[9][6] Using this information, researchers traced Manganiello's paternal lineage back to his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Plato Turner, an African slave who was freed before slavery was abolished in Massachusetts and who went on to fight for the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The time off allowed Manganiello to reevaluate his future and so he decided to audition for the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama during his senior year.

[14] He then traveled to New York City and Los Angeles through his university to participate in group auditions, which provided him contacts in the entertainment business including an agent, a manager, and a screen test for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man.

He landed the role of Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Peter Parker's nemesis in high school, as his first acting job out of college.

[18] Manganiello began finding work in television, playing Tori Spelling's boyfriend on VH1's So Notorious in 2006, and guest starred on Las Vegas, Jake in Progress, and Close to Home.

He returned to the stage playing The Chick Magnet in May 2007 for the New York City premiere of Skirts & Flirts, a monologue show by Gloria Calderon Kellett, for which he was a finalist for HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival.

[19] He then played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire for the West Virginia Public Theatre in 2008,[20] directed by his former Carnegie Mellon professor Geoffrey Hitch.

[19] He starred as Leo Belraggio, a New York jazz musician, in the West Coast premiere of Terrence McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion in June 2009.

The summer prior, Manganiello worked alongside McNally and director Leonard Foglia to create the role at the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

[citation needed] He starred in the direct-to-video war film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia in 2009 playing Lt. Sean Macklin, a Navy SEAL squad leader.

In order to add authenticity to the production, he trained for several months with a former Navy SEAL, for whom he paid to come to the set and stay in the cast's hotel.

[28] In early 2011, Manganiello was asked to screen test for the title role of Superman in Man of Steel, for which he was rumored to be the front runner, but due to scheduling problems with True Blood, he was forced to drop out during the final stage.

He told Access Hollywood in an interview: "They wanted me to screen test and they actually asked for my measurements for the suit and everything... their shoot date switched and it would have taken up 11 weeks out of my True Blood schedule.

"[29] Upon completion of filming for season four of True Blood, he shot an episode of USA's White Collar with his former drama school classmate Matt Bomer,[30] and then shot the film adaptation of the best-selling book What to Expect When You're Expecting[31] before returning to Los Angeles to shoot an episode of Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher.

[32] Manganiello was cast as Big Dick Richie in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike, the story of a male stripper in Tampa, Florida, played by actor Channing Tatum.

[35][36] That autumn also saw Manganiello's return to the stage once again as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire but this time for the prestigious Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, Connecticut.

[38] He received multiple offers from distributors in the lobby after the first screening and within 24 hours sold the International and Domestic rights, including sales to Showtime and Netflix.

His characters, including Arkhan the Cruel, are a part of Dungeons & Dragons canon, appearing in adventure modules, video games, and in toy stores.

[44] He has appeared in episodes of The Big Bang Theory, Nerd Poker, CelebriD&D,[45] Critical Role[46][47] and the web series Force Grey playing the game.

[49] In 2018, he launched the company Death Saves which produces fantasy/heavy-metal themed streetwear as well as a range of high end jewelry, clothing and gaming accessories.

Over the years, the company has created officially licensed products for the television series Game of Thrones and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the indie horror film Mandy, Dungeons & Dragons, and at one point had full reign over the catalog of the late fantasy painter, Frank Frazetta.

[59] He was once a roadie for the band Goldfinger and is friends with lead singer John Feldmann; he toured internationally with the group as a member of their security.