Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Mary & George Episode 3.

The Big Picture

• Nicholas Galitzine showcases an impressive range in Mary & George as George, navigating complex emotions and plot twists.
• The series delves into George's vulnerable and twisted character, allowing Galitzine to shine in challenging material.
• Galitzine's portrayal of George solidifies him as a skilled actor after making him sympathetic, a seducer, and cruelly ambitious.

Nicholas Galitzine has walked a long road since his debut performance in 2014's The Beat Beneath My Feet. From his Ed Sheeran singing Prince in Cinderella to a ditzy jock in Bottoms, the actor has quite an impressive and diverse body of work behind him. The Starz series, Mary & George, however, allows the actor a chance to further display just how skilled he is indeed.

Loosely based on the true story of Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore) and her son, George (Galitzine), the show follows the two as they infiltrate the 1600s court of King James I (Tony Curran), mostly thanks to the intimate relationship Mary has manipulated between the king and George. The show has wasted no time deep diving into the character of George, with each of its three episodes thus far exhibiting just how complicated, vulnerable, and twisted he can be. While the actor has more than proven himself in his past roles, George's arc and the speed at which it flows have allowed the actor to not only challenge himself and succeed, but it shows how naturally he can handle such complicated material.

'Mary & George' Allows Nicholas Galtizine To Exhibit His Range

Galtizine has really caught the public eye, playing a comedic antagonist in Bottoms, a charming prince who wins the heart of the president's son in Red, White & Royal Blue, and, recently, starring as a pop idol alongside Anne Hathaway in The Idea of You. Mary & George allows the actor to continue to show his vast range of talent.

Thus far, each episode has portrayed George in various states, from mental anguish to manipulative to even deathly ill. In fact, the very first episode introduces Galtizine hanging by the neck in a suicide attempt. Unhappy that his mother, Mary, is forcing him to go to France, thus taking him away from the woman he claims he loves, George is desperate to escape his fate. He appears resentful of his mother, respectful of his father, and cold when his lover mentions she thinks he has an attraction to men. He does end up going to France, where he has sexual encounters with men, and begins to embrace a side of himself that he previously denied. When he next sees Mary, George has confidence and swagger about him. But the episode doesn't let him off easy, as Mary prepares him to enter the king's court and begin their ascent via George's seduction. George soon finds a rival in the palace: Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson), King James' personal favorite and secret lover.

On-screen rivalries go back to the beginning of film and television. Not unlike The Favourite's vicious, queer royal battle, George and Somerset's feud gets heated and causes George humiliation. What results are his loss of confidence and a brilliantly portrayed spiral back to the anguish George felt at the premiere's beginning. As George attempts to take his life a second time, he finds comfort in his mother's reassurance and ambition. Galitzine plays the scene with a sad, almost childlike dependence that not only solidifies the relationship, it makes the audience root for the two schemers, despite the clear horror that's to come.

The show's second episode sees George totally embrace the role of the seducer. Galitzine plays the role with a suave swagger that not only helps the audience see how much time has passed and where the character's intentions now lie but also makes it clear why King James would turn his attention to George after so many years being dedicated and blinded by Somerset. He plays each scene in court as if he owns the room, and, despite the jump in his character from week one to week two, it feels like a natural transition. He doubles down on George's troubled mind when playing scenes "behind closed doors." It's an excellent contrast and bridges the character's week one story to the second outing, one that could easily seem inconsistent in less skilled hands. But just when audiences think they've seen all the dynamics of which George (and by extension, Galitzine) is capable, along comes the show's latest installment, "Not So Much as Love as by Awe."

'Mary & George's Third Episode Solidifies Galitzine as a Skilled Character Actor

Though the episode opens shortly after his victorious first seduction of the king, George is frustrated that he hasn't been able to overtake Somerset's place in James' eyes. Frustrated, George seeks comfort in a male sex worker and comes down with pox. Galitzine gives a truly memorizing performance as he sheds all typical screen vanity to appear sick, sweaty, and even repulsive. After being dismissed from the King's palace, George is bedridden and seems like he may join the ranks of shocking character deaths. Of course, his skilled mother has a plan and not only uses George's time away from the palace to accuse his nemesis of crimes against the king's court, effectively ridding Somerset from James' good graces.

Sentenced to hang, Somerset visits the ailing George and begs him to get the king to stop him from hanging. Somerset offers his body as payment. George accepts, and when their rendezvous is over, George reveals he has no intention of helping. Though brief, the scene offers yet another, intense layer to Galitzine's performance: That of total, repulsive cruelty. Still in his special effects makeup, the actor is able to portray George's anguish and victory at the exact same time, in the very same shot. George makes a miraculous recovery by the episode's end and returns to court, playing cello for the king, and winning the upper hand. As Galitzine plays the instrument with intense focus, it's equal parts satisfying as a viewer to see his character finally truly begin to win, but also chilling to know how far he'll go to do so, and his expression says it all. The episode has been the biggest yet for George, going from ambitious, to near death, to cruel, and, finally victorious. The skill with which Galitzine handles the role proves he is one of the finest character actors working today.

Mary & George has been a whirlwind of a series, not just for its viewers, but for its characters. Luckily, George is in the skilled hands of Nicholas Galitzine. The actor has certainly had a diverse career thus far, and the show allows him to show just how deep, detailed, and believable he can make a character. From being sympathetic and boyish to a flirtatious seducer to a man of cruel ambition, Galitzine has shown a side of himself that audiences have never before seen, and has proven himself a skilled character actor.

Mary & George is available to stream on Starz in the U.S.

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