Joe Manganiello : Muscle & Body

Meet Joe Manganiello, the new werewolf in town on “True Blood.”Here’s how the former star athlete built his monster physique and fulfilled a childhood dream.

Before the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama acting gods and Hollywood producer-writer-
director Alan Ball came calling, “True Blood” star Joe Manganiello aspired to be a naturally lean and ripped athlete. Little did the 6’5” varsity basketball, football and volleyball letterman know as a steroid-snubbing teen that his acting dream job would be the motivation for him to develop the cut, carnivorous body he always wanted.

As the HBO vampire-centric hit’s resident werewolf Alcide Herveaux — the benevolent half-man, half-monster assigned to protect star Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse — Manganiello channels his athletic past to unleash his inner animal. He achieves this through a beast of a cardio- and protein-intensive regimen he calls the “Werewolf Workout.” The six-day-a-week, twice-a-day fitness routine is the brainchild of celebrity trainer Ron Matthews, who sculpted Hugh Jackman’s physique for the “X-Men” star’s role as Wolverine. 

The Pittsburgh-born Manganiello, 33, combines a natural athleticism with a classically trained theatrical background that’s propelled the towering actor into everything from zany TV sitcom roles (“How I Met Your Mother,” “’Til Death”) to physically demanding, action-oriented films (“Spider-Man,” “Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia”) that occasionally see him doing his own risky stunts. And in between juggling guest spots on “Medium,” “ER” and all three “CSI” incarnations, the versatile performer even learned slamball — and earned a pulled back muscle — on the CW drama “One Tree Hill.”

For Manganiello, who credits his family’s Pittsburgh blue-collar background for his work ethic, it’s all part of the job. And as HBO’s new beefcake werewolf, the actor exercises another tried-and-“True Blood” maxim: You are what — or as remains to be seen with Alcide — whom you eat.

Muscle & Body: You’ve said you prayed as a kid to become a werewolf. Is Michael J. Fox to blame?

Joe Manganiello: [Laughs] Partially. I was a huge fan of “Teen Wolf.” But I was really more of a fan as a little kid of the black-and-white monster movies — the Bella Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. stuff. Halloween was always my favorite holiday. I had monster figures. I drew monsters all the time. I read all of the Stephen King books to the point that my father started taking the books from me. I attended a Catholic elementary school. I went to church every morning at 6 a.m. praying that God would turn me into a werewolf. I’d heard as a little kid that if you pray hard enough and your faith is pure, God will answer you. But after a few weeks of praying with all of my heart, it wasn’t happening. So I started thinking there wasn’t a God, it’s all a big gyp. 

M&B: So now your faith has been restored?

JM: Yeah. I jokingly tell Alan Ball, “You’ve brought me back to Jesus.”  

M&B: You’ve said that the role helps you unleash the beast within. 

JM: That’s what is so interesting to me about werewolves in the pantheon of monsters. Growing up as a naturally big kid, you’re taught to be responsible, not lash out, not use your size. I think there’s a definite parallel between that and Alcide. Being a werewolf, there’s a real sense of catharsis letting that beast out. 

M&B: How important was it to look the part?  

JM: I’m playing a guy who spends a lot of time as an animal. If you look at animals in the wild, they’re generally very lean, very muscular. Arthur Jones, the guy who founded Nautilus, would study alligators’ muscles, which are so much stronger per cubic inch than human muscles. I wanted a workout that would give Alcide a primitive look — that lean, animalistic look. So I went to Hugh Jackman’s trainer for “X Men,” Ron Matthews. We talked about what I wanted to look like and we went to work. 

 

M&B: What are the essential parts of your workout?

JM: When I first started working out with Ron, I was doing some Crossfit and Krav Maga. But those didn’t factor into the training; I was doing those recreationally before I got this part. But once I started training with Ron, it was more about a lot of cardio and the diet. It’s a six-day-a-week program with two workouts a day. One is 45-minutes of cardio in the morning right before I eat, and a second workout during the day with weights. 

A lot of actors he trains do not come from an athletic background, so they’re really kind of working out for the first time, or they’re trying to pack on a lot of muscle in a short amount of time. I was an athlete growing up and right up to the point when I started studying acting. So I come from that background, and it’s more about cutting up and sculpting and working on strengths that I already had.

M&B: How about nutrition?

JM: It’s lots and lots of protein throughout the day. I’m pretty much constantly eating just to get my metabolism up. My girlfriend, people on set, even Anna Paquin — they all sort of make fun of me because I’m never without food in my hands. I sometimes eat at a Brazilian-style steakhouse called Fogo de Chao, where there’s a green switch and a red switch [at every table]. The green switch tells them to keep bringing meat to your table. I can sit there for a good, solid two to three hours. I pretty much just eat meat all the time.

M&B: A werewolf’s got to stay low-carb, right?

JM: The only carbs I’ll eat are some oatmeal in the morning. Other than that, there’s no carbs throughout the rest of the day. And no sugar and no bread. It’s really all about getting in good, clean forms of protein and fibrous vegetables. I do eat fruit, but protein is the bulk of the diet, whether it’s salmon or good, clean buffalo meat — that’s a big thing for me. It’s a high-protein, low-fat meat. I also eat a lot of egg whites and some whey protein throughout the day. 

M&B: Are you working with any animal experts for this part?

JM: We worked with live wolves on set this year. I transform into a live wolf — this beautiful, giant, golden American timber wolf. I’ve become friends with his trainers. A couple of weeks ago I got to visit him, and they let me hold his chain and take him for a walk for about 45 minutes up in the mountains. Prior to that it was research on my own. I have this great National Geographic video about this man who lives among wolves. It’s amazing. 

M&B: Your past stunt work in film must lend to your role’s physicality, too.

JM: I’m actually not a stuntman. I have a stuntman who I’ve worked with for nine years. But in my work as an actor they’ve allowed me to do a lot of my own stunts. I’ve played a Navy Seal in a movie and I’ve played a lot of characters where I’ve gotten to use my athleticism. It’s something I’ve always kept up, and now it’s a part of my job. 

M&B: That must be why Alan Ball referred to you as “the complete package.” 

JM: I come from an [acting] background where they taught us all the forms of classical theater. What’s great is I get to work on a project as great as “True Blood” where I get to combine that classical training with dialect work and include my athletic background. When I was a kid thinking about what I wanted to do for a living, I kind of envisioned something that could combine athleticism with research skills. I love reading; I love history. Thankfully, it’s all come to fruition.

M&B: You’re a skydiver. Is there any stunt you won’t do?

JM: The producers usually draw the line before I do. [Laughs] Whatever they’ll let me do, I’ll do. Usually, if there’s any sort of risk of paralysis or death — anything that’s gonna put the production in jeopardy — they call in my stunt double. Otherwise, I’ve really been shocked at some of the stuff I’ve been allowed to do. It’s a blast. It really does get your heart racing.

M&B: Any lingering injuries from your sports days or stunt work?

JM: I’ve stayed pretty much in one piece. I had injuries growing up: I broke my elbow, broke my thumb, tore my MCL, but all of them healed completely. I have really bad ankles from my last couple of years playing basketball in high school. On “One Tree Hill,” we did a four-episode arc involving the sport of slamball. James Lafferty and I were picked as the actors to train with the slamball team. It was incredible, but I ended up pulling a muscle next to my spine, and it felt like I’d cracked a vertebrae. It hurt to sit, to lie down and to stand up. 

M&B: Are injuries why you didn’t pursue athletics in college? 

JM: My father wanted me to be an athlete. Had it not been for me getting accepted to Carnegie Mellon, I would have gone on to play college sports. But one of the things that also factored into my decision not to do sports on the collegiate level was a lot of the kids were starting to use steroids. It looked like if I was going to compete, that was what I’d have to do. It’s taken a little longer and I think it’s probably been some harder work, but I’m excited because I get to see what I did naturally without steroids. I thank my trainer, Ron, every time I see him for what he’s transformed me into.

M&B: How do you train during shooting?

JM: I don’t like to do a heavy workout or do any sort of weights before I act. Generally, I want to save as much energy as I can for the performance. But on those long days that I know will be 16–18 hours, I’ve got weights in my trailer so I can do a little workout on my lunch hour in my trailer — rubber bands, hand weights, dumbbells. I do push-ups. Working out twice a day plus all the eating is like having a full-time job. I look forward to some time this summer picking up a basketball again. And I used to box a lot and train at a boxing gym. But the Werewolf Workout has definitely kept me very busy. 

M&B: Does your training discipline help your acting?

JM: Yes. I approach the artist’s lifestyle, the actor’s lifestyle, from an athletic perspective. But I think it’s also that I come from Pittsburgh and a blue-collar background. I used to work in construction. People can say whatever they want about talent, but I just try to get in there and work harder than the next guy. I also think coming from team sports [helps] — TV is a team sport; it’s collaboration. I come from that type of mentality. 

M&B: So you’ll be on the show at least through the season finale in September?

JM: Yes. They haven’t killed me yet. It’s been an exciting ride.