Joe Manganiello (2:53)

You know, I realized that Dungeons and Dragons and I were moving in different creative directions.

Stephen Colbert (3:02)

And so I said, don't break my heart, Joe Manganiello.

Joe Manganiello (3:06)

And so I said to D and D, I think I need some space.

Stephen Colbert (3:11)

You need to see other games.

Joe Manganiello (3:13)

And so we separated.

Stephen Colbert (3:15)

Okay. Okay.

Joe Manganiello (3:16)

And while we were separated, I got back together with my ex.

Stephen Colbert (3:21)

Who's that?

Joe Manganiello (3:22)

The board game HeroQuest made by Avalon Hill.

Stephen Colbert (3:25)

Okay. I played Avalon Hill when I was a kid. Back then, it was like Gettysburg or Africa Corps, which was like Rommel versus Patton. You know, hexagonal. Sure, yeah.

Joe Manganiello (3:37)

The hex grid. Yeah, Hex.

Stephen Colbert (3:38)

Hex grid, yeah.

Joe Manganiello (3:39)

Gary Gygax actually applied for a job at Avalon Hill. Was turned down.

Stephen Colbert (3:43)

Was turned down. And then later tsr, which he founded, bought Avalon Hill.

Joe Manganiello (3:47)

Boom.

Stephen Colbert (3:47)

All right, so now, wait a second. This is really heavy.

Joe Manganiello (3:50)

Yes, yes, yes. So there it is.

Stephen Colbert (3:52)

What the hell is this? So this is. What is Hero Quest?

Joe Manganiello (3:55)

Hero Quest is like DD in a box. Okay, so you know how, like, when you're a Dungeon Master, it's like preparing to direct a live episode of television every week?

Stephen Colbert (4:04)

Sure. Exactly.

Joe Manganiello (4:05)

This doesn't require that all of the quests, like this one over here. That is my quest book that I designed.

Stephen Colbert (4:11)

Joe Manganiello's the Crypt of Perpetual Darkness. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Oh, look at that. Shiny. Oh, it's shiny. You spared no expense on the box.

Joe Manganiello (4:22)

No, no, no, no. And so this is. The villain is a black dragon. There are 10 quests. You descend inside of a mountain. This dragon has taken over. Like a novel you may have read before.

Stephen Colbert (4:33)

Yes.

Joe Manganiello (4:35)

And then it's basically you pick what character you want to play. You just pull it out of the box and go. There's no prep necessary.

Vince Vaughn (4:40)

Wow.

Stephen Colbert (4:41)

Do you have to play with other people? Can you play with yourself?

Joe Manganiello (4:43)

There's actually an. There's actually an app that will take the place of the game master. So you could play by yourself.

Stephen Colbert (4:48)

So AI is taking over at this point, is what you saying? You're starring in a new Netflix film called Nonas. Nona is like a. It's like a grandma.

Joe Manganiello (5:02)

It's an Italian grandma.

Stephen Colbert (5:03)

Okay. It's an Italian grandma.

Joe Manganiello (5:05)

Yeah, you gotta talk with your little.

Stephen Colbert (5:06)

She got the little lobster hands, the Italian grandma. Okay, so what's the movie about? And how are you related to these nonnas?

Joe Manganiello (5:18)

Okay, well, you know, it's about a real story. There's a true story about a guy named Joe, not me, played by Vince Vaughn, who loses his mother. And in her honor, he opens a restaurant in Staten island and recruits a bunch of Italian grandmas to cook in the kitchen. And this restaurant exists. It's called Enoteca Maria. It's delicious. It's amazing.

Stephen Colbert (5:40)

Really?

Joe Manganiello (5:40)

Yeah.

Stephen Colbert (5:41)

Oh, that's fantastic.

Joe Manganiello (5:44)

And I play Vince's best friend, Bruno, who's a contractor, and he kind of ropes me into building his restaurant for him when he has no money.

Stephen Colbert (5:55)

Shooting this. Did you get to eat a lot of pasta and things like that?

Joe Manganiello (5:58)

Okay, so There was like 412 course meals a week. All right? And it's me and Vince and then all the nonas who were played by Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro. So like.

Stephen Colbert (6:13)

Like a murderer's row.

Joe Manganiello (6:15)

And because. Because I was the youngest at the table at. They were like, here, finish it. And I'm like, I'm not 12, you know, like, I'm gonna have to go to Crunch Hoboken and work this off tomorrow.

Stephen Colbert (6:27)

We have a clip here. What's going on?

Joe Manganiello (6:28)

Okay, so in this clip, basically, things weren't going well with the restaurant, and I had to sell my father's classic car to pay for the restaurant. And Vince's character finds out, basically, the underlying hum of the scene is men are terrible at communicating.

Stephen Colbert (6:47)

Got it, Jim.

Paige DeSorbo (6:49)

He sold his father's car to build your restaurant.

Bruno (6:52)

If this is you staying out of it, I wonder what you being involved would look like.

Vince Vaughn (6:56)

You didn't do that. Did you do that? Did you actually do that?

Stephen Colbert (6:59)

I'm staying out of it.

Vince Vaughn (7:02)

Bruno, did you sell your father's car to build my restaurant?

Bruno (7:07)

It was the only way, okay? The renovation's paying off my crew. It was the only way.

Vince Vaughn (7:13)

Why would you do something I would never ask you to do that?

Joe Manganiello (7:16)

I know you'd never ask me to do it, which is exactly why I.

Bruno (7:18)

Had to do it. It was my call, okay? It wasn't yours. Besides, it's the first time in a long time that I saw you happy. So for me, it was worth it.

Vince Vaughn (7:34)

Bruno, I know that that car meant everything to you.

Bruno (7:38)

Well, I guess you mean more.

Stephen Colbert (7:47)

Look what you did to these people. You made them have feelings.

Joe Manganiello (7:50)

That's it. That movie it has a lot of feelings, people. You're gonna love it. It's great.

Stephen Colbert (7:55)

We have to take a.

Wayfair Representative (8:05)

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Stephen Colbert (8:39)

Hey, everybody. We're back with Joe Manganiello. Now, one thing you are reliably known for. And, you know, what are you now?

Joe Manganiello (8:48)

40?

Stephen Colbert (8:48)

What?

Joe Manganiello (8:49)

48.

Stephen Colbert (8:50)

48. But I gotta say, I get to, like, pat the guests when they come on. Still reliably jacked over here. And I understand, I understand. Is this true that you have engaged the services of a guy who trains NASA astronauts to keep their muscle tone?

Joe Manganiello (9:09)

Yes. So there's a man named Chris Talley, and he was a NASA phlebotomist. And his job.

Stephen Colbert (9:17)

Sorry, what?

Joe Manganiello (9:17)

A NASA phlebotomist.

Stephen Colbert (9:19)

And what do they do?

Joe Manganiello (9:20)

They study blood, nutrition levels, things, you know, they take your blood.

Stephen Colbert (9:23)

They study the phlebot.

Joe Manganiello (9:24)

The phlebot.

Stephen Colbert (9:27)

Oh, if you're known, it has made you. Phlebottes. Unbelievable lean Phlebot.

Joe Manganiello (9:32)

So the way they. Yeah, they cut it so thin it would melt in the sauce. No. So basically his job at NASA was to find ways to keep muscle mass on astronauts that were going to be in extended periods of zero gravity. Like if you watch the astronauts who got stuck in space for nine months, when they came back, they could hardly walk.

Stephen Colbert (9:52)

No. They could turn their femurs into a flute.

Joe Manganiello (9:55)

A pan flute. Yes. So anyway, he went into the private sector, and then I found out about him through some Pittsburgh Steelers I was friends with. And basically, he took 10 vials of my blood. Three weeks later, he came back with 26 pages of results of what I'm supposed to be eating, what I'm supposed to be doing, how I'm built, health markers. And when you eat, you're guessing or you're following some fad diet, but every single person on the planet needs a bespoke diet plan.

Stephen Colbert (10:30)

How many vials of blood?

Joe Manganiello (10:33)

10.

Stephen Colbert (10:34)

I'm not sure if I have 10. Really? A bespoke. So then basically dial in like, this isn't just general advice. You specifically need this kind of nutrition.

Joe Manganiello (10:43)

Specifically. Like he Was like, do you eat a lot of red meat? I said, yes. He said, well, you have no markers for heart disease whatsoever, so you could eat twice as much red meat as you normally do. I went, wow, that's all you had to say.

Stephen Colbert (10:55)

He sounds like a genius.

Joe Manganiello (10:56)

Then he said, you're low in aspartic acid. I said, well, how do you get that? He said, most people can get it through wine and cheese, but you can also get it through the blue packet, Equal. I said, doesn't that give, like, rats, cancer or something? He said, no, no, no. That's just a fallacy. If you take equal in your coffee, one packet for the next three months, it's going to provide more energy for you. I said, so equal and more red meat. I went, okay. And then he said, go get this CoQ10 enzyme. This will help unlock all of your energy production. Your testosterone is low. We're gonna unblock all of that. He said, in three months, you will experience what someone else would have to, like, would experience if they did a cycle of steroids. And I've never taken steroids, growth hormones, none of it because of this guy. He's helped to biohack me from the inside. And, you know, as you get older, you're a man. Whatever. You go through life's ups and downs, like the fact that I can optimize because of this guy. It's a game changer.

Stephen Colbert (11:54)

So if I just take equal and eat a lot of red meat, I'm gonna look like this is what you're saying.

Vince Vaughn (11:58)

You should talk to Chris first.

Stephen Colbert (12:01)

Joe, good to see you.

Joe Manganiello (12:02)

Good to see you.

Stephen Colbert (12:05)

Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclus.

Paige DeSorbo (12:19)

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Stephen Colbert (12:46)

Wayfair Every style, every home.