Joe Manganiello Talks 'Deal or No Deal Island'

Talk about getting your feet wet in season one and so when you get the opportunity to go on to

season two was it a manner of just tweaking small things did you have like an entirely

different way that you looked at approaching this entire job between seasons? No I think I looked at

it the same way I think it was just more um I think that a lot of times when I as an actor

especially when I when I learn a new skill or I start practicing something new um there's this

there's a difference between the first time I do it and there's a there's a huge jump to the second

time that I do it you know which is great like in you know in theater you have all those previews

you know rehearsals previews you knock it out so that by the time it's opening night you're ready

to go and so um there was a bit of it heading into season two where now it was like oh I know

where I can breathe I know where the moments are I know where the you know I I it was more um

instinctual I think the second time around which meant that I could have more fun with it

Yeah, I mean, talk to me about that relationship with the players, because, again, you're a huge Survivor fan

I am. There we go. And it's something that Jeff Probst has noted as sort of like the role that changed as the show became less of this big, exciting new entity and more of like a tried and true series

So did you find that your relationships with some of these people changed in terms of being a peer as opposed to the host player dynamic

You know, it's interesting. I think both seasons that early on the players thought that I was their adversary

So when I come in, they think that they're up against me

And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm P.T. Barnum. I'm the ringleader

I'm the games master. I want you to win. But I also want you to fall flat on your face

And I want to see drama. I mean, as a viewer, as a voyeur

But I think that will change as we move on because people will become more accustomed to what my role is in it

With that said, I think my job is also to judge them on what they're doing, good or bad, as well

Because, again, I'm a conduit for the audience at home. So I'm going to be reacting in an accentuated way to which they would be reacting on the couch

And a lot of times when I watch the playback, I'm like, oh, wow, I'm making the expression that I would be making on the couch at home, which a lot of hosts don't necessarily do

But for me, I'm riding the roller coaster with them. Yeah, talk to me a bit more about that, because I know that talking with Alan, for example, or The Traitors, he says that he's playing this big Bond villain

Did you find yourself instinctively stepping into, like, I'm the jungle romancing the stone action hero to welcome these people to the island

I mean, there's a bit of it in my mind where I'm like, you know, European international man of mystery

There we go. I'm stepping off of a boat in Venice onto St. Mark's with the briefcase, the golden briefcase

the final case, you know, like there is a bit of that in my mind. And of course, like I'm wearing a

lot of like Versace, Doce Gabbana, like Southern, you know, the Versace, the Southern Italian stuff

So it kind of lends itself, I think, a little bit to that persona. And that was like my idea

Like I did come with leopard print, lots of animal print shirts

Oh, I guess that was you? Yeah, I was like, because I think the original look was a little more Ricardo Montalban

You know, welcome to Fantasy Island. You know, and for me, it was like, I'm going to put this leopard print on and you're going to see a transformation

Just watch. Like, it doesn't make sense right now, but I'm going to go put it on and it'll make sense in a second

And then I did. And our costume designer, Lauren Bush, was like, oh, you're right

Like, okay, so we need more Versace shirts. Yeah, we need more Versace

So, I mean, there's a bit of it in my mind that is that, but, you know, I don't know if you saw the Pee-Wee Herman comeback movie, Pee-Wee's Big Holiday, where I play Pee-Wee's best friend, but on the day, the director, John Lee, and Paul came up to me and they said, we want to play this, but you be Joe Manganiello, not Joe Mancuso, which was originally the character's name

I thought, okay, so I'm in this completely strange, subversive, weird fantasy world, but I'm playing me from reality

And it was so absurd. There's a bit of that. There's an element of that in the way that I host the show

I'm me. But there's a banker and there's a yacht and there's this crazy billion dollar game that's going on

And you believe it. you know, but I'm still me. And I'm on this island

So there's a bit of me playing it as close to me as I can

But, oh, by the way, I've also been hired by this banker to run this game, and they're on their yacht watching, right

Yeah, well, I'm so intrigued because you talk about this idea of, you know, wanting to see players succeed but sometimes fail for the sake of drama

And I can't help but think about, you know, all of your history with RPGs

and Dungeons and Dragons. And it sounds a little bit almost like from a DM perspective, right

Of like, maybe the banker is like the end-all, be-all, but you're the one that's kind of setting these players up with situations

and trying to sort of play them out and watch what unfold in front of you

Did you find that your hosting skills might have translated from some of that stuff? 100%. And that was part of my initial conversation with NBC and Endemol

about when they described the show to me in my first meeting. I understood exactly what the assignment was

I mean, yeah, when you're running a tabletop role-playing game for a group

I'm setting up the stakes. I mean, I know where this thing is headed, and I'm laying down the train tracks

but I'm also open in the moment where the players can go anywhere, and they will go anywhere

They'll go the exact opposite direction. I mean, episode one of this season, Luke winds up with a dollar

Sure. And initially you think, well, this is going to be horrible because who wants to see a game where somebody wins a dollar

Wound up being such a fantastic and entertaining episode that then altered the river of the rest of the season

Because from there, every single player that got up there was terrified to leave a small amount at the end of their round

So they were playing the game completely differently. and I knew how to run that and I knew how to amplify that type of fear in them subtly and then

uh from there you know you're you're setting it up for the for the people at home this is what you

need if this is in this case if this is not then okay go ahead and open it so we're setting up the

table for that dice roll where everyone leaning over going that which is what you do at a craps table it I like a craps table narrator at points in the game and and um and i know how to do that and i know how to run that and i also

know how to stay out of a player's way when i know that they're in the zone which people are

going to see in the finale there's a moment in the finale where again if we end a season

where someone wins 300 bucks. Believe me, the network doesn't want to see that

Yeah. Okay? So there's an amount of like, make sure they take a bigger offer

Okay, but that's not my job. That's not my job. My job is to ride the roller coaster

and hold their hands, arms up, for this crazy ride, which is going to be exhilarating one way or the other

so I know enough to know that my job is to give a player enough room and also kind of shield them

the way that like a catcher would shield a pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter in game seven of the

World Series you see it in their eye you know that they're on something and my job is to recognize

that and make sure that they stay in that zone and don't get thrown off by everything and play

the game that they want to play because during this season i experienced very early on in some

of the earlier rounds there was one player in particular this guy rock he knew he had a big

number in his case and he didn't trust himself and he was kicking himself kicking himself in a way

that he knew he believed he knew and i saw that and thought okay you know what for the rest of the

season if somebody wants to ride it out then my job is just to ride it out with them you're going

to see that in the finale it's the most insane thing i've maybe ever seen and and had i not been

in that place where i could kind of energetically put that bubble up around them yeah i don't know

that they would have gone all the way well let's talk about some of these people that led to this

becoming a ride to say the least obviously i have a lot to choose between but what would you say

surprised you the most about this cast oh gosh i mean uh seychelles comes to mind uh you know but

i saw her casting tape her reel and i thought i mean i i remember i called our showrunner matt

kunitz and i was like we need this she has to be on the show um she was so funny she's a uh she's

she's a flight attendant who's afraid of heights uh puerto rican bronx not afraid to tell people

how she feels about things. And so it was in those moments

where I knew that she was, I would notice that she was being quiet a little bit in the temples

And I'd say, Sasha, what do you think? You're being quiet. And then she'd go

Joe, I know. And then she would let it loose. So it was a matter of just like

allowing her the freedom or at least like letting her know like

it's a safe place. Tell us what you think. And it was just what came out was amazing

so she was great um you know dr will we all wanted to kill dr will everyone like ben who opens the

cases want to kill dr well i wanted to kill dr well everybody wanted to kill dr well but he was

such great television he was fantastic and we're cool now we're gonna go hit a lakers game when i

get back home but like in the moment wanted to kill him but he knew what he was doing he's such

a great strategic mind. He's such a great showman. Parvati was incredible. To watch Parvati up close

these survivor champions, it's real. Their superpowers are real. And to watch Parvati go to

work, you know, I told everybody at the beginning of the season, they were like, oh, well, she was on Traders. And I'm like, she was in a sweater. I go, once we get her back to the beach in her

bathing suit, she's going to be fine. And I told her that and she was laughing about it all. You

She's like, I know. And I was like, I told people, I was like, you were back in your power. When she put the bikini back on, it was like the Black Widow came to life

And we all watched it. And she was incredible this year. I mean, she was safe the entire season, which is this insane run, until she wasn't

And now she's immediately up against the banker. Right, exactly. And it's this idea that, I mean, what's so interesting about Deal or No Deal Island as a show is that, theoretically, on a bunch of other reality shows, it's like, well, I don't want to be up for elimination

You know, that endangers my chances of being home. What I found so interesting, and I don't know if you were surprised by this

is how many people have been like, I want to take fate into my own hands

I might directly play a hand in whether or not I go home

but I'd rather have that than the powerlessness, which is odd because, again, deal or no deal

I wouldn't say it's a completely powerless game, but it's trying to intuit what cases you're picking out of a batch

Sure, but I think also the dynamics, just the nucleus of that

people love an underdog so one like like one moment you're the underdog you're the one on the

bottom and in that next moment you've got the power so it's this this incredible flip but also

our game deals with luck in a way that other games don't right you know survivor you're relying upon

the opinion of your peers so there's a lot of strategy a lot of social gaming i mean yes there's

challenge beasts you know that go out and win these challenges win immunity but in our game

Luck plays such a huge part, and luck should not be dismissed because those people that, yes, the Boston Robs

that aggressively want that power in their hand every time, if they're going down, they want it to be because of something they did

But if you watch the Dixons, even the Parvities, the Lachelles, they didn't want to play because they felt something in the air

which is where luck comes in. Like people are tuned into something

They know which cases to open. They know which ones to avoid. They know how to play the situation

They know that somebody's going to get knocked out this week, and I don't want to play the banker because I feel that it's coming

So watching all of that play out is really fascinating, too, because, I mean, again, you're going to watch the finale

and you're going to say, oh, it's just luck. Watch that finale and tell me that luck isn't something tangible

It's real. Like, there's something real. Certain people are lucky. certain people are being spoken to or seeing a bright light on the cases

telling them which ones to pick, it happens. You'll see it next week

Yeah. Well, I mean, from that perspective, I mean, what's so interesting about, especially this season, is this idea of kind of taking newbies and throwing in

You mentioned Parvati, Dr. Wells, sort of these tried and true vets. David Genay

David Genay. Do you watch Australian Survivor? I love Australian Survivor. Yeah

So, like, this idea of throwing them in there, I think on paper it would be a bit of

Well, they have a leg up because they know this these types of social strategy games over others

on the other hand you could argue that because of this Cosmic power almost it sort of serves as a grand equalizer where we just saw with poverty right like

You know while she had a great run to the end if she has a bad day with the banker. That's that's all that matters look at Dixon

Yeah I mean Dixon pulled that five million dollar case I mean he whittled it down to the biggest two I mean yeah it an interesting thing that I think frustrates certain players

but also separates our game from the other ones, that there is this randomness that I love watching

because it is a great equalizer. Yeah. So when it comes to mixing together these reality TV

veterans and newbies. Talk to me a bit about the intention behind that, and

especially how we saw it play out rather uniquely this time, obviously with David's big secret

that gets revealed, or the fact that you have someone like Parvati and Dr. Will come in

and everyone's like, I clock you. I know what you're capable of. Yeah

I think you see what it gives you is it gives you the

opportunity to watch tried and true, tested greats at these types of games. And

then you you get to see their superpowers on display but because they're mixed in with newbies

I mean you get to see character arcs that you wouldn't necessarily see you get to see players

emerge players get better I mean Dixon I mean on the cutting room floor somewhere there's a there's

a conversation that I have with Dixon where we're doing you know the axe throwing challenge and

Dixon's having real trouble and I said hey man I said did you read The Hobbit and he goes

No, man, I'm not a nerd. I don't read books, man. I play fantasy football and bowl with my friends

And I was like, okay. Because I thought, you know, I just, no offense, but looking at you, I think

You look like someone who knows Smaug. Yeah, exactly. You kind of look like Aaron from last season, you know

And I'm like, okay, well, I'm a nerd, but whatever. Okay, fine. And I said, well, you know, it's a story about this guy

He comes from this little town, and he's never left this town. And there's a knock on the door, and it's this wizard

and this wizard with these dwarves. in the Dwarves Mountain and their gold has been taken by this dragon and they need help

And so they recruit this little guy and he leaves his house for the first time and goes on this huge

adventure. And then he helps them kill the dragon and he gets a portion of the treasure. And then he

returns home with the treasure and all these stories to regale his friends with in his little

town. And it was like not landing at all. And I'm like, that's you. You're that guy. You're going to

throw this axe, you're going to hit that target, you know, and then he did, and everybody exploded

and went crazy and picked them up and were cheering, and so, you know, the idea that you

get to watch like this, you know, I don't know, like Cambelian hero's journey within this show

while he is teamed up with Parvati, who he knew, but unknowingly also the greatest Australian

survivor champion ever and so you watch him get to grow and you watch you know that kind of rub

off in the same way that Aaron last year with with Boston Rob you're watching these great

setups and pairings and and Dr. Will and kind of like what was left from him in the game and uh

to really Letty. Letty was his teammate and so she picked up a bit of that and then you watch like

Seychelles emerge and I don't think this is the last time we're going to see Seychelles But also you watch like CK, for example

I mean, CK is a great character. Polarizing, but a great character

And so, you know, it's a really fun game in that there's a mix of these personalities

Well, let's try to continue in their footsteps. If you get a chance to, you know

throw some more in the mix for season three, albeit whether it's reality stars

whether it's celebrities in general, do you have some dream casting in mind? I mean, you know, you watch Traders this season and you see someone like Dylan Efron

who actually came over to my house. I throw screening parties every week, and Dylan came with Boston Rob one week this season

Well, because, yeah, he said at the Traders reunion that he was watching Deal or No Deal Island on the plane to Traders

You've got to watch it. Yeah, exactly. So I think, you know, he's great

You know, I'd like to see, like, a former poker champion play because they're good at

reading people and I'm fascinated by, by reads when people know that someone's lying, when they're

giving a tell and, and I want to then see the confessionals and get into their brains. Um

so like a Phil Helmuth, who's, who's, uh, like the bad boy of poker or a Daniel Negreanu who

notoriously knows what is in everyone's hand. Like, I think you got a ace four and then they

have an ace four. It's like, how did you know that? Like, I want to, I want those people who

have like a foot in like the invisible the metaphysical i want them on the show um you know

former athletes i think would be really fun i think i think would be great um but yeah there's

there's a there's a you know a sea of i mean wall street i'd like to see some wall streeters get in

there that's interesting yeah you know some real bankers yeah well because they're also forecasting

where numbers are going to go and you love to go to those people right they're like throw out the

numbers what are the chances that it's a good deal versus a bad deal people that are good at gambling and reading people

I want those people. Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. So, of course, big Survivor fan

I'd be remiss if I didn't have you in the room, if I didn't ask you about who are some of your favorite players

favorite seasons. Robin Parvati for sure. So they're on. Big Australian Survivor fan

So, yeah, big fan of David. David Genet. I was a big fan of Ozzy

Nice. Just zero social game. Send me to redemption. island and or you know and send me to and i'll take everybody out one at a time um fascinated by

him um you know i i there was like tom the fireman oh yeah tom westman season 10 i thought tom played

a played a wild game uh where he just kind of won out immunity wise um and then it's like i mean i i

do lean towards challenge beasts a little bit like jonathan in new era survivor just picking people up

like kittens and throwing them through in the water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought he was really fun

But then, of course, you know, you have to give a lot of credit to the more strategic players

As much as I would, like, wring my fists at Sandra's seasons because they're so frustrating, you know

But you have to give her credit for her game. Tony, obviously, you know, is another great

So, yeah, no, I mean, I have lots of, lots of, I'm a fan of a lot

I mean, even listen, I thought Russell Hands got robbed that for and that first time he should have won

I don't care. I mean, then every other time he was on the show

I mean, you burn my socks. I'm going to like I mean, I'm going to probably put my hands on you

You throw my socks in the fire. Damn it. But but you've got to give him credit

He played a damn near perfect game that first time out. Was it 18? I think 19. Yeah, yeah

Yeah, because he went the back to back. So, again, like, probably want to kill that guy

but great for TV. Yeah, so let's say if you got in the air

to put one person of your choice on Survivor 50, who would it be and why

Because you could go old school legend, you could go like new era you could go someone that we haven seen in a long time that you would want to see again Yeah I mean you know obviously I had those conversations with the folks that are on our show

I mean, and I understand that this is crossing universes, but I'd like to see Davis Janay on Survivor 50

I'd like to see an Australian champion play U.S. I'd like to see that

Rob does, I don't know if Rob wants to do it or part of it, you know

But I think Tony has all the skills to compete in New Era

You know, he's a two-time champion. Yeah. And he won 40, which is kind of like the end of first era Survivor, old school Survivor

So I'd like to see the champion that kind of closed off old school era

compete in the new school and be invited back. Why not? I mean, you've got to bring him back

He hasn't lost. Like, I mean, the last time he played, he won. So bring him back

Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk about, you know, another role that you're getting to embody in 2025

Let's talk one piece for a sec. Because you talk about getting to embrace that surgery

certainly embracing a part of that with the anime side of things. What was that process like

especially embracing a character that had so many, you know, canonical links to it from the original source material

Yeah, I mean, it's a bit similar to when I was cast on True Blood to a certain degree

You know, I appeared in season three of True Blood, and it was a series of very popular novels

So embodying a character that people love and are waiting for that already has this, like, you know, like established fan base

on a, on a, on a show that, on a moving train, basically. I'm jumping on a moving train

A little bit similar. Um, but, uh, with that said, it's, um, you know, there's, there's a lot

to digest because of, I think like the postmodern nature of it. You know, you're, you're in kind of

this like, you know, kind of colonial era pirate show, but there's like neon signs and people are

wearing Air Jordans and you know so it's it's very surrealistic and dreamlike but

but what I love is that there's so many there's so many different spices to put

into the the jambalaya mix you know I'm I'm missing an arm and there's other

characters in the cannon that are missing limbs and they have things in

common with why they're missing those limbs and so it made me think about hmm

how did I lose this and because it was it's never been there so there's things

that haven't been explained about the character in either the manga or the anime and I had the opportunity to talk to Oda about my thoughts on where where

his scar came from where where the lost how the lost limb happened and the hook

was replaced you know his new choice of profession as casino owner and mob boss

you know, rather than pirate. Yeah. The devil fruit, you know. I mean, all of these things are up here and have appeared in two dimensions up till now

and I have to breathe life into a three-dimensional character where all of these things have backstories

and there's a weight of that, you know, that the character carries around

So while also, you know, tipping my hat to the existing fan base and paying respect to the, you know, 1300 plus episodes of cartoon that Japanese and fans, you know, Japanese fans and fans around the world love

So I'm paying my respects to them through my performance also. So choosing the right moment

And it's just been a blast. It's been a blast. I can imagine

to say the least. Yeah. Yeah. So you are someone who has also been very upfront about your

your fitness and your journey and your nutrition. I'd be inclined to ask for those who are trying

to, to build some muscle to get on that out seed level. Uh, is there any like particular snacks or

meals that you are your usual go-tos when it comes to building muscle? Yeah, that's a good

question. Um, well, I, you know, I wrote a book, uh, about, um, overcoming obstacles called

evolution that came out back in 2013 so it's been a while but uh but it is about um the things that

i had to overcome uh as a kid you know i i was um i was really skinny growing up and you know i did

have there was i had to work i had to work at it and i think a lot of people think you roll out of

bed that way so i really had to work at it and the book is about the things that i had to overcome

in order to get into that kind of shape on true blood and um but as far as like snacks and stuff

like that i mean you know ate a lot of protein um protein burns like if you're not if you don't use

it it just burns so um i've always got uh there's actually a jerky gents is a jerky of the month

club that my brother got me a subscription to for christmas and um i just i've kept it up because

it's just it's great and i want a snack i'm like oh right yeah i have jerky laying around so um i'm

big into that um but i also work with a sports nutritionist named chris talley and he was a

phlebotomist for nasa so his his job for a while was figuring out how to keep muscle mass on

astronauts that are spending extended periods of time in zero gravity situations

and uh then he went into the private sector and um like pete carroll got him to do all the blood

work for the Seattle Seahawks and then basically like biohacked them all from the inside because

he, you know, everyone, when you eat, you're guessing, right. Or you're following some fad

diet you just read about. Yeah. Um, Chris will take 10 vials of your blood and then three weeks

later you get 26 pages of results. You specifically what you're supposed to eat, what your genetic

history tells you to eat and um and then you know a few months later you you just you you you you

the flower blossoms maybe for the first time ever because you're eating the right things

and uh so he worked with the seattle seahawks and then they won the super bowl that year so then bill

belichick got him to do the patriots the following year and then they beat the seahawks for the

championship and then he worked with the san antonio spurs when they were winning so he's got this

long history of working with military, pro athletes, Olympians, and I got introduced to him

through the Steelers organization, and I've been with him for like 12 years. So I highly recommend

I mean, if you want to change your life, it's really invaluable, because he'll just

and then once a year, I'll go back and have everything tested and see where I'm at to optimize

Interesting. It's a plan that's quite literally out of this world. But it's our world

We have the technology to do it. Exactly. It's like $6 million

It's like two grand