Actor and director Joe Manganiello can claim major success on both the small and big screen. Television viewers will know him for his portrayal of Alcide Hervaux, a werewolf in HBO’s True Blood; film-buffs will know him as Spider-Man’s Flash Thompson. He has also starred in the likes of Magic Mike, Justice League, and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. His work as director and producer on the 2014 film La Bare won him a Triple Threat Award at the Maui Film Festival.

Born in Pennsylvania, Manganiello became interested in acting in high school, ultimately graduating from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. He appeared in several high-brow theatre productions whilst studying, but his first acting role on graduating was as Eugene “Flash” Thompson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film. Released in 2002, the film became a phenomenon, smashing multiple box office records and spawning two sequels, Manganiello reprising his role in both. In 2012, he starred in Magic Mike, another huge box office hit and the highest-grossing dance movie of all-time. Manganiello reprised his role in the successful Magic Mike XXL sequel.

Manganiello had numerous TV roles including How I Met Your Mother, One Tree Hill, and CSI, but it was True Blood that gave him his small-screen breakthrough. The show ran for seven seasons between 2008 and 2014, winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy. The show Manganiello’s favourite before he joined in time for the third season as the werewolf Alcide Hervaux. He became an instant hit with the show’s fans and showed that he is not an actor who can be typecast.