Joe Manganiello

Summary

Summary of "The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert" Featuring Joe Manganiello

Episode Title: Joe Manganiello
Release Date: April 28, 2025
Host: Stephen Colbert
Guest: Joe Manganiello
Podcast: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

---

Introduction

In this engaging episode of "The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert," host Stephen Colbert welcomes back Hollywood's Joe Manganiello. The conversation delves into Manganiello's passion for gaming, his latest project in the film industry, and his unique approach to fitness optimization.

---

1. Dungeons & Dragons and HeroQuest

Timestamp: [02:11] - [03:52]

Stephen Colbert opens the discussion by highlighting Joe Manganiello's reputation as a "hunkiest nerd in Hollywood" and his involvement with the iconic tabletop game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).

Stephen Colbert:
"Do you still roll the dice? Do you still hit the Dungeons?" [02:53]

Joe explains his evolving relationship with D&D, noting that their creative paths diverged:
"You know, I realized that Dungeons and Dragons and I were moving in different creative directions." [02:53]

He humorously describes his separation from D&D and rekindling his love for the board game HeroQuest:
"And while we were separated, I got back together with my ex—the board game HeroQuest made by Avalon Hill." [03:15]

Stephen Colbert:
"Hero Quest is like D&D in a box. Joe Manganiello's the Crypt of Perpetual Darkness." [04:05]

Joe elaborates on HeroQuest, presenting it as a streamlined alternative to D&D, complete with pre-designed quests and an accompanying app that serves as a game master, allowing solo play.

---

2. Upcoming Netflix Film: "Nonas"

Timestamp: [04:48] - [07:55]

The conversation shifts to Manganiello's new role in the Netflix film "Nonas." Stephen seeks insights into the plot and Joe's character.

Stephen Colbert:
"You’re starring in a new Netflix film called Nonas. Nona is like a grandma." [04:48]

Joe describes "Nonas" as a heartfelt story inspired by the real-life Enoteca Maria restaurant in Staten Island, which employs Italian grandmas to honor the memory of a beloved mother. He plays Bruno, Vince Vaughn's character’s best friend, who helps build the restaurant.

Joe Manganiello:
"It's about a real story... and I play Vince's best friend, Bruno, who's a contractor." [05:18]

A discussion ensues about the intensive filming process, including Joe's humorous take on managing high-calorie meals on set.

Joe Manganiello:
"There was like 412 course meals a week." [05:58]

The episode features a clip from the movie highlighting themes of communication and personal sacrifice, accompanied by a brief exchange between Joe and Vince Vaughn's characters.

---

3. Fitness Optimization and Biohacking

Timestamp: [08:39] - [12:02]

Stephen shifts the focus to Joe Manganiello's commitment to fitness, humorously noting his robust physique despite entering his late 40s.

Stephen Colbert:
"Is this true that you have engaged the services of a guy who trains NASA astronauts to keep their muscle tone?" [08:48]

Joe introduces Chris Talley, a former NASA phlebotomist turned fitness specialist, who has revolutionized his approach to health through personalized biohacking.

Joe Manganiello:
"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..." [09:17]

Joe explains how Talley's tailored recommendations have allowed him to optimize his diet and supplementation, emphasizing the importance of a bespoke plan over general advice.

Joe Manganiello:
"If you take equal in your coffee, one packet for the next three months, it's going to provide more energy for you." [10:30]

The dialogue underscores Joe's commitment to maintaining his physique naturally, avoiding performance-enhancing substances by leveraging scientific insights.

---

Notable Quotes

• Stephen Colbert:
  "Hero Quest is like D&D in a box. Joe Manganiello's the Crypt of Perpetual Darkness." [04:05]

• Joe Manganiello:
  "It's about a real story... and I play Vince's best friend, Bruno, who's a contractor." [05:18]

• Joe Manganiello:
  "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..." [09:17]

• Stephen Colbert:
  "He sounds like a genius." [10:56]

---

Conclusion

Stephen Colbert wraps up the episode by thanking Joe Manganiello for his insights into gaming, his new film "Nonas," and his innovative fitness regimen. The conversation offers listeners a blend of humor, personal anecdotes, and valuable information on balancing creative passions with personal health.

Stephen Colbert:
"Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert." [12:05]

---

Note:
This summary excludes all advertisements and non-content segments, focusing solely on the substantive discussions between Stephen Colbert and Joe Manganiello to provide a comprehensive overview for listeners who have not tuned into the episode.

Transcript

[IXL Learning Representative]

As a parent, you want to give your child every opportunity to succeed. But let's be honest, sometimes homework questions leave us stumped or we wish they had it a bit more challenging when they're ahead in class. That's where IXL learning can help. IXL is an online learning program that supports kids from Pre K to 12th grade in math, language arts, science and social studies. It's designed to help kids truly master topics while keeping learning fun and engaging. Whether your child is catching up, staying on track, or aiming to get ahead, IXL offers personalized learning to meet their needs. Plus, it saves you time and money. No more searching for multiple tutors or programs. IXL is like having everything you need in one place. The best part? It's backed by research. Kids using IXL consistently score higher on tests, and it works for all kids, no matter their grade or learning style. Iexcel is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. so you know it's the real deal. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and listeners of this podcast can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixlearning.com audio visit ixllearning.com audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

[Tommy Morrissey]

I've been counted out, dismissed, passed over, told I'd never be a golfer with just one arm. But the only thing that feels better than proving people wrong is out driving them. I'm 14 year old golfer Tommy Morrissey and I want to be remembered for my ability as a champion partner of the Masters. Bank of America supports everyone determined to find out what's possible in golf and in life. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America bank of America NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

[IXL Learning Representative]

It's the Late Show Pont show with Stephen Colbert.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back. My friends, ladies and gentleme. You know my next guest as one of the hunkiest nerds in Hollywood. He now stars in the new Netflix film Nonnas. Please welcome back to the Late Show, Joe Manganiello. Nice to see you again.

[Joe Manganiello]

Thank you. Nice to see you back.

[Stephen Colbert]

I've seen you in the last couple years off camera, but we haven't been together on the show in quite a few years. Nice to have you back.

[Joe Manganiello]

Nice to be back.

[Stephen Colbert]

We had a great conversation last time. You're here because as a man of education, style and taste, you play Dungeons and Dragons and I play Dungeons and Dragons. I played Dungeons and dragons from, like, 1977. Early, very first kind of, you know, invented in 1974. 74, exactly. Gary Gygax. I have a dungeon master's guide signed by Gary Gygax. It's not a contest, but I'm winning and. Ok, you win with that. I'm just curious. Do you still roll the dice? Do you still hit the Dungeons?

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

You need to see other games.

[Joe Manganiello]

And so we separated.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Okay.

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

Who's that?

[Joe Manganiello]

The board game HeroQuest made by Avalon Hill.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

The hex grid. Yeah, Hex.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hex grid, yeah.

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

Boom.

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

Yes, yes, yes. So there it is.

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

Sure. Exactly.

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

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]

Yes.

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

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]

It's an Italian grandma.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. It's an Italian grandma.

[Joe Manganiello]

Yeah, you gotta talk with your little.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

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]

Really?

[Joe Manganiello]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

Like a murderer's row.

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

Got it, Jim.

[Paige DeSorbo]

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

[Bruno]

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

[Vince Vaughn]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm staying out of it.

[Vince Vaughn]

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

[Bruno]

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

[Vince Vaughn]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Bruno]

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]

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

[Bruno]

Well, I guess you mean more.

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a.

[Wayfair Representative]

Hey, it's me, Paige desorbo, and I'm so excited to share my new shoe collection at dsw, filled with my favorite styles and trends for spring. Because if you know me, you know, I'm kind of obsessed with shoes. And by kind of obsessed, I mean head over heels. You're going to love these shoes. So snag super cute styles, like cute flats, fun heels, and cool sneakers from the Paige to Sorbo collection right now at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

40?

[Stephen Colbert]

What?

[Joe Manganiello]

48.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

Sorry, what?

[Joe Manganiello]

A NASA phlebotomist.

[Stephen Colbert]

And what do they do?

[Joe Manganiello]

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

[Stephen Colbert]

They study the phlebot.

[Joe Manganiello]

The phlebot.

[Stephen Colbert]

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

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

No. They could turn their femurs into a flute.

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

How many vials of blood?

[Joe Manganiello]

10.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

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]

He sounds like a genius.

[Joe Manganiello]

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]

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]

You should talk to Chris first.

[Stephen Colbert]

Joe, good to see you.

[Joe Manganiello]

Good to see you.

[Stephen Colbert]

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]

We interrupt this program to bring you an important Wayfair message. Wayfair's got style tips for every home. This is Stiles Mackenzie helping you make those rooms sing. Today's style tip. When it comes to making a statement, treat bold patterns like neutrals go wild like an untamed animal. Print area rug under a rustic farmhouse table. From wayfair.com fierce this has been your Wayfair style tip to keep those interiors superior.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wayfair Every style, every home.