Joe Manganiello

## Cast Member

**Joseph Michael Manganiello** is an American actor who portrays Alcide Herveaux on HBO's *True Blood*.

## Biography

Manganiello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Susan (née Brachanow; Bračanov in Croatian), of Armenian, Austrian, and Croatian descent, and Charles John Manganiello, of Italian descent, from Sicily. He was raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He has a younger brother, Nicholas. He was a student at St. Bernard School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in Mt. Lebanon, and then attended Mt. Lebanon High School, where he graduated with honors in 1995 and won the school's Great Alumni Award in 2011. Growing up, he was the captain of his football, basketball, and volleyball teams and went on to play at the varsity level in all three sports. He won the role of Jud Fry in his school's senior year production of Oklahoma!, and was involved with the school's TV studio. He would borrow equipment to make films with his friends, and became interested in acting to become a better filmmaker. After a series of sports injuries, including a torn MCL returning a kickoff in a varsity football game against Ringgold High School, Manganiello auditioned for the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama as a senior in high school. He was not accepted, so he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and worked at theater. He reapplied to Carnegie Mellon a year later, and was one of 17 students accepted into the acting program. He performed in theater productions and wrote, produced, and acted in a student film entitled Out of Courage 2: Out for Vengeance. He graduated in 2000 with a BFA in acting. He traveled to New York and Los Angeles through his university to participate in group auditions, which provided him contacts in the entertainment business.

## Trivia

* Attended and graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1995.
* Received his Bachelor's degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2000).
* Wrote, directed and starred in a movie made for extra credit in his Chemistry class in which all of his friends starred.
* Was a great athlete for the Blue Devils. He played Varsity football until a knee injury sidelined him in tenth grade in a game against Ringgold (Monongahela, Pennsylvania) before recovering and lettering in both basketball and volleyball.
* He played Jud Fry in the Mt. Lebanon High School production of "Oklahoma!" in his senior year.
* Used to spend his summers on Peaks Island, Maine.
* Originally cast in the part of the spiritual exorcist, Friar Lazaro Mate, in the film, Sublime (2007), but was recast when he had to cut \*his long hair and shave his beard to reprise his role as Flash Thompson in Spider-Man 3 (2007). He did shoot a day on the film and appears briefly in the hallway scene, performing a breast augmentation.
* Used to get paid to dress up like Captain Morgan at bars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
* Travelled the world as a roadie for the rock band Goldfinger.

## Appearances

 **Appears**
 "Don't You Feel Me":

 **Appears**
 "Karma":
 **Mentioned**

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.vulture.com/2010/09/joe\_mangianello.html
2. ↑ http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2011/05/26/qa-joe-manganiello-for-true-blood-season-3-on-dvd-and-blu-ray-now/
3. ↑ http://old.post-gazette.com/movies/20020511spiderman2.asp
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magazine/June-2010/Not-Your-Average-Joe/
5. ↑ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05321/607430.stm
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10176/1068065-67.stm
7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5VgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6596,4394788&hl=en
8. ↑ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s\_69145.html