Joe Manganiello Opens Up About His Battle with Addiction

He’s engaged, starring in the hottest movie of the summer and was deemed one of the sexiest men alive.

But Joe Manganiello says none of that erases the struggle to stay sober – a commitment he says still requires strength and focus.

“I battled with addiction at a young age and got to the other side of that,” he tells Haute Living for its July/August cover story. “That’s an ongoing battle.”

The Magic Mike XXL star, 38, revealed his struggle with alcoholism in late 2013, telling HuffPo Live his life was “ruined” for a period in his 20s when he was homeless, jobless and careless. At the time of the interview, he said he hadn’t had a drink in 11 years.

Manganiello touched on his struggles in a book he published at the time,Evolution: The Cutting Edge Guide to Breaking Down Mental Walls and Building the Body You’ve Always Wanted. Now, he says he’s considering opening up about his recovery even more.

“I was writing a one-man show at some point, and maybe I’ll pick up with that or turn that into a book; there are some hurdles that were thrown my way in life that I had to get over [that I want to discuss],” he told Haute Living. “I think there’s a story in there somewhere about trying to find my way through that and making it to where I am today.”

Where he is today is engaged to be married to Sofia Vergara, and he tells the magazine the pair work because they are both “grounded.”

Case in point? When he suggested to his bride-to-be that they consider starring in a movie together, he says she wisely rejected the idea on the grounds that she didn’t want them to make a flop along the lines of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez‘s famously panned joint project.

“Her fear is that we’d make the next Gigli,” he says, and said he agreed with her after some reflection. “We get along so well together; I’m so lucky to have found that right person for me, and I know she feels the same way. We’re really good with each other. Why risk f—ing that up?”

The actor also confirms that the duo have set a date, and when it comes to wedding planning, “We’re very traditional male-female in that way. [I’ll be like], ‘What do you need me to do? I’ll call the DJ.’ ”

The only thing that seems to really matter to him, it seems, is sealing the deal with the love of his life – and carving out a private existence despite being two public people.

“That’s the tricky part – staying centered,” he says. “Lucky for us – and I use this word in the most positive way – we’re very ‘normal’ people, but ‘down-to-earth’ would be a better way of describing it. We’re very grounded.”

This article first appeared on People.com