Wednesday, July 28, 2010

‘Blood’ brother HBO bites on fan feedback, hires Joe Manganiello as regular for hit series

When Joe Manganiello was cast as the werewolf Alcide for the third season of HBO’s “True Blood,” he had two months to prepare before he’d be required to take off his shirt on camera.

He immediately began exercising with the same trainer who got Hugh Jackman in shape for the 2000 film “X-Men.”

“I was on a strict diet, and I worked out twice a day, six days a week, to make sure I was in peak form by the time filming rolled around,” Manganiello told the Herald in a telephone interview last week.

He kept up that grueling regimen for five months.

“It was a lot of work. It was like having a full-time job on the side while I’m actually working my real full-time job.”

The dedication paid off. HBO announced last week that Manganiello will be a regular on the fourth season of “True Blood.” The Pittsburgh native also is on the cover of the August issue of Muscle & Body magazine.

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1 comments:

WendyWatson said...

I know it sounds great, "fan favourite" and all, but actually, the casting call for Alcide specified that the character has an option for regular in Season 4. It has nothing to do with people liking him or not, and they are just putting it that way to make the show seem more accessible.