. I just like both.” At the time of its release, bisexual representation for men was scarce (still is, sadly), so this scene was lauded as one of the The Craft: Legacy’s finest moments, while Galitzine received praise for his layered performance.