Joe Manganiello is noted for playing a hunky werewolf Alcide on True Blood and other roles that make the likes of My So-Called Life actor Wilson Cruz swoon. Primarily we mean Big Dick Richie, his character in the 2012 male-stripper comedy Magic Mike, a film that led him to the subject matter he examines in his directorial debut, La Bare, a documentary that hits theaters on June 27. Before we present an exclusive and decidedly NSFW red-band trailer for the film, we’ll let Manganiello tee it up for you with a statement he provided to Vulture.
I can’t express to you how many times I’ve heard, “We’ve seen it all.” “There’s nothing new.” “Everything is recycled.” “Nothing is shocking.” Blah, blah, blah … But I guess I just never really paid attention to the chatter until I made my first feature film.
Soon after filming, there were the bands that had pulled their songs from the film despite the protests of their record label, the ban of our art/posters on bus stops and billboards due to it being too risqué … And then came the wait for the MPAA rating … And with that, the realization that I indeed had found something new, something fresh, something shocking to show the general public.
With La Bare, I had somehow sailed my way into uncharted waters and stumbled upon an island not recorded on any map … the completely misunderstood world of male entertainment.
With Magic Mike, we scratched the surface, and with La Bare, I had the opportunity to plumb the depths of this strange and provocative world hidden in plain sight.
Shocking, hilarious, and heartfelt, the film explores every level of the profession in three vivid dimensions.
I can honestly say that this is the last subject I ever imagined my directorial debut would deal with, but nonetheless, here I am, about to unleash this fascinating and unexplored subculture on the public.
Let the conversations begin …
