LOS ANGELES - In Masters Of The Universe, the insecure Adam transforms into He-Man simply by wielding the Sword of Grayskull.

But for actor Nicholas Galitzine, the transformation into the muscular 1980s hero required a Herculean effort.

“I wish I could just point the sword in the sky, and then transform,” said the 31-year-old, who stars in the fantasy action film opening in Singapore cinemas on June 4.

“But no, it was a massive undertaking.”

For months, Galitzine’s routine revolved around eating a lot (or a little, depending on the phase), lifting weights, and doing cardio whenever he had a spare minute.

“I knew it was going to be really, really hard, but I don’t think I realised how mentally strong you have to be if you’re going to do this thing,” said the Briton, who spent much of the process enviously eyeing the food his friends were eating.

“You’re working out five, six days in a row, and you come into work, and you just really, really, really don’t feel like doing it.

“You have to tell yourself: ‘no matter what, I’m not missing a workout today.’”

Before mastering the universe and his caloric intake, Galitzine turned heads as Prince Henry in the adaptation of gay romance Red, White & Royal Blue (2023), and wooed Anne Hathaway as a boy band singer in romance drama The Idea Of You (2024).

He didn’t grow up playing with the classic Mattel action figures or watching the 1983 animated series, much less the 1987 big-screen adaptation starring Dolph Lundgren, but he said he was drawn to the project as soon as he read the script - “laughing almost all the way through it”.

“And as soon as I finished the script, I called my agent and I said: ‘I need to do this movie’.”

Humour, he said, was a key part of the film directed by American film-make...