Joe Manganiello Reveals He Had a Drinking Problem, Says He's 11 Years Sober

True Blood hunk also shared that he reached rock bottom before putting away alcohol for good

Joe Manganiello's road to Hollywood wasn't without a few major bumps.

In fact, the actor revealed in an interview with HuffPost Live that he once had a drinking problem and has been sober for 11 years.

"There was a period of about four years where I needed to quit drinking. And the drinking always got in the way [of my career]," he explained.

He talks at length about his issues with alcohol in his twenties in his new book, Evolution: The Cutting Edge Guide to Breaking Down Mental Walls and Building the Body You've Always Wanted.

"It was one of those obstacles that I had to get over and once again I needed to clear the road in order for these things to happen, so it really is an inside job. I had to clean up my act and figure the whole situation out."

He added, "My life was ruined…I was homeless, careless and broke with no career, so yes, it was worth it [to get sober]."

And believe it or not, the hunky 36-year-old also shared that he was bullied as a child but that he channeled the pain into motivation.

"Failure became a huge part of my success story. Now, you hear about these soccer games kids play when goals aren't counted. Everybody gets the orange slice and the pat on the back and everybody says 'Good job!' And that wasn't the case for me and I think I benefited from that. I'm glad that I lost, I'm glad that I failed…I never wanted to feel that way again and it drove me."