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'Teen Wolf': Cast speaks candidly

'Teen Wolf' cast members Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin, Colton Haynes and Holland Roden speak about the new MTV series. 

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I89/Zuma Press/Newscom
'Teen Wolf' cast members Colton Haynes, Crystal Reed, Tyler Posey, Holland Roden, and Tyler Hoechlin attend the Teen Wolf premiere party on May 25, 2011.

In MTV鈥檚 new dark thriller TEEN WOLF, a teen boy鈥檚 life is irrevocably changed after being bitten by a werewolf. 听While he struggles to adjust to his new physical changes, the world around him shifts as well.听 He discovers he is not alone and meets a mentor of sorts who helps guide him through the transformations and navigating an increasingly tricky social scene at school.听 Then, as if that were not enough, he finds out that he is not necessarily the predator in this story; that he may be the prey as well when it is revealed that a team of hunters have moved into town and are tightening their net.听

Thus, the cursed and conflicted Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), his mysterious mentor Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin) and the new girl in town Allison Argent (Crystal Reed) are all caught up in the thorny tale of star-crossed romance amidst a modern day horror story.

Taking a few minutes to talk with the press about what makes TEEN WOLF a must-see show of this summer, Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed and Tyler Hoechlin candidly shared their insights and offered a few sneak teases.

What do you like best about your character?

Tyler P.:听 It鈥檚 not just one character.听 It鈥檚 two.听 I get to play this really innocent kid who鈥檚 just tired of being an outcast and wants to be popular. I also get to play an insane, psychopathic killer.听 So they鈥檙e completely contrasting characters and it鈥檚 just really fun bringing both of them to life and just running with it.听 Love it!
Crystal:听 Allison is really trusting, I think innately.听 Scott ends up betraying her and her family has been lying to her for her entire life; so she goes through a major change from beginning to end but she still maintains part of who she is.听 That鈥檚 one of the reasons I like her so much and something I can personally relate to as well.听
Tyler H.:听 The thing I like about Derek 鈥 I want to make this very clear:听 he鈥檚 not at like Jack Sparrow at all.听 But he鈥檚 very much in the same way 鈥 back-and-forth in that you don鈥檛 know which side he鈥檚 on at the moment.听 And that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 very fun to play.听 And as [Tyler P.] said, it鈥檚 fun playing multiple characters and Derek has a lot of good and a lot of evil all mixed up in one, and you kind of don鈥檛 know which to root for and which to hate.听

What exactly is Derek going to be teaching Scott?
Tyler H.:听 [Derek] is going to teach him how not to kill his family and friends.听 I think that鈥檚 probably the most important thing.听 There鈥檚 an episode where [Scott] says he has homework, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 more important: homework or not killing your friends?鈥櫶 That might be priority number one.听 But Derek has his own reasons why [Scott's] got to master these new powers.听 Very good reasons.听 Very dark.

Do they delve further into Derek鈥檚 backstory this season?
Tyler H.:听Yeah, as the season goes on.听 There鈥檚 very much a mystery.听 That kind of maintains throughout the first season.听 But you do get to know a little bit more of why he is the way he is.

Did Derek bite Scott for a specific reason?
Tyler H.:听 There鈥檚 a lot of twists and turns in it, so I won鈥檛 answer any of those questions directly. But there definitely is.听 Derek has his very own specific motives and they are made clear throughout the first season.听 So you will find out what they are.

Are Scott and Allison star-crossed because one is the werewolf and one is the hunter?
Crystal:听 Allison doesn鈥檛 know that her parents are hunters, nor that [Scott鈥檚] a werewolf.听 So she just thinks that people are acting weird and people are lying to her.听 [Tyler] is the one that really has to internalize it all.
Tyler P.:听 Yeah, and it sucks 鈥檆ause relationships are based on trust and honesty and ours is neither of those.听 It can鈥檛 be.听 It鈥檚 not like I鈥檓 lying to her.听 I keep things from her for her own protection.听 But she doesn鈥檛 know that.听 So she thinks I鈥檓 just being weird and cheating on her.听 I鈥檓 not at all.听 I鈥檓 very loyal.


Do the hunters know who are werewolves?
Crystal:听 I don鈥檛 think the hunters know.听 They just know that there鈥檚 werewolves here.听 They don鈥檛 know who is a werewolf; but at some point they do.
Tyler H.:听 They have an idea that Derek is there.听 My family has a history with [Allison鈥檚] family.听 So they are very much aware that I could be stirring up some trouble.
Tyler P.:听 Downhill, uphill.听 It鈥檚 a crazy roller-coaster.听 It鈥檚 just insane.听 I can鈥檛 wait to see it.
Tyler H.:听 Being unpredictable is one of the things we take pride in on the show 鈥 that as soon as you feel like someone鈥檚 figured it out,听 it takes a turn.

Did you have any challenges with the werewolf transformations?
Tyler P.:听 Probably just being in the makeup chair.
Tyler H:听It鈥檚 kind of the easiest thing to do when you have the makeup on.听 That鈥檚 the worst part, the makeup process and the contacts suck.听 We鈥檙e supposed to have a heightened sense of sight and it actually blinds us.听 But other than that it鈥檚 this crazy freeing experience.听 You don鈥檛 look in the mirror and see yourself.听 There鈥檚 not that sense of judging yourself because it feels like it鈥檚 not you really doing it.听 It鈥檚 really freeing.

What other kind of challenges did you face working on the show?
Tyler P.:听 The car that we got 鈥 I think we got it for free 鈥 the battery died.听 They couldn鈥檛 buy a battery 鈥 I don鈥檛 know why 鈥 but every time the car stalled, it would take 30 minutes to boot it back up.听 So eventually they gave up and started pushing the car.
Crystal:听 I鈥檓 a pretty good driver in real life, but for some reason I was a pretty horrible driver on the show!

How freezing cold was it since you did a lot of filming without shirts?
Tyler H. to Tyler P:听 You got it the worst.
Tyler P.:听 The cold was so bad.听 The fact that they would spray me with water in every shot.听 I would be sprayed down and then we鈥檇 do a take and they鈥檇 spray me down again.听 It was really, really cold!
Tyler H.:听 The one thing me and Tyler wanted to do the day we wrapped was to take [Director] Russell [Mulcahy] into the woods and tie him to a tree and spray him all over, just so he knew how it felt.

What was your favorite supernatural movie as a teen?
Crystal:听 I like Buffy.听 I watched Buffy, the Vampire Slayer growing up.
Tyler P.:听 I really liked Queen of the Damned. I was super into that movie.
Tyler H.:Pirates of the Caribbean, the Curse of the Black Pearl.听 My favorite movie.听 Johnny Depp is my favorite actor and Jack Sparrow is my favorite character.听 The shape-shifting skeletons as pirates 鈥 that鈥檚 my favorite.

What does TEEN WOLF have in common with Michael J. Fox鈥檚 鈥淭een Wolf鈥 film?
Tyler P.:听The only thing we have in common is the name and perhaps a couple names of the characters.

Then on the opposite side of the spectrum, ensnared on the fringes of Scott鈥檚 new supernatural life, are the super-driven duo Lydia Martin (Holland Roden) and her boyfriend Jackson Whittmore (Colton Haynes).听 Both Holland and Colton talked about what they loved about their characters and were surprised by on the show.

What makes TEEN WOLF different than the other genre shows?
Colton:听People like to say that other shows are like the 鈥淩omeo & Juliet鈥 story.听 Ours is in a way, very like that.听 It鈥檚 not the love-triangle that a lot of the 鈥淭wilight鈥 and things like that have.听 . . You鈥檙e left wondering what鈥檚 going to happen next?听 It鈥檚 intriguing and very sexy and edgy.
Holland:听 I think they play more with cinematic effects more than you usually see on TV, especially for a teen drama.听 We鈥檙e also solely based on werewolves.
Colton:听 So you鈥檒l start to see different types, maybe possible mutations of the werewolves.
Holland:听 And there鈥檚 a hierarchy between werewolves that no other show has tapped on yet.
Colton:听 Our show is not exactly the cutesy werewolves that you鈥檇 see or that you鈥檇 want to kiss.听 Jeff, the writer, likes to say that our werewolves are听ones that you want to lick.听 So vampires are on the outs.听 It鈥檚 all about the werewolves.


Is there some kind of mystery to Lydia, like a special ability?
Holland:听 I think that we鈥檙e not sure what she has, honestly.听 But the end of the season 鈥 my contract was for one season 鈥 you鈥檒l see:听 no one is safe.听 [Writer] Jeff [Davis] gets a lot of Harry David baskets from myself 鈥 lots of pears and chocolates and Mouse Munch 鈥 because I would like to be around for the second season.听 I think all of us would and he definitely puts our characters in jeopardy several times.
Colton:听 You read going through the scripts thinking, 鈥業s she going to die?鈥櫶 And it ends up with this crazy cliffhanger.
Holland:听And there are some people who do die in the first season that you would never expect.听 You鈥檙e like, 鈥楽eriously? They were such a great actor too!鈥 There are some people who are not coming back, but we can鈥檛 reveal that.
Colton:听 Also, some people start out as humans that may not have been human the whole time.听 Some people could be certain things.听 The good thing about TEEN WOLF is they really tap into the other werewolf mythology. There鈥檚 a lot of hidden meaning in the words.听 Like Allison Argent, means 鈥渟ilver鈥 in French.听 There鈥檚 also so many other different hidden meanings.听 And nobody鈥檚 safe.听 You could think someone is wolf and they cannot be; and someone鈥檚 a human and they may not be.听 The cliffhangers on this show 鈥 you read the first scene and you鈥檙e like, 鈥業t鈥檚 crazy this cliffhanger, are you serious?!鈥
Holland:听 That was the most frustrating.听 My favorite show is LOST and, like those actors, we鈥檇 get together and discuss the relationships and how layered the plotline was, and by the last episode Crystal and I were getting together and saying, 鈥楽o what happened on that page, does that relate to Episode 2?鈥櫶 We had to go to Jeff for a lot of our questions because it started to become that 鈥
Colton:听 Intricate.
Holland:听 Yep.听 But I鈥檝e got to say it again 鈥 it鈥檚 good!
Colton:听 I think you think people are one thing and then they are something you would not even think.听

Is Lydia interested in Scott?
Holland:听 She鈥檚 interested in whatever鈥檚 the top 鈥 the best at the moment.听 She definitely wants a piece of it. But it鈥檚 funny 鈥檆ause I think Jackson and Lydia have something real.听 They鈥檙e this Evil-Knievel duo that kind of keeps an eye out for anybody to take over.听 They鈥檙e the full on alien-couple.
Colton:听 Like doppelgangers.
Holland:听 It鈥檚 like old married banter between us 鈥 on and off-screen!听 Hopefully it comes across in a lovable, comedic way that we鈥檙e these teenagers that have the banter of a couple that has been married for 30 years.
Colton:听But then you鈥檒l start to see the emotion in our characters. We鈥檙e stereotyped.听 [Jackson] is the mean jock.听 [Lydia] is the popular girl.听 But I like that they鈥檙e allowing all the characters to evolve at the same time, showing more emotion.听 My character is someone you love to hate him.听 At the same time, it鈥檚 heartbreaking what he kind of goes through; also, our struggles as a couple together.听 I have a relationship with every other person individually.听 Most of it鈥檚 bad.听 Most of it鈥檚 mean.听 Some of it can bring out a lot of emotion.听 So it鈥檚 great to have that kind of character.

What is the most redeeming characteristics to each of your characters?
Colton:听 The thing I like about Jackson鈥檚 character 鈥 well, at school he鈥檚 a pretty shallow character 鈥 but you get to see a different side of him where he isn鈥檛 around people, when he is completely vulnerable and just like, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe this is how my life has turned out.听 This is who I have to try to be.听 But this is not who I really am.鈥 And that鈥檚 how it is for all of us.听 You have to put up fronts to try to be people who you really aren鈥檛.听 And I think that my storyline, in general, really taps into a lot of that.
Holland:听 I would say with Lydia, polarizing good vs. evil is not something you can do with her.听 She has a little bit of both.听 Towards the end of the season there is a particular character that she comes into contact with that has tried several times to break her down and has never been able to 鈥 and finally he is able to just talk to her on a level that no one else has 鈥 to sort of get through to her, and I think that means a lot to her that someone took the time to do that.听 She definitely recognizes that in people.听 And she loves to go at it with this sort of Jonah Goldberg/Steven Colbert banter.听 She likes to have it out with people and see how far they can take the joke, and I think she sorts of gets off on that.听 That鈥檚 definitely a huge plus if a guy is able to do that with her because she sort of writes people off听 as just moronic. So I think that鈥檚 fun to see her get in touch with a human emotion that she doesn鈥檛 show a lot with someone you would not expect her to hang out with.

What would you like to see your character do?
Holland:听 A bad-ass girl fight!听 . . . I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l be on Allison鈥檚 side, so we鈥檒l all just have to stay tuned for that.
Colton:听 I got to do a lot on the show.听 But it would be nice to kind of 鈥 what I wish they could have done was had a little more of Jackson confronting his parents as to why 鈥 I mean, my character is extremely rich, but I鈥檓 ignored.听 So, not only am I ignored by the father I didn鈥檛 have, I鈥檓 ignored by the parents who [adopted him].听 It鈥檚 an interesting thing.听听 You鈥檇 think he鈥檇 be in a more nurturing family because he鈥檚 adopted, but that鈥檚听 not the case. He鈥檚 thrown Porsches and cars, but he鈥檚 left to fend for himself.听 Maybe that will come.
Holland:听 Nothing鈥檚 done by accident though.听 That you鈥檙e adopted.听 I think that鈥檚 definitely going to come back into play.

Can you talk about the scene later in the season when Jackson has to go to a doctor?
Colton:听 That is one of my favorite scenes.听 What is interesting is the doctor is played by Tyler Posey鈥檚 dad.听 It鈥檚 one of my favorite scenes.听 I have this amazing scene where something is going on with my character.听 He鈥檚 in kind of a hallucinogenic state and they鈥檙e kind of freaked out by him 鈥檆ause he鈥檚 walking around sweating and looking kind of white and sickly for awhile.听 So I have to go to the doctor and find out what鈥檚 wrong with me or find out things that maybe I might know, or find out things that could have happened to me after altercations in the past episodes.

Were you anything like your characters in high school?
Holland:听 Oh gosh, nothing like them!
Colton:听 I definitely was not Jackson.听 I was nominated for Prom King my senior year, though I went to four different high schools. But I think I got the pity听听鈥檆ause I was the new kid.听 My sister is in the military so I got to move around a lot. 听But it鈥檚 awesome 鈥檆ause I got to meet so many different people and I liked being the new kid 鈥檆ause even if you weren鈥檛 cool, it kind of worked.
Holland:听 I went to an all-girl鈥檚 school for most of my life 鈥 and I didn鈥檛 sit in a class with boys until I was 16 years old.听 So I very much missed out on the whole Lydia-phase which I think was good for my self-esteem and psyche.听

Are you familiar with the other genre shows?听听
Colton:听 Yeah, THE NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING.听 Actually I start working on it this week [for a guest appearance].

Are you into the sci-fi genre?听
Colton:听 [Referring to his previous work on THE GATES] I figure I might as well stick with supernatural the rest of my life.
Holland:听 I loved Gattica.听 It was one of my favorite听.听 And I loved LOST.听 I was a massive, massive LOST fan.听 I was so excited to be a part of this because obviously the supernatural genre connection, and it鈥檚 flattering to be a part of something that is so popular right now.听 It鈥檚 cathartic for people to come home from work or school and delve into this fantasy world.听 So I鈥檓 excited that we get to be a little bit of that.
Colton:听 It鈥檚 also that people are drawn to the supernatural characters because they see themselves in them.听 There are those kids around school who just want to not be outcasts 鈥 they just want to breeze through without a lot of attention.听 They want to go under the radar.听 And what happened to Scott is he got this bite and now he鈥檚 better than my character Jackson at lacrosse and now I want to dethrone him and find out what he has so I can get it as well.

Did you give Tyler and Tyler wolf-advice based on your experience on THE GATES?
Colton:听 They wanted nothing from me.听 They were kind of mad that I went and did that show.听 I did the pilot of this first, then I got the opportunity to do that show.听 Luckily this show came after that.听 So I got to do both.听 Then THE GATES got canceled, so they wanted nothing to do with me after that.听 Perhaps they thought, 鈥業f we do what Colton does, we鈥檒l get canceled.鈥櫶 I had fun on that show, but this show is nothing like THE GATES.听 The werewolves are nothing alike either.
Holland:听 What I like about the show is parents are not some sort of ghost, phantom parents, or whatever.听 We鈥檙e not orphans.听 We definitely have our parents very much in the show.听 Unbelievably talented recurring actors that come on. 听So that鈥檚 a fun aspect of the show that not a lot of other supernatural shows that are geared towards kids have.
Colton:听 Also, my character is adopted.听 So he starts to realize that he is trying to impress the dad he never had.听 So it becomes more of a really emotional journey for him as well.听 But also, I have a rivalry with 鈥 actually, we [indicating he and Holland] have rivalries!
Holland:听 It鈥檚 hilarious.
Colton:听 It鈥檚 unbelievable.听 [Jeff Davis] created Criminal Minds, yet he writes towards us and who we are in real life. So we鈥檒l read something and we鈥檒l say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e talking about me, right?鈥櫶 He鈥檒l throw a little line in there, so it鈥檚 fun.

Tiffany Vogt blogs at

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