“Magic Mike XXL” star Joe Manganiello found himself asking the questions instead of answering them over the weekend, as the actor led an ArcLight Slamdance Cinema Club Q&A panel on the Steve Yu-directed documentary “Resurrection of Jake the Snake.”
Debuting at Slamdance Film Festival in January, the movie examines the life of retired professional wrestler Jake “the Snake” Roberts, who battled substance abuse issues long after his career had ended.
Manganiello moderated Sunday’s panel, which included Yu and executive producer Chris Bell (“Bigger Stronger Faster”), and also shared his own thoughts on the intersection of drugs and professional wrestling.
“If we grew up in the 1980s we really didn’t know what was going on in terms of the lifestyle until we saw some of the wrestlers starting to pass away,” the “True Blood” star said. “It’s brought to the light or put some awareness of some of these topics that are taken further in this film … that kind of started with [the documentary] ‘Beyond the Mat.’”
Watch the a clip from the panel here.
The April lineup features Esra Saydam and Nisan Dag’s breakthrough drama “Across the Sea” and the documentary “Dennis Rodman‘s Big Bang in Pyongyang,” chronicling the former NBA star’s trip to North Korea and subsequent relationship with dictator Kim Jong-un.
“ArcLight Cinemas has continued to be a shining light for independent cinema fans looking for a rich cinematic experience and we are thrilled to be partnering with such a visionary company that cares so much about the future of film,” Slamdance President & Co-Founder Peter Baxter told TheWrap in a statement.