Joe Manganiello on those 'Nonnas' cast dinners and Bubbles, his Instagram-famous dog

USA Today

09-05-2025

Joe Manganiello on those 'Nonnas' cast dinners and Bubbles, his Instagram-famous dog
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Joe Manganiello explains why he had to hit the gym for film 'Nonnas'
Joe Manganiello tells USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa why he had to hit the gym while filming his latest movie, "Nonnas," which is streaming on Netflix.
NEW YORK − While filming the movie "Nonnas," Joe Manganiello stayed in Hoboken, New Jersey. He settled into a routine there, from his favorite coffee shops to his dog-walking route. The actor also became familiar with his local gym, thanks to the cast dinners he indulged in.
"We're out at some Italian restaurant eating giant meals," Manganiello, 48, recalls to USA TODAY, noting that chefs would send out appetizers on the house. "Nobody's eating it all because they're trying to fit into their costumes. So there's all this food leftover and all the actresses are like reverting to character and going, 'Here, honey, eat it.' And pushing it to me, like I'm the kid."
Manganiello obliged his elders. "Nonnas" (streaming now on Netflix) is based on the true story of Enoteca Maria, a restaurant in Staten Island that employees "nonnas" (Italian for grandmother) as chefs. In the film, Vince Vaughn takes on the role of the restaurant's owner, Joe, and Manganiello plays his best friend, Bruno. The grandmothers are portrayed by Lorraine Bracco, Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire. In real life, they're all old enough to be Manganiello's mother.
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"For the whole movie, three or four times a week, I'm at home after these giant meals in my hotel room, just staring at the ceiling, just trying to breathe," he says. "Then, off to Crunch gym in Hoboken the next day to try to work it all off."
Joe Manganiello's dog is a social media star, thanks to his girlfriend
A few guests join Manganiello for the interview. His girlfriend, actress and host Caitlin O'Connor, sits off-camera. The actor's chihuahua Bubbles rests comfortably on his lap. Manganiello rescued Bubbles from Dogs Without Borders six years ago. It's his first pet.
"The first time I held a dog in my lap was her," he says of Bubbles, who came into his life when the actor was still married to Sofia Vergara. They split in 2023 after seven years of marriage. "She wanted me to pick her up like right away. It was the universe telling me it was time to have a dog."
Bubbles has come a long way literally and figuratively since then: The chihuahua overcame a number of health complications, including cancer. Now she travels the world with Manganiello and O'Connor.
"I swore I was never going to do an Instagram account for the dog, I wasn't going to be that guy," he says. "But my girlfriend started one. And so she posts and she's doing a great job."
Both O'Connor and Bubbles joined Manganiello at the "Nonnas" premiere. On Instagram, the couple's attire had fans doing a double take, thinking it was a wedding photo.
"Traditionally, the guy doesn't hold the wedding bouquet," says Manganiello, referencing Bubbles, which was in his arms and could be mistaken at a glance as a bouquet of flowers. "Traditionally, the guy isn't holding a five-pound chihuahua, either."
Joe Manganiello honored his great-grandmother with Capitol Hill speech
Manganiello is an Italian last name, but the actor is also of Armenian descent. His maternal great-grandmother survived the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
In April, the actor traveled to Washington to give a speech for the Armenian Assembly of America. His purpose was to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the genocide and advocate for the release of 23 hostages detained in Azerbaijan.
"I felt like my great-grandmother would've been proud of what I did," Manganiello says of his trip to meet with lawmakers. "But it was also very difficult emotionally to drum (those memories) up."
While President Joe Biden formally recognized the genocide in 2021, Manganiello says the recent conflict with Azerbaijan has Armenians "worried that they're being left out to the wolves."
"I don't think any of the survivors would've thought that any of their stories would be told a century later," he says of his great-grandmother and others. "I really feel like it's my obligation to speak about what she went through. I meet Armenians all over the world who stop me and thank me for speaking up. So I know that it means something."