Live With Kelly: Joe Manganiello “Magic Mike” Interview

Joe Manganiello: Male Stripper in “Magic Mike”

Joe Manganiello is an American actor, best known for portraying the hunky werewolf Alcide Herveaux on HBO’s supernatural drama series “True Blood.”  His latest role is as a male stripper in the upcoming film Magic Mike. When Joe came out to join Kelly and Tyler, Kelly preceded to form a man sandwich between the two guys. She called herself, “just a simple girl from New Jersey with a dream.” Joe also had to give a quick shout out to his mom (awww), who he said was “freaking out” that he was about to appear on the show.

Kelly, Tyler and Joe watched a quick clip from Magic Mike of Joe in a pretty scandalous firefighter costume. Kelly asked him, “do you eat carbs?” Joe laughed and said that he does now, but for filming, he had to cut out the carbs along with sugar in order to maintain the perfect male stripper body. He also said that usually his exercise would consist of cardio, but for this film it was dancing– specifically, a lot of grinding!

Joe Manganiello: High School Jock Turned Actor

As you might be able to guess from Joe’s 6’5″ frame, he was a high school athlete, playing football, volleyball, and basketball. He became interested in acting when a series of athletic injuries led him to more artistic pursuits. He and his friends began shooting short action films just for fun, which made Joe want to take acting lessons. Initally, he was reluctant to take a role in his high school production of “Oklahoma!” due to all of the singing and dancing. But he did, and he never turned back to sports again! Joe moved on to study acting at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, graduating with a BFA in 2000.

Kelly pointed out that Joe’s story is exactly like Zac Efron’s story in High School Musical. Joe agreed, saying he could also be “a giant Billy Elliot.”

Joe Manganiello Nude: “True Blood” Vs “Magic Mike”

Joe pointed out that his two most recent roles share a recurring theme: partial nudity. It’s for this reason that Joe was actually initially reluctant to take the role in Magic Mike. Since playing a werewolf on “True Blood” requires a certain amount of clothes-shedding, Joe was wondering when he could take a role that didn’t require exposing himself!

However, it was actually Chris Rock who convinced him that taking the part was a good idea, while they were both shooting What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Chris reminded Joe that Brad Pitt took his shirt off for their first fifteen years of his career, and he isn’t doing too badly! Plus, when Chris heard that the film also starred Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer, and was also being directed by Steven Soderbergh, he told Joe he had to do it. Kelly spoke for everyone when she said, “Thank you, Chris Rock!”

Make sure to watch Joe and the rest of the guys in action when Magic Mike opens in theaters Friday, June 29 2012.