Nicholas Galitzine went to boyband bootcamp to prepare for 'The Idea of You'.
The 29-year-old actor stars opposite Anne Hathaway in the new romcom as the singer in boyband August Moon, with his bandmates - Jaiden Anthony, Raymond Cham Jr., Vik White, and Dakota Adan - all professional dancers, and the quintet spent five weeks undergoing intensive training with choreographer Dani Vitale so the leading man could learn the swagger of a pop star while the others toned down their usual skills, as well as working together as a group.
Nicholas told The Hollywood Reporter: “I just had to learn how not to stick out like a sore thumb. For me, it was more about creating those little moments with each other on stage, I think that’s what really sells it.”
Vik added: “We had to learn how not to do too much."
After their bootcamp, the fictional band had to film a Coachella performance - which was done in Atlanta Motor Speedway parking lot - and shots from their tour, and Nicholas admitted it was a daunting task.
He said: "It was pretty nerve-wracking, but I think we were all quite emotional when it finished because we had put so much effort into it.”
After that, the actor had to go to Sweden to record his vocals for the soundtrack.
Lead songwriter and producer Savan Kotecha - who previously penned tracks for One Direction - said: "We did what we would usually do in three weeks in three days. Nick was such a trooper...
“He really took it seriously, which was exactly who Hayes Campbell was.
"That’s what I loved about the character, he had a lot of integrity. He wanted to earn it, and Nick is the same way. He gave everything to this role and to the sessions in Sweden. It wasn’t always easy, but he just made the songs come alive.”
Despite having a lot to learn for the movie, the actor is hoping he can explore more musical opportunities in the future.
He said: “I feel like I learned a huge amount about myself working on this.
“It was an incredibly steep learning curve.
“I am setting some things in motion already. I definitely have an eye to the future for this sort of stuff.”
