Joe Manganiello

By Derek in Actors and Actresses on September 29, 2008

Joe Manganiello Pays a Visit from Tree Hill

Joe Manganiello is an actor and writer. He will reprise his role as Owen this fall on the TV series One Tree Hill. Joe recently reprised his role of Stu on Till Death, a sitcom starring Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher.

For more information about Joe's upcoming projects or in general, visit his official MySpace and Website.

What is something people might not know about you?

My vision sucks and can't be corrected by laser surgery…and when I play Guitar Hero I often forget to blink and it really burns my contacts.

What are your hobbies?

I'm always at the gym, at the movies or watching movies and DVD collections at home. I also love Guitar Hero III on my Nintendo Wii.

What sports do you enjoy playing?

I don't get the chance to play anything as much as I used to. I work and travel so much that it's hard to be consistent with sports anymore – getting to the gym 4-5 times a week is tough enough. Growing up I was the captain of the football, basketball and volleyball teams in high school and made the Jr. Olympic volleyball team. I would have played sports in college if it wasn't for acting.

A few years ago I picked up boxing and trained as the sparring partner for an NHL hockey player at this gym that was owned by Bob Dylan…but once again consistency was tough because of my work schedule. I most recently got to play some hoops at James Lafferty's 5th Annual Charity Basketball Game and was surprised that I could dunk better now than I could in high school.

How did you get involved in acting?

We had a TV studio in high school which back then was unheard of…complete with editing bays (before computer editing). We had huge knobs and VHS tapes that you had to hand-crank to line up the frames of film. We had Teleprompters and VHS cameras that you could sign out on the weekends. I would write movies and TV shows, cast all of my friends and then go out on the weekends and wake up at 6 a.m. and shoot all day…it was the first and only thing that I have ever been excited to get up in the morning for. From there I worked my butt off to get into and later get my Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from The Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. The rest is history.

How did you like filming "One Tree Hill" in Wilmington, NC? What was that experience like?

Awesome…I love the cast and creator Mark Schwahn. I love the character I play. I love the "Ghost Tours" in Wilmington and my favorite restaurants and that everyone says hi when you walk down the street…I miss my grits and coffee in the morning.

You went down to Puerto Rico to film a movie. What was that experience like?

"Behind Enemy Lines 3." It was amazing. It was my first time that I starred in a movie and I loved the responsibility, the work and the research. I played the leader of a squad of Navy SEALS and got to train with an actual Navy SEAL. It was guns, knives, helicopters, grenades and stunts…it was like being a little kid in the backyard except with real guns and helicopters. I worked my ass off harder than anything I've ever worked on and had the most fun I've ever had on a project.

Have you ever played a character who you thought was similar to you? If so, please explain.

They all are me in some way…just different shades of my personality. Owen on "One Tree Hill" comes to mind as having a lot in common…I don't drink, do drugs or smoke anymore, so we definitely share that. Owen is probably the closest to me…or at least the closest to who I would like to be perceived as. He's a bad ass!

What is the strangest fan encounter you've had?

A girl in Puerto Rico recognized me from "One Tree Hill" and asked me to have a drink with her at the bar. She looked kind of young to me and so I playfully asked to see her ID. She got very defensive and said she forgot it in her room, so I told her to go get it. Turns out she was 17…which as they say "will get you 20." That might not be the strangest encounter but it made me realize that with fame comes the need to be your own "door guy."

If you weren't an actor, what career would you have pursued?

Probably something in law enforcement…bringing criminals to justice, which I can of course play in my current job. That's what's so great about it…one month I'm a federal agent, the next I could be the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

What celebrities would you like to meet?

Gary Oldman, Eric Bana, Russell Crowe, Ray Stevenson, David Bowie, Trent Reznor, Mel Gibson, Monica Bellucci, Jessica Biel and Natasha Henstridge.

Are you active in any charities and if so, which ones?

Food on Foot and Young Storytellers. Food on Foot is an organization in L.A. that helps reintegrate the homeless into the workforce. Young Storytellers is a program that mentors young children to become writers.

What inspires you?

I think we are living in the age of the "fallen hero." It's become very difficult to look up to anyone these days. It seems like every time you turn on the TV or pick up a magazine some young celebrity girl is getting picked up for a DUI and some athlete has beaten the mother of his children or a long-standing sports record has been obliterated by some steroid freak.

I try to live my life with a certain code of character and I gravitate toward and am inspired by people who share those same ideals. I'm very big on honesty and people who don't always take the easy way out. I respect people who are successful in life and try to be good people in spite of it.