"I grew up reading GQ," the "physically imposing" Joe Manganiello tells an inadequate-feeling GQ.com in a central London hotel room. "My mother would get me a subscription every year so I would get it delivered. I always swore that if it happened for me, I would try to look the part." Given that he's just done a shoot for the forthcoming issue of GQ Style ("I can't wait to see the pictures") and he's turned up today in a Joseph Abboud suit, John Varvatos shirt and tie, IWC watch and brand-new blue alligator Mezlan shoes (check them out on our Facebook), it's safe to say he's succeeded spectacularly on both counts. He's also succeeded spectacularly at looking the part of Alcide Herveaux, the conflicted, buff werewolf who joins the predominantly vampiric cast of True Blood in season three, which airs on Channel 4 at the end of the month. Here Manganiello takes time out of watching Kevin Spacey in Richard III at the Old Vic to talk about aspirational male figures, the exercise even lycanthropes struggle with and body hair removal...
Is it as much fun being in True Blood as it looks?
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's a bit like being a kid on Halloween every day. I get to play the werewolf and there's all these vampires, witches, fairies, were-panthers, ghosts and goblins. It's a ton of fun and aside from that it's also very fulfilling in an adult way in that the dialogue is so rich and so good. Hell, I have a giant wolf that I get to hang out with...
What's the hardest thing about playing a werewolf?
Probably matching the physical description of the character in the books. The workouts are just completely brutal. You know I really try to give this thing my all and Charlaine Harris described him as being "physically imposing". That's probably the toughest part.
What's the worst exercise that you have to do?
Well, being 6' 5", pull-ups are my nemesis. I have really long arms so I have to do twice the work of someone with short arms to get the weight up there. Pull-ups are the bane of my existence. My trainer does a pretty good job of making me want to throw up.
Is there anything that men do in the gym that bugs you?
People talking on cellphones. People that decide to go sit on a piece of equipment and camp out. Or people that don't put their weights back on the rack - that makes me go crazy.
Our favourite is men using the hairdryers in the changing rooms to dry hair not on their heads...
Oh, God! And yeah, all the old guys that walk around without pants on. It's like, "Come on, man!" Maybe I'll get it in about 40 years.
What music do you work out to?
I have a couple of friends that are really big, world-renowned DJs. There's a drum and bass DJ named Dieselboy who I know from Pittsburgh, where I'm from. He DJ'd out of there for a while and we went to college together. I listen to some of his mixes. There's another DJ named Z-Trip and he is credited with inventing the mash-up: he'd take a rock song and seamlessly mash it with a hip-hop song. I listen to their stuff a lot when I'm working out. I kind of put together my own mixes too. I used to DJ a bit in college…
The top Google search for you is "True Blood Joe" which implies that people have some difficulty with your surname...
When I first got out of drama school, my original manager tried to get me to change my name because people were having trouble spelling it and saying it. I said something to the effect of, "F*** that, they're going to have to learn." [It's Man-gan-ello, by the way.]
Did you have any alternatives lined up?
No, I never considered it for a second. Funny, I told my father that story and he said, "It's a good thing you didn't change it because you wouldn't have been allowed home." [laughs]
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