Quotes from Joe Manganiello

I train like a pro-athlete, not like an actor who's just trying to look pretty.

I grew up a big comic book reader, as a kid, and I love the whole fanboy crowd.

When I'm training for 'True Blood,' I don't eat any sugar except for some fruit here and there. So it's no sugar, no bread, no real carbs all day.

I've always been an athletic guy, but the extent to which I go for 'True Blood' or for 'Magic Mike' is because of the role that I'm playing.

I started working at clubs when I was sixteen, which is young. I would not want my kid doing that, but I did, and that's how it went.

Also, to be honest, my dad wanted me to be an athlete. And I think all sons want to prove something to their dad. So now, aged 35, I want to see what I can achieve physically.

When I first got out of drama school, my original manager tried to get me to change my name because people were having trouble spelling it and saying it.

I was happier going back to my roots: training like men do in my hometown of Pittsburgh. Back home the guys in the gyms don't lift to look good; they're lifting to lift. They do it because they want to squat more and bench more.

Women do a lot of uncomfortable things for men - and I appreciate it all. I appreciate high heels. I appreciate thongs.

I got to L.A. in 2000, when we were coming off the '90s: women looked like men and the men all looked like women.

When I was growing up, it was Clint Eastwood, it was Harrison Ford and Steve McQueen - these guys were tough. They were leading men, but they were also tough and physical.

I was kind of a dark kid. I loved Halloween, and I loved vampires and the black and white old monster movies.

I went to a school that's predominantly computer science and engineering. So, there's a real shortage of hot girls, let's say.

What's funny is that male strippers don't wear thongs anymore. They wear flat backs.