Joe Manganiello Was Meant To Be Alcide

Joe Manganiello was a fan of HBO's True Blood from the beginning. When a friend sent him a link to True-Blood.net, where fans were speculating about who would be a good Alcide, Joe noticed that his picture was posted.  Thinking this was really cool, Joe ordered Charlaine Harris' books, on which the show is based, and thought, yeah, the character is similar to him.  He made sure he did not miss an episode. Speaking with USA Weekend, Joe relayed the story he's told before about how he loved the old monster movies and prayed for months that he'd turn into a werewolf.  Now, 25 years later, Joe is thrilled that he has actually turned into one. Getting into character on the set the first day was a bit stressful for Joe.  He wanted to get the role right for Charlaine, creator Alan Ball, for the fans and for himself, as a big fan as well.

"Showing up that first day, there was a lot of pressure on me but it was also a lot of fun. I remember being in the middle of a scene on my first day and, in the middle of the scene, looking at Anna [Paquin] and my brain's going, 'That's Sookie Stackhouse!  And that's Sookie's house!'"

When asked about the wolf playing his alter ego, Joe sounded like a kid.  It's a live wolf named Thunder, a giant North American timber wolf with yellow eyes.  According to Joe, he's beautiful.  "We both play the same character - I turn into him and he turns into me." Explaining that certain protocol has to be followed in order to get near real wolves, Joe said he did visit their ranch.  With supervision, he was allowed to take Thunder for a 45-minute romp.  The wolf responded to his name and allowed Joe to pet him.  Having gone through the acclimation period, it appears Joe met with Thunder's approval. Getting back to werewolves, Joe was asked how they fit into society.  They have not come out as vampires have, and they cannot be treated by normal doctors or stay in jail for over a month (that full moon thing!).

"There's a lot of these rules and curiosities to werewolf society we explore through this season.  And on top of that, you have the relationship between werewolves and vampires because they both know of each other and hate each other.  When I was auditioning for the part, Alan said, "When a werewolf thinks of a vampire, I want you to think of the way that a Jew would think of a Nazi."

Alcide becomes Sookie's bodyguard, so we'll see them together a lot. Additionally, Alcide had his heart broken when his fiance left him.  With Sookie's heart aching over her missing Bill (Stephen Moyer)... Joe just said "we'll see what happens". Comparing film with television, Joe said he would like to get back into film, especially as a superhero - like perhaps Superman.  But he also stated that "True Blood is better than 99% of the movies I go and see in the theater."  In True Blood, each character has his or her dark side.  And in real life, no one is pristine. Joe will be participating on the True Blood panel at Comic-Con this year.  Although he has attended the conference in the past, with True Blood he's expecting to experience something on the nature of a rock show. Alcide should be making his appearance in this Sunday's episode. Source:  USA Weekend (Photo credit: HBO, Inc.)

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