Joe Manganiello, who plays the sexy werewolf Alcide Hervieux on True Blood, recently spoke to Vanity Fair about Debbie Pelt, his character and the romance between Sookie and Alcide. We haven’t seen sparks fly between the two yet, but Joe says there’s more on the way.
(Warning: book spoilers ahead)
VF: In the third book, Alcide and Sookie’s romantic relationship seems more advanced than it does in the series.
Joe Manganiello: Well, the way that it’s been depicted so far in the series is almost exactly in line with the way that the book is. Alcide is in all of the books from the third one on, so the relationship builds from there. But we’re still in the infancy stage—them getting to know each other.
On Sunday night, Alcide spared the life of Debbie Pelt (Brit Morgan). Does Alcide still harbor feelings for Debbie?
Is Alcide going to get back with Debbie? No way in hell. I think she’s psychotic. He didn’t want to get back together with her; he didn’t even want to go back in there. It was really and truly Sookie dragging Alcide back in there. Sookie’s been the catalyst for the emerging leader that comes out of Alcide, which winds up being his arc. In the book, he’s a construction worker who wants to have nothing to do with politics or anything—and really doesn’t want to have much to do with being a werewolf. It’s the unlikely story of how that unlikely hero becomes King of the Wolves, basically.
How does it feel to step into a role that’s new but, also, already so popular?
It’s like playing a historical figure, to a certain extent. For me to step into this very beloved character on my favorite show, and enter into that mythology—you want to do right by the fans. I got to hang out with Charlaine Harris at ComicCon and I said, “Charlaine, so he’s got biceps the size of boulders, huh. Do you know how many hours I spent in the gym trying to match your description of this guy?” But, at the end of the day, I come from a classical theater background and it’s no different from the type of pressure playing Stanley Kowalski. I played Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire a couple of years ago and that was made famous by Brando. You want to talk about pressure.
Read the full interview HERE.
After reading that I love Joe so much more now. I can just picture him saying that to Charlaine Harris, hahaha.
– Moonlight
Have you seen this Joe Manganiello video interview? SO HOT!