Tyler Posey is MTV’s Hot Teen Wolf

By: Lynn Barker

We’re burnin’ up the cellphone with cute teen actor Tyler Posey who was runner-up for the part of Jacob in the Twilight movies. Fate still gave him a chance to “wolf-out” playing Scott, an innocent high school loser turned sports star/werewolf hottie in the upcoming new MTV series Teen Wolf. You might have seen Tyler on the shows “Lincoln Heights” and “Brothers and Sisters” but “Wolf” is his first big leading role.

If you’ve ever watched the original 1980’s film starring Back to the Future's Michael J. Fox on TV, old video or DVD, well…. it’s not that! Granted, the new series does feature a high schooler who desperately wants to excel at a sport (then: basketball, now: lacrosse), get a girlfriend and gain some serious “cred” but otherwise, the TV show is way more romantic yet fake bloody and just plain hot than the old version.

We’re on the cell with Tyler, who tells us he’s in bed in L.A. (We’ll try not to paint our own hot mental picture). He’s on a break from the show which, like “The Vampire Diaries,” shoots in Atlanta, Georgia. Tune in, turn on and “wolf out” with us….

Kidzworld: Hi. Where are you calling us from?

• Tyler Posey: Actually, I’m in bed in L.A. We shoot in Atlanta, Georgia where it’s “The Vampire Diaries” and us. We have some rivalries going on. What was weird is a couple of them stayed in the apartment complex that we’re in. We would see them every now and then and there were some jokes on rivalry; vampires and werewolves. Maybe we could beat each other up next season.

Kidzworld: That would actually rock. You tried out for the Jacob role in Twilight and now you are playing a different werewolf starring in your own show! Cool or just weird fate?

• Tyler: Yeah, it was between me and Taylor Lautner for that role. I will forever not live that down but it’s okay with me because I’m so happy with the project we’re doing right now that I’m not even looking back. It’s 100 percent okay. I enjoy the Twilight series. But, fate? It’s insane. MTV described me as having “a lupine look; a werewolf look” so I guess it just had to happen eventually.

Kidzworld: The tween and teen years are tough without being a werewolf on the side. Can you identify with your character Scott’s being an outsider? Were you home-schooled?

• Tyler: I was both home-schooled and went to public school. I was homeschooled from like 4^th grade to my Freshman year in high school. I definitely felt like an outsider. When I was a kid, I was the only kid on a TV show and I was in Toronto, Canada far away from home and that is the stage in my life where I can relate to Scott mostly. I was an outsider for sure. I was just with my mom and my dog while I was there.

Kidzworld: Did you have to learn to play lacrosse for this?

• Tyler: My dad actually grew up playing lacrosse in college so I grew up with lacrosse gear and helmets and balls in my life. I was familiar with it but I didn’t know how to play so they brought a lacrosse technician to the set.

Kidzworld: Did you see the original 1980’s Teen Wolf movie? It’s very different.

• Tyler: I was very familiar with the movie when I read for the part but I didn’t watch it to get anything for the show. It is completely different and we’re doing our own thing. I did want to bring his innocence. Michael J. Fox’s character is very innocent and the shift in innocence from being himself to a wolf, I grabbed that for our show.

Kidzworld: What has your experience shooting “Teen Wolf” been like when compared with “Lincoln Heights” or “Brothers and Sisters”?

• Tyler: There is no way to compare because this is my first starring, lead role in anything. I’ve been working ever since I was a little kid so I’m super accustomed to the way sets roll. I know how everything works but it’s so much different when you’re the lead in every shot and every single scene. There’s no way to prepare for it. I don’t regret anything. I had the best time of my life in Atlanta. I miss it so much. I’m here (in L.A.) not doing anything other than photo shoots and interviews and I’m antsy. I need to work.

Kidzworld: You need to wolf out!

• Tyler: (laughs) Wolf out, exactly! I’m on the New York Times magazine cover and I got to wolf out for that.

Kidzworld: Cool! You had a band called “Lost in Kostko”. Did you ever get lost in the huge Costco warehouse stores?

• Tyler: I did. I went there with my friend when I was really young and his mom got really mad at us because we literally got lost. We didn’t have any cellphones and we were wandering the store for hours! I figured everybody can relate to that because it’s a huge store.

Kidzworld: I too have been lost in Costco! What kind of music do you play?

• Tyler: I call it happy punk-rock music. It’s very fast like punk music only it’s very catchy and melodic kind of like “Blink 182” and punk bands like that. I like them and “Incubus”. I love those guys.

Kidzworld: How long are you in the make-up chair for your transformation into the werewolf?

• Tyler: When we first started, it was a guinea pig process. We were just testing. It took like four and a half hours and I was like “Oh my God. I don’t want to do this every single day”. But we got it down to like an hour and a half and it was so much fun because in the make-up chair, I got to hang out with the really cool dudes who did my make-up and listen to cool music. When I was finally in the wolf make-up, I felt really cool. The contacts kind of suck but I got used to them.

Kidzworld: How do you like your werewolf “look”? Scott is still hot as a wolf; kinda handsome rather than super full-wolfy like Jacob in Twilight or just scary like American Werewolf in London.

• Tyler: Yeah, that’s the point. I love the look. It’s really different from the original Teen Wolf where he was a furball. Also, we’re not going so much for cute as a sleeker wolf that maybe girls can fall in love with.

Kidzworld: What do you hope the showrunners and writers will let Scott do that he hasn’t yet?

• Tyler: I really want them to incorporate Scott playing guitar somehow! Or maybe skateboarding. Those are things I love to do.

Kidzworld: Hey, in the original movie, Michael J. Fox was on a skateboard so why not?

• Tyler: And he was on one in Back to the Future too!

Kidzworld: Do the writers listen to your suggestions for stories or character?

• Tyler: The creator of the show is Jeff Davis and I’ve gotten extremely close to him. He even contacts me or Dylan O’Brien and some of the other cast members if he has trouble with an idea. He’ll ask us for input and sometimes he’ll use it. We’ve got a huge family in this cast and crew and we have great chemistry with each other. 

Kidzworld: Are you and Dylan who plays Scott’s buddy Stiles BFFs now? Did you get together to work on your relationship for the show?

• Tyler: I met him at the audition and we had so much in common that we took each other’s numbers down and hung out like the next day so we were already really good friends when we started shooting and we still are. I saw him yesterday. He’s one of my best friends so that was one a really cool thing to take from “Teen Wolf”.

Kidzworld: Any little hints you can give our readers about what might happen in upcoming episodes?

• Tyler: There will be lots of blood, drama, kissing, a lot of people being jealous and love triangles and a lot of suspense and horror. Teens, tweens, adults… everybody will like it!

Kidzworld: Sounds amazing!