Walter Scott

WS Did you get cast as the werewolf Alcide Herveaux thanks to your muscles?

JM In the books he’s physically imposing, but if he had a beer gut and a comb-over and was missing his teeth, that’s how I’d look in the part.

True Blood’s Joe Manganiello Talks ‘Werewolf Dating’

WS You were an athletic kid. How did your dad react when you wanted to become an actor?

JM Any father who has a 6-foot-5 kid who can run, throw, catch, dunk, and slide–I mean, you’re gonna be upset. But recently he wrote me a poem about a werewolf and framed it and brought it to me. I started crying. It was just this magical moment.

WS Are there any similarities between you and Alcide?

JM Yeah, there’s an episode where I cook a steak and walk off to eat it without a fork. That’s me–but not on a date. At least not on a first date.

Emily in Toronto, Ontario: Hi Kristin! I have a question about True Blood and I’m really hoping you can help me out. How is Arlene pregnant with Rene? Does this mean that everything that has happened over the past almost two seasons has been over the course of merely weeks? It just doesn’t add up to me. Thank you!
It’s a reminder that each season of True Blood covers very little time…Only a few weeks! Arlene is only about 7-8 weeks pregnant, so really, very little time has passed since Rene’s death in season one. All I know is a lot happens in Bon Temps and I don’t want to live there. Well, OK, fine, unless you’re going to shack (shackle?) me up with Eric.

Britney in Dallas, Texas: I’m so over Stelena and Delena on The Vampire Diaries. Please tell me we will see more Dalaric!
You can rest easy because we will be seeing plenty of Damon and Alaric teaming up in season two. We asked the show’s very own Buffy (spin-off idea: Alaric The Vampire Slayer!) Matt Davis, about the unlikely duo’s partnership and here’s what he told us: “Our bromance is definitely developing. You’ll see much more of that for sure. I love Ian to pieces and I love working with him and I think our chemistry as friends and the way Kevin and Julie write the two of them together, just the archetypes of the two characters together I think fit really well.” If that wasn’t cute enough for you, Matt recently tweeted a picture of the duo’s nifty supernatural rings with the caption, “Wonder Twin power unite in shape of a bromance!!!” Um, I die.

For you Joe Manganiello and HIMYIM fans:

Scott in Detroit, Mich.: I totally remember Joe Manganiello, True Blood’s Alcide, as Brad on How I Met Your Mother! Any chance he’ll make another appearance on the show?
Ew. That flabby schlub? “I would bet money that Brad will be back.” That’s what the ridonkulously hot man himself told us. So what exactly has Brad been up to since we last saw him in the season five premiere? “He revealed he may be a hermaphrodite ’cause he tells Robin, ‘I’m a little different down there,’ So maybe deeper into the mystery of what Brad is,” Joe suggested. “We need to figure out what Brad is. We’re figuring out who the mother is and what exactly Brad is. It’s kind of the b-plot of the show, ‘What is Brad?’” B-plot?! Psh, we’re promoting the Brad mystery to the A-plot. Sorry Ted’s baby mama, we’ve had enough of your drama.

Also, TV Fanatic interviewed Taylor Kinney about his character on the Vampire Diaries.

The entire family of the Lockwoods, in fact, will be on full display as Uncle Mason debuts on the September 9 premiere, showing up for his brother’s funeral. Said Taylor Kinney, who will play this key role.

“Mason has learned to harness his rage and is going to serve as a mentor to Tyler. I’ve come to teach Tyler that there are choices he can make to control his destiny as a human…or otherwise.”

Loyal viewers don’t need to be told what the actor means by “otherwise,” do they?

Kinney adds that his character doesn’t exactly get along with Damon. But this is nothing new between the families.

“We don’t get along,” he says. “Historically, the Salvatores haven’t gotten along with the Lockwoods for ages, and having a new Lockwood in town doesn’t sit well.”

Also, keep an eye out for the the Vampire Diaries soundtrack that will be in stores and on sites on October 12, 2010.

The tracks are as follows:

1. Vampire Diaries Theme (Intro) – Mike Suby

2. Sleep Alone – Bat For Lashes

3. Running Up That Hill – Placebo

4. Obsession -Sky Ferriera

5. Bloodstream (Vampire Diaries Mix) – Stateless

6. On Melancholy Hill (Feed Me Remix) – Gorillaz

7. We Radiate – Goldfrapp

8. Hammock – Howls

9. The Fellowship – Smashing Pumpkins

10. Head Over Heels – Digital Daggers

11. Down – Jason Walker

12. Currency of Love – Silversun Pickups

13. Beauty of the Dark – Mads Langer

14. All You Wanted – Sounds Under Radio featuring Alison Sudal of A Fine Frenzy

15. Vampire Diaries Theme (Outro) – Mike Suby

PHOTO BY JACK SIEGEL

The type of stranger approaching Joe Manganiello on the street has changed recently, from devotees of the CW’s One Tree Hill (an apparently fanatical and legion population), on which he played bartender Owen for two seasons, to rabid True Blood fans eager to get close to Manganiello’s latest character, the werewolf Alcide Herveaux.

During a visit to New York, Manganiello found time to talk to us about the thrill of being cast on his favorite show, and his tips for playing a werewolf, which include ab work and connecting with your inner child.

MCKENNEY: Tell us a little about your audition process for True Blood.

MANGANIELLO: My first audition was for a different werewolf role–it was me, ten inches away from the casting director, growling in her face. It felt great. They called me back in and said they wanted me to read again, but this time for the part of Alcide. Since I was a fan of the series and had already read all the books, I knew this was a bigger role, and was totally overwhelmed when I got it.

PHOTO BY JACK SIEGEL

MCKENNEY: Werewolf and vampire roles have gotten so ubiquitous that I’ve heard there are classes in L.A. that specialize only in this type of acting. How would you teach Werewolf Acting 101?

MANGANIELLO: I mean, I feel like I’ve been pretending I was a werewolf since I was a little kid. But it takes work. It’s about dialect work… I’m not going to lie–it’s about going to the gym. It’s a lot about letting it all go, remembering when you were a crazy primal kid running around and screaming. I wouldn’t tell anyone to study werewolves–I studied wolves, how they moved, their tendencies and sensibilities.

MCKENNEY: Originally, you were only meant to be in six episodes, but Alan Ball expanded your role for the fourth season.

MANGANIELLO: My character is in all the books, but there was no assurance that the show would follow that, so it was exhilarating to find out I was going to be a regular character.

MCKENNEY: I have to imagine you have been exposed to a new kind of fan. How was attending Comic Con?

MANGANIELLO: I mean One Tree Hill had some rabid fans–you’d be surprised–they’re almost in a class of their own. But the level of hysteria at Comic Con was intense–a very generous response. It was totally overwhelming; it’s definitely the closest I’ll ever come to knowing what it was like to be a Beatle. But I was obsessed with the show before I was on it, so I get it. I think it has to do with Alan’s writing. The storytelling and dialogue is really intelligent, and it draws you in, so you care so much about the characters.

MCKENNEY: Any interesting fan encounters recently?

MANGANIELLO: I’m currently in New York, and I was walking around Saks yesterday, and you know how you can kind of sense it when someone is staring at you? I got that feeling, and then looked up after ten minutes or so and all these ladies had come out from behind their counters and were sort of trailing behind me in a horde. I walked into another room and one lady screamed “WHERE’S THAT WEREWOLF AT?!” I waved at her and a bunch of ladies started hooting and hollering. It was great. It was fun.

Also, Joe will be interviewed by AP on Monday, August 2nd, at 3 pm est.

Will you be listening?

~M.

Click on the image to see the video…

EW also has a series of portraits of the cast:

This last pic of Joe Manganiello, reminds me of Harry Potter. Just sayin’.

And here’s one more of Kristin and Joe…