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Joe Manganiello Reveals He Hid a Near-Fatal Illness and an Ostomy Bag to Land His Batman Villain Role
In a new memoir excerpt, the actor details collapsing from a mystery autoimmune disease, losing his large intestine, and bluffing his way through a Deathstroke costume fitting with Ben Affleck's shelved Batman film on the line.
Joe Manganiello is opening up about the health crisis he kept hidden while landing one of the biggest roles of his career. In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, "Bloodlines," obtained by The Hollywood Reporter and detailed by TMZ, the actor describes collapsing on the set of the Navy SEAL drama "Six" in 2016 from a mystery autoimmune disease he calls a "Gremlin in the control room of my body."
Doctors cycled him through medications meant for conditions he didn't have, each with brutal side effects, before the illness escalated to the point that his large intestine had to be removed. He emerged from surgery needing a permanent ostomy bag — a life-altering adjustment he describes, according to Entertainment Weekly's report via Yahoo, as "waking up in someone else's body."
The Call From Ben Affleck
It was in the middle of this recovery that Ben Affleck's team reached out about a Batman film Affleck was set to write, direct and star in — eventually shelved — offering Manganiello the role of Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke. Manganiello writes that he saw the offer as a shot at reclaiming his life, even though he knew he was in no shape to take it.
"THERE WAS NO WAY IN HELL THAT LITTLE THING WOULD FIT ME, LET ALONE HIDE THE BAG."
That quote refers to the costume fitting itself, which Manganiello says he nearly didn't survive without exposing his secret. He writes that he stopped eating the afternoon before so the ostomy bag would be empty, warning that "under that degree of compression it would probably explode" otherwise. He asked the room to clear so he could change in private, confirmed the bag was empty, then called the crew back in. The ordeal nearly unraveled when the team requested a 3D body scan using 256 cameras and handed him tiny blue briefs to wear for it — a moment he says sent him into a panic over hiding both the bag and his surgical scars.
Manganiello ultimately got through the fitting undetected and went on to debut as Deathstroke in the post-credits scene of Zack Snyder's "Justice League," a role later expanded in Snyder's 2021 director's cut. Affleck's standalone Batman project never materialized, and Manganiello has not returned to the role since, as James Gunn and Peter Safran now oversee DC's film slate.
"Bloodlines" hits shelves October 13.