Joe Manganiello: Beautiful People 2011
By hOBEY EChlin
"There's a violence to love whether you're Italian or a werewolf," says Joe Manganiello, explaining the breakout appeal of True Blood's Alcide Herveaux, the husky werewolf who has
sent fur flying through the fangbangers since being introduced last season on the HBO show. As the heartbroken (his wife got hooked on narcotic vampire blood and left him for a biker) protector of Anna Paquin's Sookie, it's telling that Alcide is, despite his ferocity and tendency to be shirtless, arguably the show's most humane character. "He's very morally strong," Manganiello says. "He gravitates to her higher moral character -- even if it means turning against his own kind. He's very self-loathing."
Raised in a Sicilian family in Pittsburgh, Manganiello says, "I was that big kid who wouldn't fight back in school and then my dad would say, 'Tomorrow you knock that kid's teeth out' and I would -- and then feel terrible about it. Alcide's a lot like that." In the show and in real life, the 34-year-old is a real man in a town full of freaks. After landing the role of Peter Parker's high school nemesis Eugene "Flash" Thompson in Spider-Man right out of college ("I auditioned with James Franco"), he's been an understated L.A. presence with longtime friends like actor Armie Hammer (The Social Network). "It's nice after the year we've both had to have someone who I can run around to all this stuff with who really understands the changes you're going through," he says.
When he's not shooting, he hits the gym twice a day to keep his 6'5" frame convincingly lupine. He and fianceĢe Audra Marie are foodies, hitting up out-of-the-way gastro-destinations like Calabasas' Saddle Peak Lodge for elk -- Alcide would be proud. But life as the most recognizable werewolf since Taylor Lautner is not without its downside. He's moving from his home in the Valley of the last few years -- the damn paps. "When I moved in, I didn't take into account the sightlines," he says. And with the fourth season of True Blood premiering this summer, they won't be letting up. "Whether it's a romantic triangle or a square, Alcide is definitely involved," he says. "All I can say is his life's gotten a lot more complicated." Stay fierce.
JOE WEARS T-SHIRT BY H&M AND WATCH BY BRIGHTON
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
sent fur flying through the fangbangers since being introduced last season on the HBO show. As the heartbroken (his wife got hooked on narcotic vampire blood and left him for a biker) protector of Anna Paquin's Sookie, it's telling that Alcide is, despite his ferocity and tendency to be shirtless, arguably the show's most humane character. "He's very morally strong," Manganiello says. "He gravitates to her higher moral character -- even if it means turning against his own kind. He's very self-loathing."
Raised in a Sicilian family in Pittsburgh, Manganiello says, "I was that big kid who wouldn't fight back in school and then my dad would say, 'Tomorrow you knock that kid's teeth out' and I would -- and then feel terrible about it. Alcide's a lot like that." In the show and in real life, the 34-year-old is a real man in a town full of freaks. After landing the role of Peter Parker's high school nemesis Eugene "Flash" Thompson in Spider-Man right out of college ("I auditioned with James Franco"), he's been an understated L.A. presence with longtime friends like actor Armie Hammer (The Social Network). "It's nice after the year we've both had to have someone who I can run around to all this stuff with who really understands the changes you're going through," he says.
When he's not shooting, he hits the gym twice a day to keep his 6'5" frame convincingly lupine. He and fianceĢe Audra Marie are foodies, hitting up out-of-the-way gastro-destinations like Calabasas' Saddle Peak Lodge for elk -- Alcide would be proud. But life as the most recognizable werewolf since Taylor Lautner is not without its downside. He's moving from his home in the Valley of the last few years -- the damn paps. "When I moved in, I didn't take into account the sightlines," he says. And with the fourth season of True Blood premiering this summer, they won't be letting up. "Whether it's a romantic triangle or a square, Alcide is definitely involved," he says. "All I can say is his life's gotten a lot more complicated." Stay fierce.
JOE WEARS T-SHIRT BY H&M AND WATCH BY BRIGHTON
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
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