CoventryTelegraph – JOE MANGANIELLO began his acting career when he was cast in a high school musical and went on to win a scholarship to study classical theatre.

His first job after drama school was as school bully Flash Thompson in 2002′s Spider-Man. He can now be seen on TV as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in supernatural romp True Blood, which recently began its third season on the UK’s Channel 4.

But it hasn’t all been so easy. “I didn’t work for four years after Spider-Man, I left the business,” he admits. “I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

He cites a “whole lot of bad experiences” for putting him off showbiz – and ended up “shovelling sand and gravel off the back of a construction truck in Los Angeles”.

Despite having the time of his life on True Blood, he has one lingering regret. He missed out on being cast as Superman by Zack Snyder for Man Of Steel, the reboot due for release in 2013.

“The director said I was down to the last two. It’s heartbreaking,” says 34-year-old Manganiello with a deep sigh, revealing he’d even had his measurements taken for the suit.

“As fate would have it, the show that got me noticed by Snyder was also the show that made it impossible for me to go off and screen test, because Superman overlapped with True Blood. Alan [Ball] made it clear they had big plans for my character and that they weren’t willing to share me with Superman.

“I’ll have a break in about 10 years,” he says with a smile.

But every cloud has a silver lining and Manganiello was left free to film What To Expect When You’re Expecting with Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Chris Rock.

With no hard feelings for his Superman loss, the 6ft 5ins actor is throwing himself into work and werewolves again. He’s well aware his appearance is a big part of the reason he landed the True Blood role.

“As soon as I started reading the scripts and saw the way my character was described, I thought, ‘Man, I’m definitely going to be the piece of meat on this show’,” he says.

At the end of series two, vampire Bill Compton, played by British actor Stephen Moyer, was kidnapped moments after proposing to his human girlfriend Sookie Stackhouse (played by Moyer’s real-life wife, X-Men star Anna Paquin).

Sookie’s now on a mission to get her lover back and employs reclusive werewolf Alcide to help search for him.

Manganiello explains: “Sookie figures out Bill’s disappearance has got something to do with werewolves and my character gets forced to escort her into their underground secret society.

“Unlike vampires, werewolves haven’t shown themselves for thousands of years, so people don’t know they exist. They’re very rough and a lot of them take to the biker lifestyle.”

Alcide is suffering from heartbreak of his own and would rather be left alone, but his father is indebted to Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard), the powerful vampire sheriff of Louisiana’s Area 5, which includes the town of Bon Temps, where the series is set. So Alcide becomes Sookie’s bodyguard as she heads to Jackson, Mississippi.

Already a huge fan of the show, Manganiello admits his joy at being cast was tempered by a fear of messing up.

“It was daunting. I didn’t want to screw up my favourite show,” he laughs. “It’s the best cast in television – and the most iconic. These characters just don’t exist on other shows.

“The thought of adding something to that seemed almost impossible, but I buried myself in research, watched countless documentaries and hung out with live wolves.”

Destiny seems to have played a huge role in Manganiello winning the part. The actor even jokes that he’s been preparing for the role since he was a child.

“I’d always said wolves are my favourite animal. I remember an acting teacher once saying, ‘Do it again, but stop being so wolfy!’”

He initially auditioned for the role of Coot, the first of the werewolves to be cast, but True Blood writer and producer Alan Ball apparently said, “That’s our Alcide!” and he was signed up the next day.

Manganiello shrugged off any doubts and inhibitions and “went all the way” to secure the part.

“I was either going to look great or like a total idiot. I went in and did my thing. There was snarling and growling and when it was done, there was a moment of silence. Everyone was staring wide-eyed and they all just started laughing.”

The audition process stood him in good stead for what was to follow. Besides hanging out with live wolves, he trained for five months with Hugh Jackman’s personal trainer to get the right physique.

“The first time I had to transform into a wolf, I was naked. I went to the costume department for the episode and realised there was no costume!

“But that’s the process of the show, it’s 110%. You look at the script and think, ‘They want me to do what? This is insane!’ And then you throw yourself into it.”

“Magic Mike” is an independently produced film directed by Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, which stars Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Tatum attended Gaither High School in Tampa before going to Tampa Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic.

After turning down a football scholarship to Glenville State College in Glenville, W.Va., he worked a variety of jobs, including one as an exotic dancer at a local nightclub under the name “Chan Crawford.”

For “Magic Man,” film crews spent the early part of the week shooting at Caddy’s on the Beach in St. Petersburg and around Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. Today, they are scheduled to shoot scenes on the Pinellas Bayway and at a Pinellas County construction site before heading to Tampa on Sunday.

A publicist for the film said the shoot has been going well.

The film is expected to shoot in Ybor City for four days. The publicist said they are reluctant to say specifically where the filming will take place because of distractions from fans seeking autographs and photos.

Tatum and Pettyfer will be part of the Tampa shoot. McConaughey was here earlier in the week but is back in Los Angeles, where the majority of the movie is being shot.

This is the second Soderbergh-directed movie filmed in the Bay area. In 2001, Soderbergh filmed several scenes from “Ocean’s Eleven” at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg.

The “Magic Mike” budget reportedly is $20 million, with $1 million being spent in Florida.

The movie is scheduled to open in 2012.

The 34-year-old True Blood hunk spoke about his upcoming film Magic Mike!

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Joe Manganiello

Joe recently hit up the Rage video game launch party, where he revealed some fun tidbits about the stripper flick.

“I’ve been very busy lately in male stripper land…I’ve had several requests to save the firemen costume since I started shooting,” Joe joked to Access Hollywood.

He also talked about his upcoming episode of Two and a Half Men!

“Ashton was super cool. I’m a big fan of [creator] Chuck Lorre, and he called me up and wanted me to be on the show. He was really excited, so I said, ‘Of course — I’m there.”

Read more: Just Jared