Basic Provisions
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Director film "Masters of the Universe"« Travis Knight explains how he landed a key cameo role in his new film.
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Lead actor Nicholas Galitzine shared what he loves most about the moment between He-Man and the character.
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The actor added his own ideas to the scene to "make it more in his style.".
This article contains spoilers for the film "Masters of the Universe"« .
Nicholas Galitzin had a big idea for «Masters of the Universe» , where he plays the hero, Prince Adam/He-Man.
«I seem to remember quite vividly going up to [director Travis Knight] and saying, „You know what, it would be a great idea if Dolph Lundgren was in the movie,“» the actor said, referring to the film’s star.« Masters of the Universe» 1987 edition Entertainment Weekly . — «And he looked at me like, „Yeah, we’ve been planning something for…“ like I’d come up with some completely new [concept]. That’s the thing about Travis: he’s always a few steps ahead of me.».
It was certainly a great idea; Lundgren actually appears in the film (now in theaters) in a cameo role showing Adam's life on Earth.
«"Basically, we're showing a typical day in Adam's life, his constant routine, and how unfulfilling that life is. You can understand why he's so eager to go home, why he wants to return to Eternia and the world he left behind," Knight explains. So we see him at work in HR, at home with his romantic-comedy-loving roommate, and even at the gym, "because it's symbolic. He-Man is all about giant muscles, and we often play with that notion of machismo. So we wanted to show Adam at the gym, working out.".
Dolph Lundgren in the 1987 film "Masters of the Universe"; Nicholas Galitzine in the 2026 film "Masters of the Universe." Photo: Everett; Amazon
There he meets Lundgren, whose character (credited as Macho Man) is clearly a bit of a gym freak—so Adam (or rather, Galitzine?) asks him for advice as a "newbie"... at the gym (and, of course, as the new He-Man). Lundgren shares some wisdom about how being a man is more than just having muscles, and the importance of not limiting yourself to your own efforts—which seems pointless at first, but will become clear later.
As he leaves, he turns to Adam and wishes him "bon voyage," a phrase his He-Man spoke to characters in the original film.
«It was originally going to be a much longer scene where we were seeing a lot of different aspects of what was going on, and then he has this dialogue with Dolph, and that scene was also originally going to be much longer,» Knight says. «You plan these things out, and when you start putting the film together, you realize that film is a time-based art. You have a limited time to tell the story you’re telling. And that means you have to cut a lot of the stuff you like along the way. But you really get to the heart of that interaction, and for me, it’s about Dolph giving this young man at the beginning of his journey a little bit of life advice, a little bit of hard-won wisdom. And then when you see later in the film how that comes back and how it affects things, I think it’s just fascinating.».
The scene was filmed fairly early in production, Knight says. "It was a cool way to start. It gave us a little boost early in the shoot." It was a powerful boost, something the director wasn't sure he could pull off.
Nicholas Galitzine and Dolph Lundgren at the Masters of the Universe premiere party. Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty
«"I never imagined I'd be able to convince Dolph Lundgren to be in our movie. Of course, I was hoping we'd get Dolph, and I'd been trying for a long time," Knight explains. When they finally connected and Knight shared his vision for the cameo, Lundgren, he says, offered his thoughts on "how we could tweak and change it to better suit his character... It was so cool that day to see two real movie heroes in the same place.".
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Galitzin considers themselves "lucky" that Lundgren wanted to be a part of the film. "I also think it's funny how we did it, but there's a certain metaphorical undertone to it," Galitzin says. "I end up saying the same lines he did in my military seminar [later in the film]. I hope Dolph feels the same way, but it was a very real passing of the baton, which was certainly special for me.".
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.