Joe Manganiello was nearly a contestant on “Survivor” before he was famous

In his audition tape, Manganiello marketed himself as a "construction worker from Pittsburgh."

Joe Manganiello isn't just a werewolf. He's also a survivor.

The actor, 47, recently revealed that he came incredibly close to being a contestant on CBS' Survivor before he found success as an actor. Manganiello loved the reality show from the moment it premiered in 2000, even throwing weekly viewing parties with his roommates in West Hollywood.

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"I was at a house party a few years later and ran into someone who worked for CBS casting, and they said, 'You would be great for Survivor,' he told Men's Journal in a new cover story. "I said, 'Oh my God, I can win!' I went into my whole strategy, and they said, 'Would you make a tape? But you can't be an actor.' I had no agent, no manager. I'm shoveling sand and gravel."

At the time, Manganiello was making his rent by working for a masonry company, so he decided to use that as the angle for his audition tape, billing himself as Joe, the construction worker from Pittsburgh. He also emphasized his roots as the descendant of a survivor of the Armenian genocide. "I'm a survivor," he said. "I have survivor genes in my blood."

But Manganiello was metaphorically voted off the island before he ever got there. Producers were ready to cast him on the reality show when a pilot he had filmed the year prior got picked up to series. His commitment to Tori Spelling's So Notorious on VH1 made him ineligible for Survivor.

Though he never did make it onto the show, he keenly remembers his plan for success. "I was going to get my eyes corrected by surgery," he recalled. "Because I wear contacts, even though I found out they give you contact solution."

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He continued, "And I'd met a yogi whose specialty was taking people off solid foods," he continued. "The philosophy is that you could eat a leaf that contains more nutrients in it than an entire large pepperoni pizza. I was going to wean myself off solid food so I wasn't worried about energy. And then, as a big, athletic male, you're going to help win all the challenges for your tribe. But at the merge, you're going to have to win immunity, because I'm a target."

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Related: Liz Wilcox reveals the Survivor 46 finale speech she never got to give

Survivor has since changed its policy on whether or not it can feature actors or well-known figures, with everyone from NFL players to baseball stars to The White Lotus creator Mike White competing on previous seasons. The forthcoming season 47 will feature comedian, podcaster, and political speechwriter Jon Lovett.

Maybe it's time for Joe to dust off that strategy and dig that audition tape out of wherever it's hiding.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.