Leo Woodall and Nicholas Galitzine Source: EDGE composite image

Watch: Nicholas Galitzine and Leo Woodall Could Have Played Each Others' Gay Roles

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

Imagine "White Lotus" hunk Leo Woodall – who played the sexy bag man for Season Two's hive of "evil gays" – starring as King James' male paramour George Villiers in "Mary & George." Or Nicholas Galitizine swimming into view on "The White Lotus" before being glimpsed having sex with the ringleader of the afore-mentioned "evil gays."

It's a swap that, in an alternate universe, might actually be true, because Woodall read for the part of George Villiers and Galitzine had his hat in the ring for the "White Lotus" role that Woodall won.

In conversation with each other for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the sexy British thesps realized they had had a "small world" moment in having tried out for a gay role made famous by the other; Galiltizine got that ball rolling when he commented, "you and me probably end up going for all the same parts."

That was when Woodall revealed he had been in contention for the part Galitizine played on "Mary & George."

"Did you really?" Galitzine responded, before making a revelation of his own with, "I auditioned for 'White Lotus.' So you've got me there."

"Did you actually? No way!" Woodall exclaimed.

The two discussed being "internet boyfriends" (though not with each other), Woodall's coming from a family of actors, and Galitzine having to ease his family into the sometimes strange world of show business – such as when family members screen a work that includes sex scenes.

"They came to the premiere of 'Mary & George,' and it was pretty uncomfortable," Galitzine recounted, going on to say that the show's sex scenes had his sister "in absolute hysterics, like burying her head in her hands" while his mother simply closed her eyes during the steamy parts.

But it was his father's reaction that was priceless. "My dad, in this hypermasculine way, was like, 'I'm going to watch this. Men watch their sons do sex scenes'," Galiltzine recounted. "It was like, 'Dad, you really don't have to. I get that you're proud.' But bless him!"

"Mary & George" does not lack for heat; Galitzine shared that a single day's work on the series once entailed shooting sex scenes with four different people.

Woodall, for his part, had fun observing his brother's reactions to a particularly steamy scene he did with Tom Hollander in "White Lotus." His brother "had no idea" that the scene was about to unfold, Woodall said. "And he was just, like, on the sofa... and he was just, like, 'Uhh... uhhhhh!'"

Watch the two in conversation below.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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