Joe Manganiello has tackled vampires, witches and werewolves on "True Blood," but for his new stripper flick "Magic Mike," he faced a whole new challenge: thongs.
"It was uncomfortable at first. It sort of felt like a wedgie, but once you get into the routine of wearing one, you know what to do and you just do your thing," Manganiello told People about wearing his first thong. "We all had to suffer a bit for our craft."
Manganiello co-stars opposite Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer in "Magic Mike," a new movie about male strippers. He wasn't the only one to struggle with the wardrobe. "White Collar" star Bomer said he had trouble figuring the undergarment out.
"The first time I tried, I had never worn a thong before, so the first time I tried it I put it on wrong and my junk didn’t fit in it," Bomer told MTV. "I had to call a wardrobe person in, 'Something is wrong with my thong, you guys. I think we are gonna have to figure this out,’ and they're like, 'Yeah your legs are in the wrong holes.’ That was step one."
In "Magic Mike," Tatum stars as the titular character, a stripper teaching Pettyfer's newbie the ropes. Manganiello plays a fellow stripper with a unique name.
"My publicist saw ['Magic Mike'] and couldn't form a sentence afterwards," Manganiello said. "Anybody who knows me is going to definitely see me in a different light. My character's name is Big Dick Richie for a reason."
"Magic Mike" is scheduled to hit theaters on Friday, June 29.