At first glance Joe Manganiello (Alcide Herveaux) looks like a pretty intimidating guy given how strong and tall he is. But in real life Joe is actually a very nice, intelligent, and thoughtful guy who just happens to play a werewolf on HBO’s True Blood. In a recent interview with Out Magazine, Joe proves he’s more than just a pretty face by revealing some things about his past, more on his upcoming movies, and why he loves playing Alcide.
One of the questions cast members on True Blood are asked about quite often is how they feel about the sex and nudity that the show has become infamous for. Since he plays a werewolf whose nudity is essencial for transformation, Joe doesn’t mind because it’s grounded in reality:
“As far as the butt cheek stuff goes,” he says, “it just makes sense. It’s not gratuitous; it’s realistic. If you’re a werewolf and you transform, you lose everything and there are your butt cheeks. The show is a deconstruction of supernatural creatures. It’s not like other werewolf projects, where you magically reappear with tiny jean shorts on.”
On the subject of his upcoming film Magic Mike and g-strings he stays mum. But he does say that the film itself, while being about Male stripping, tends to lend itself more to the Chippendale’s kind for women as opposed to stripping for gay men. That said, it didn’t stop Manganiello from actually talking to former strippers to get an idea of what it’s really like and he learned it’s not so glamorous. But for the film, Joe says that audience will see the fun side, the not-so fun side, and everything in between.
When asked about his childhood, Manganiello revealed to out that he was actually into gothic type things growing up, something that you might not suspect at first:
“I was a pretty gothic, dark kid, obsessed with monsters,” Manganiello says of his Pittsburgh childhood. “I loved Halloween and skulls. I was just that kid. My first concert was Pantera, Sepultura, and Biohazard. I loved industrial like Ministry and Revolting Cocks. I was in love with the chick bassist in White Zombie with fluorescent green hair. It’s great that, for a living, I’m associated with full moons and wolves!”
But this combined with his artistic sensibilities didn’t make things easy while he was in high school, particularly because he didn’t fit into the stereotypical jock mold because he played sports and did artistic things. College, however, helped bring things into focus for the actor who attended Carnegie Mellon’s drama program. There he started to come into his artistic side and he also discovered the rave scene. While Joe didn’t get into details, he explained that his late twenties were spent cleaning up what he did in his early 20′s.
His first big Hollywood gig was as Flash Gordon in Spider Man. But Joe really made a splash once he debuted in True Blood during the show’s third season and admits he spent most of his earnings on a personal trainer (the one who got Hugh Jackman into Wolverine shape). But Joe says it’s worth it:
“I like working hard,” he says. “It’s my letter of gratitude to Alan Ball for giving me this opportunity. Vampires are animated corpses. They can get away with not looking like they go to a gym. I’m a wild animal — that’s how I should look.”
Manganiello didn’t reveal too much about his personal life, saying only that he used to have two dogs but their owner moved out and he now travels too much for pets. But he did say that he’s gotten used to spending time alone and enjoys it. So how does Joe feel about his job? He loves it because it combines all of the electic parts of his personality. But he talks about it like a true student of theatre:
“I love my job so much,” he says. “It utilizes each part of my eclectic personality. There’s the kid who loves monsters, and I can be athletic, but I also love history and I can research wolves and Southern dialects. The dialogue is so rich — it’s Tennessee Williams with Chekhovian layers — and that fulfills my bookwormy playwright side. I’m so fortunate. Plus, I get to have a beard all the time.”
As part of the interview, Joe also participated in a photo shoot for Out. You can see the photos below:
To read the interview in its entirety click here.
Source: Out.com- “Lone Wolf”
Image Credits: Out Magazine
