“That’s not an easy movie to make.”

Noah Centineo explains why his He-Man* *film fell through — and how Nicholas Galitzine got the role

“That’s not an easy movie to make.”

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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August 18, 2026 3:37 p.m. ET

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Noah Centineo; Nicholas Galitzine. Credit:

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty; Jason Mendez/WireImage

- Noah Centineo, who was cast as He-Man in 2019, opened up about losing the role on the latest episode of *Happy Sad Confused.*

- Despite making progress during pre-production, Centineo exited *Masters of the Universe* in 2021 after his contract expired.

- Centineo praised Nicholas Galitzine’s performance as He-Man in the recently released *Masters of the Universe.*

Noah Centineo has no hard feelings about losing out on the role of He-Man.

Although Nicholas Galitzine ultimately played the Eternian prince in *Masters of the Universe*, there was a time when Centineo was supposed to play the character. The *To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before* actor was cast in the film in 2019, with Aaron and Adam Nee signed on to direct.

But after years of delays and the rights to the film changing hands, Centineo was released from the project in 2021. Now, he’s sharing insight into his time preparing for He-Man — and why the role fell through.

“We were pretty close, dude,” he told host Josh Horowitz on the Aug. 17 episode of *Happy Sad Confused*. “I went through the test process. We screen-tested loin cloth and stuff. All of it.”

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Centineo revealed that his version of the film, which was being developed by Sony Pictures, got pretty deep into the pre-production process before switching studios and directors. *Masters of the Universe* later landed at Amazon MGM Studios with Travis Knight at the reins.

“They’re, like, showing us previs,” he recalled, referring to the previsualization storyboarding. “They’re showing us kind of the production design, the world-building.”

Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man in ‘Masters of the Universe’.

Giles Keyte/Amazon

Unfortunately for Centineo, he was not destined to wield the power of Grayskull. As for why his film didn’t pan out, he said the true reasons remain a mystery to him.

“We got pretty close, and then for some reason or another, it just pushed and pushed,” he explained. “And then I think they just wanted to keep tweaking it and tweaking it, and the contract ran out. And we moved on and then I think Netflix acquired it for a little bit and then Amazon acquired it.”

But Centineo has no bad blood toward Galitzine, who took on the mantle of Prince Adam. In fact, he had nothing but praise for the *Red, White & Royal Blue* actor’s performance.

“It’s so difficult to step into a role like that dude,” Centineo said. “I mean, that’s not an easy movie to make at all. And, like, I watched it and Nick is incredible.”

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Noting that it is difficult “to do camp wholeheartedly,” Centineo celebrated Galitzine’s swing at the comic book icon.

“I loved what he was doing, what he was trying to do,” he gushed.

Watch the full episode of *Happy Sad Confused *with Noah Centineo above.

- Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies

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Source: “EW Sci-Fi”