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BEHIND THE SCENES · CAST INTERVIEW · SNAKE MOUNTAIN

Galitzine breaks down building He-Man's physique and the Snake Mountain fight in a Men's Health interview

Speaking to Men's Health, Nicholas Galitzine detailed the Snake Mountain one-versus-100 brawl, coaching stunt double Johnny James, and trading axe swings with the world's strongest man, Hafthor Bjornsson.

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Galitzine breaks down building He-Man's physique and the Snake Mountain fight in a Men's Health interview
Snake Mountain throne room still from Masters of the Universe. Source: Amazon MGM Studios via Nerdist

Nicholas Galitzine has given Men’s Health a detailed breakdown of how he built He-Man’s body and shot the film’s Snake Mountain set piece, the one-versus-100 throne-room fight that director Travis Knight has called one of the production’s hardest sequences to film. The interview, aggregated by Just Jared on June 8, lands as Masters of the Universe continues its theatrical run after opening June 5.

Galitzine framed the Snake Mountain scene as a turning point for the character. “This is the first time we see Adam allow a sense of rage and anger to overtake a sense of communication and perspective,” he said. “There’s a sense of hubris in this scene, and he really uses a vengeful spirit to dispatch these people.” He called the shoot “the most fun I’ve had,” adding that he “felt a huge amount of agency in how I was able to build his physicality.”

On the action itself, Galitzine described working with stunt double Johnny James and asking him to adapt the fighting style. “I think we need to adapt this character to move with the physicality that I have,” he recalled telling James. “Everything should feel brutal and violent and savage.” He also recounted filming opposite Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, the former World’s Strongest Man who plays Goat Man: “I was genuinely trying not to get decapitated by the strongest man in the world.”

Knight, quoted in the same piece, said the supporting cast was built to sell the scale. “I stacked the cast with giant dudes,” he said. “It was nothing but giant dudes, big, muscle-bound guys who were like 6’5”. Everyone in the movie, all the dudes are huge.” He compared the effect to an NBA roster, where no single player looks oversized because everyone is.

The interview is the latest entry in the film’s post-release press push, which has leaned on behind-the-scenes craft details as the movie works through a soft opening weekend at the box office.

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