Joe Manganiello : Q&A

Joe Manganiello Q&A

The following questions were submitted to Joe from followers of this blog, these are his answers!

Q: If Joe Manganiello had a theme song, what would it be? 
A: “Only” by: Nine Inch Nails. He put the words to how I felt inside at one of the toughest moments of my life.

 
Q: You’ve lent your celebrity to the Until There’s A Cure Foundationwhich, among other things, supports youth-oriented awareness initiatives about HIV/AIDS. What was your motivation to get behind this easily forgotten cause? Are you involved in any other causes? 
A: Millions of people around the world are infected with HIV/AIDS. Its a very relevant and lethal disease that still to this day, has no cure. I understand people’s fear of getting themselves checked but I urge people to be responsible not just for themselves but for the safety of their present and future partners to do their part to help stop the spread of such a debilitating disease. I think the search for the cure is an unbelievably important cause. I’ve also been in talks with several animal rights groups about doing some work together due to my recent work with live animals on set.

 
Q: If we were to snag your iPod right now, what bands would we find? (Yes this is a sneaky way of asking what kind of music you like.)
A: the new Massive Attack album, The Silversun Pickups, Nine Inch Nails, oldAlice in Chains, Soundgarden, I like Linkin Park a lot, some classic DJ Z-Tripmashups, The Doors, [and] DJ Icey.


Q: Did you get gipped as a kid with the one gift for Christmas/birthday since your birthday was so close to Christmas?
A: I actually got some great combination gifts growing up, stuff I wouldn’t have gotten for one or the other. I did get upset though that I never had Happy Birthday sung to me in homeroom…

Q: If you could have any role, from any movie or show, from any time, what would it be and why?
A: Indiana Jones or Han Solo. I grew up wanting to be Harrison Ford’s characters. They were both these rogue-ish heroes that went on these incredible adventures. They were smart, funny, and always got the girls… everything I’ve been through from high school to college to my entire career in LA has been in hopes of playing characters like these in film.

 
Q: I’ve always wanted to ask my favorite actors this because it’s bound to happen! So here goes: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever been asked to do on an acting job (besides the sock thing…that’s a little weird)?
A: For some bizarre [reason] my faculty in drama school assigned me the weirdest part I think I will ever play… at 6’5” tall and well over 200lbs… I had to play a 16 year old boy playing Lady MacBeth in a period piece about Shakespeare. It was by far the strangest thing I’ve ever been asked to do.

Q: So far in your career, what has been the most psychologically difficult character for you to play? 
A: Once again, at trying to play a cross dressing 16 year old boy in a period piece takes the cake. Everything since then has been downhill.

 

Q: Is there anything about Alcide’s personality that is similar to your own ?! 

A: I identify A LOT with Alcide. Alcide is this big scary looking monster but deep down he can be very shy and very sensitive. I also understand what it feels like to be a misfit, like you don’t belong and the feeling of loneliness caused by it. Also, Alcide is very strong and could misuse that power if he wanted to but he chooses not to. I grew up always being the biggest kid and learned to try not to abuse that power. Alcide is described as being very hot blooded and I have been told that my body feels like a furnace at night when I am sleeping… and we both eat a lot of meat.

 

Q: I know you’ve done a feature film Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia. Do you want to do more feature films and if so what’s your favorite genre: Action, Comedy, or Drama? Do you have any upcoming projects?

A: Oh yeah! My first job out of drama school was in the film SPIDER-MAN. I got into this business initially because I wanted to work in films like the ones I loved to watch growing up… but these days shows like TRUE BLOOD are better than 99% of the movies out there. In fact its rare that I see even a handful of movies in a year that I could honestly say I like. With that said, I could not be happier with my present job on HBO… but I will say that I will not rest until I play a super-hero, fight off an alien attack and kill some zombies. But comedy is a really fun job to have… my next project is actually as the voice of an audio-book called DRAGON BONES by: Patricia Briggs.

Q: What was the audition for True Blood like? Did you have to make wolf sounds at all!? 
A: It was in three parts and the first two were for a different werewolf part than Alcide, during which I had to start the scene coming out of a shift, so YES i did growl quite a bit at my audition. Then in the third part I switched roles and read for Alcide which was much more civilized and more about the character and his relationships to Sookie and Debbie.