True Blood’s Manganiello unleashes ‘the big bad wolf’
HBO’S pop culture phenomenon has been a game changer for theatrically trained actor
Joe Manganiello feels like, well, howling at the moon these days.
Manganiello, who plays the imposing but sensitive werewolf Alcide on the pop culture phenomenon True Blood, is wrapping up the last episodes of Season 5, which premieres on HBO Canada Sunday.
The 35-year-old theatrically trained Pittsburgh native, who stands 6-foot-5 and is cut like granite, hints at what his character will bring to True Blood’s erotically charged, escapist milieu this season: “Alcide is that classic throwback, big and strong, a man’s man who’s very protective with a vulnerable side. But you’re going to see Alcide’s transition into becoming the big bad wolf. I’ve been waiting two-plus seasons for what goes down this year.”
After the premiere, Manganiello jets off to Europe to do publicity for Magic Mike, the highly anticipated dramedy from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh in which Manganiello plays a male stripper subtly named Big Dick Richie.
He cracks up. “I didn’t stop laughing for two months during the shoot.”
It’s been a whirlwind for Manganiello recently, one of “those 10year overnight success things.”
He graduated in 2000 with a bachelor of fine arts in acting from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
After moving to L.A., he appeared in the first Spider-Man movie then did various TV shows, including comedies like How I Met Your Mother.
He went from playing roles like Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire for a non-profit theatre to his breakout role as Alcide, which earned him “Favourite PopCulture Werewolf of All Time” honours from Entertainment Weekly in 2011.
Both playful and thoughtful in conversation, Manganiello says back in drama school he was inspired by Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead.
He found it to be “essential reading for any artist” and “wanted to be like Howard Roark.”
Going to Carnegie Mellon has served him well, he says. “I truly think my theatre training was the perfect precursor to working with True Blood creator Alan Ball because I’m kind of like a Tennessee Williams werewolf in a hot-blooded, Deep South world.”
This sexy world, which is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris, has been ramped up into a zany, highclass soap by Ball’s creative team where viewers cheer their heroes,
“You’re going to see Alcide’s transition into becoming the big bad wolf. I’ve been waiting two-plus seasons for what goes down this year.” JOE MANGANIELLO
hiss at the villains and marvel at the hard bodies on display. Of the Emmy Award-winning show, one of HBO’s most watched series since The Sopranos, Manganiello says, “Alan put it best: True Blood is popcorn for smart people.”
Manganiello wanted to put his own stamp on the role of Alcide, so he didn’t spend time watching werewolf movies.
“I wanted my own take. I didn’t see my job as playing a werewolf. I’m here to show the struggle of a man who was born into an unaccepting world and who shares genetic information with a wolf. I’m here to humanize this monster. That’s the genius of True Blood.”
To bring out the wolf in Alcide, Manganiello went to the source, interacting with real wolves and observing domesticated dogs, especially little ones who stood up to much bigger animals. “There was no fear. If it’s time to fight, you fight. These animals are all about heart. I think the vampires can be very cold. In the pantheon of creatures in True Blood, I think the werewolves are the warmest. They’re very passionate: when they love, they love, and when they fight, they fight. It’s very much how I grew up in my Sicilian home.” Loping into Season 5, Manganiello says the show will delve deeper into vampire mythology and wolf pack politics. “I’m really excited as there’s a little show within a show around my character. There are new werewolves, new people to play off. I’ve just murdered the pack master and there’s going to be some fallout. You’ll find out about the wolf that came after Sam, who’s in a lot of trouble himself with the wolves. And there’s also a hot new werewolf chick.” Ahhwoooo, indeed! One question that has occupied True Blood fans is who Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin) will hook up with this season. Alcide has been her confidante and protector, and Manganiello teases, “If fans have seen the new trailers, it’s either happening or it’s one terrific dream.” True Blood has been a very real game changer for Manganiello. “Suddenly, I’m taking meetings for the biggest movie franchises on the planet. My hometown Pittsburgh Steelers players are obsessed with the show. But it hit home at ComicCon with our fans going wild. Every hair on my body stood straight up, it was electric. I’d just signed on as a regular and I was so pumped, I howled like a wolf onstage!”