Joe Manganiello insists True Blood nude scenes are not gratuitous

Joe Manganiello has no qualms about regularly stripping off for TV hit True Blood, because he insists it's essential for his part as a werewolf.

The actor plays Alcide in the popular vampire drama and often has to shed his clothes when his character makes his transformation from man to beast.

But despite the show's reputation for risque nude scenes, Manganiello is adamant he doesn't reveal all just for gratuitous reasons.

He tells Out magazine, "It just makes sense. It's not gratuitous; it's realistic. If you're a werewolf and you transform, you lose everything... The show is a deconstruction of supernatural creatures. It's not like other werewolf projects, where you magically reappear with tiny jean shorts on."