As Deathstroke and as DJ in new Smiths-Themed Film, Joe Manganiello Kills It (Q&A)

Those of us who grew up in the ’80s may recall there were pretty much three camps for teens to join musically: pop, metal or new wave.  The later two tended to possess the most passionate fans, especially when it came to the darker end of the sonic spectrum. Woe-filled melodies can convey angst just as well as aggressive sounds– often better. Which is why The Smiths resonated so deeply with so many of us. When the band announced their break-up in 1987, fans were crushed.

Shoplifters of the World, the new film from writer/director Stephen Kijak, seeks to convey the sorrow of losing a favorite band -that band- within a music video-like flashback film.  It chronicles a wild night in Denver as a group of teens mourn the end of an era while contemplating the beginning of their lives. And it’s all back-dropped by Smiths music thanks to one of their peers taking over the local radio station and holding the DJ at gunpoint, ala Airheads. 

The DJ, named Full Metal Mickey, is played by Joe Manganiello, best known for early roles in HBO’s True Blood and Steven Soderberg’s male stripper drama Magic Mike. The actor -who is married to Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara- has been very busy as of late, and roles such as this one show a dramatic range fans might not have expected from his earlier work. As he shared with LA Weekly prior to the opening of his latest projects, he likes to keep his characters and endeavors varied, but he also knows how to connect with all of them on a personal level.

LA WEEKLY:  Really enjoyed the new movie and I think it will resonate with music lovers no matter what genre they were into growing up. I’m curious what kind of music you listened to as a teen and if your tastes and past experiences informed this role as a heavy metal DJ? 

JOE MANGANIELLO: I don’t think I was easily put into a category. In high school I was kind of friends with everybody. But I will say that from a young age, I had all Van Halen records. And then as I got a little bit older, I think my first cassette tape was Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet. Then I found Appetite for Destruction, and that was- that just blew my mind wide open. Then I discovered Ride the Lightning, and I listened to nothing but that, start to finish and then on repeat, for about 18 months straight. I had a yellow Sony Walkman, and I would flip the tape. Once one side ended, I would flip it to the other side and that went on for about a year and a half… Then I realized, oh wait, there’s like Kill Them All and Master of Puppets.

So I got into all of those but then I was also, like into the Lords of Acid and what was going on electronically at the time. And then as we moved into the early to mid 90s I had a bunch of drum & bass and San Francisco house tapes and some stuff from East Coast house DJs. I could probably sing you any Public Enemy song, Cypress Hill, old school hip hop from back in the day. So you know, I was a bit all over the place.

But there was lot of a heavy metal influence in me. My first concert was Pantera, Sepultura and Biohazard, so it started there. But I wound up in the theater club. So I was a jock and captain of the sports team, but I also had friends I would make movies with. Then, from making those movies, I wound up getting cast in a bunch of plays my senior year. So when my senior year started and theater replaced sports, I thought, ‘I am going to be an actor or be in entertainment… I’m going full force over in this direction.’ So once I started hanging out with the theater kids, I started getting mix tapes with all of those bands around that time, whether it was The Smiths and New Order or Violent Femmes. The great bands of that era.

Sounds like you are and always have been a big music lover. 

A lot of my friends are musicians. You know I go to see music shows. I was always into music, reading music magazines, very much up on all of that type of, you know, culture, especially in the ’90s. My formative years was like, the old Details magazine and Spin magazine and Rolling Stone. And if I had a day off or had nothing to do or no plans, I would go to the record store.

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