Nicholas Galitzine lands lead role in Hoyt Richards cult and fashion biopic

Nicholas Galitzine has been cast as former supermodel Hoyt Richards in an upcoming feature directed by acclaimed filmmaker Gus Van Sant, bringing together a story that blends high-fashion glamour with a darker exploration of fame and control.

The film will see Galitzine portray Richards, who rose to global prominence in the 1980s as one of the highest-paid male supermodels in the world. Richards worked with major luxury fashion houses including Versace, Ralph Lauren and Valentino, becoming a defining face of the era’s modelling industry.

Beyond his fashion career, Richards later became known for his involvement with the Eternal Values cult, a group that has since been explored in the HBO docuseries Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult. The organisation reportedly influenced both his personal life and financial decisions while he continued working at the top of the modelling world.

The upcoming film is expected to examine Richards’ contrasting realities—his public image as a global fashion icon and his private entanglement in a manipulative spiritual movement. Themes of psychological control, ambition and identity within celebrity culture are expected to form the core of the narrative.

Richards has previously spoken about donating significant sums of money to the group before eventually recognising its coercive structure, a revelation that has since drawn renewed attention to his story.

Directed by Van Sant, known for films such as Good Will Hunting and Milk, the project adds another major role to Galitzine’s expanding Hollywood career, further positioning him as one of the industry’s rising leading actors.