Directed by Jeff Wadlow and produced by Jason Blum, the supernatural thriller Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare follows a tightly knit group of friends – Olivia (Lucy Hale), Lucas (Tyler Posey), Markie (Violett Beane), Brad (Hayden Szeto), Penelope (Sophia Ali) and Tyson (Nolan Gerard Funk) – on a trip to Mexico for their last undergraduate getaway, before they all go their separate ways. While there, they play what they think is a harmless game of Truth or Dare, but the game follows them home and forces them to keep playing, leading them to reveal truths that could turn their worlds upside down and carry out life-threatening dares, or they’ll suffer the consequences. 

At the film’s Los Angeles press day, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with actor Tyler Posey to chat 1-on-1 about how much fun he had on Truth or Dare, getting to film their own opening title sequence on their phones, why creepy can be scarier than bloody, bonding as a cast, the biggest challenge he had on the shoot, the most fun stunt sequence, how he found working under the Blumhouse model for filmmaking, whether he prefers truth or dare, when it comes to the game, and what he thought of the ending. He also talked about what he learned from making his directorial debut on Teen Wolf, experimenting with his friends, and how he hopes to direct again soon.  

Collider:  It seems like it would be so fun to make a movie like this because you get to do all kinds of crazy things that you don’t normally get to do.  

TYLER POSEY:  Yeah, exactly! That’s why I like acting so much. That’s why I was so into Teen Wolf. I remember one of my first experiences, where I was like, “Wow, this show is cool! I get to do stuff that I would never get to do otherwise!” I got sprayed with a fire extinguisher and I was like, “When in the hell do people get to do that?!” It’s such a bizarre thing. You would never think about having fun while having that happen to you, but there are little experiences like that. I got to kick a door open in Truth Or Dare, and I’d never done before. How bad-ass is that?! There was a lot of elements to this movie that I thought were really, really, really fun. We got to go to Mexico and shoot the opening title sequence. I don’t know how many cast members can say that they filmed their own opening title sequence. We did a lot of really cool stuff in this film.  

When you signed on for this, did you know how much you’d actually get to do? Was all that stuff pretty much in the script, from the beginning, or did some of that evolve after?  

POSEY:  No, the script was pretty much set in stone by the time we got it. I don’t think it evolved too much. We did not know that we were going to film the opening title sequence. Jeff wanted us to go to Mexico, as a cast bonding trip, to get to know one another, so that the friendships felt really real. I think it was just an added bonus to possibly film our opening title sequence on our phones, to make it seem like we actually lived out that week in Rosarito, but it turned out to be really, really, really good, and we got great footage. Yeah, I don’t think that was ever expected that we were going to do that, but I don’t think anything else really evolved too much.  

This film has such a creepy tone to it, without even showing that much blood and gore.  

POSEY:  I know. I wish there was more blood, honestly. I had a great time on Teen Wolf, with all of the blood on that show. There was not enough blood for me. There’s definitely a lot of blood in the movie, but I wasn’t covered in it enough.  

I think it makes things even scarier, though, that you don’t see all of the gore.  

POSEY:  It’s way scarier! That’s what I think, too. I think scary movies are way scarier when there’s less to see, if that makes any sense.  

When you guys first got together, as a cast, did you have a moment when you realized that the friendship dynamic could really work?  

POSEY:  Yeah. You definitely don’t know how the dynamic is going to turn out. I was never really apprehensive and nervous about being able to find chemistry with this group, though. I feel like I’m pretty good at building chemistry with anybody, but it was seamless with this group. Everyone had the same sense of humor. Everyone was super talented and super passionate about this project and just really down to give it their all. I think we all just built a respect for one another. 

I like how the friendships seem real because they’re not perfect. You can tell that they care about each other, but they also bicker and fight a little bit, which is much more realistic.  

POSEY:  Yeah, exactly! That was one of the things that I was excited to do with this group dynamic. I wanted to make it relatable. I get mad at my friends, all the time, and they get mad at me. That’s something that I feel lacks sometimes, in these teenage group movies. We definitely wanted to make it really real, and feel that chemistry and longevity, because these people have been in each other’s lives for awhile.  

Was there a stunt that you had to do that you found most fun or that you were most excited about, and was there one that was the most challenging? 

POSEY:  There was one stunt where Lucas becomes possessed and throws Markie, who’s played by Violett Beane. The stunt girl was attached to a harness and then a rope, and the timing had to be just so, so it would look like I launched her across the room while other people yanked the rope. We had to work out the timing just right, and I messed it up a couple of times. The poor girl had to get yanked, numerous times, into a wall because I messed it up. But the most fun stunt was on the roof, definitely. I loved being on the roof. We were up there for four nights. We had these harnesses on and we were tethered into this huge crane, so that we couldn’t fall off the roof. It was basically me and Sophia [Ali] up there with a camera guy and one other stunt guy. It was this really small crew, but there was a lot of choreography. We had to be really near the edge of the roof, which was scary, at times. It was so much fun! I love that kind of stuff. It felt like we were doing a huge, big-budget movie. It was unique. I’ve never seen anything like that before, especially in a Blumhouse film. I think they really pushed the envelope for that. Jeff [Wadlow] and Jason [Blum] were really excited about how that turned out.   

How did you find the experience of working under the Blumhouse model, with such a quick shoot?  

POSEY:  I love it! I totally love it. I was coming off of Teen Wolf, and that’s how Teen Wolf shot. We had an, ambitious schedule and a lot of stuff to do, in that schedule, and that’s exactly how Truth or Dare turned out. I love that type of atmosphere, where it’s just non-stop work and you’re getting your ass kicked. That, to me, is the most rewarding thing in acting. Sometimes I don’t feel like I work hard enough, as an actor, so when I’m doing a crazy shoot like that, where the hours of sleep are low and you’re on set for more of the day than you’re not, I just love that atmosphere. I think it’s really fun. I love the way Blumhouse does it. I would be down to shoot Blumhouse movies, for the rest of my life. When you rush like that, it keeps the intensity high and you don’t have time to really think things through or relax. I think that’s the best way to do it.  

(SPOILER) The ending for this film was really surprising. 

POSEY:  Yeah, it opens things up for sequel. It was cool that Lucy [Hale] has such an interesting arc. She picks truth, in the beginning of the game, and is given that moral dilemma about killing her friends or saving the entire population of Mexico, and then, at the end of the movie, that decision is reversed. It’s a really cool arc. I thought that was a really fun, great ending.  

When it comes to the game of Truth or Dare, are you somebody who prefers truth or do you prefer to carry out dares? 

POSEY:  I don’t know. I definitely like being honest. I love opening up and saying truths that maybe some people wouldn’t. But, I also like doing dares. Sometimes the dares can be a little too silly for me. I prefer it when people get creative. Don’t tell me to call some random number on my phone or show the last picture in my text messages, or something like that. Get creative with it.  

You made your directorial debut on Teen Wolf.  

POSEY:  Yeah. 

Is that something you’ve thought about doing more of? 

POSEY: Oh, yeah, definitely! At this point, I’ve had 20 years of acting under my belt and, in the last five years, I’ve not gotten bored of it, but I’ve been like, “Okay, what’s next?” I really want to do something else. I love film. I love being in this business. I expressed interest as a producer on Teen Wolf, and they let me go to meetings and gave me a producing credit. Then, I was like, “Okay, I really want to direct.” I got a camera and a bunch of lights, and I started practicing. What I found is that I really love camera operating. Everything that I shoot with my friends, I’m usually the camera operator, and I love coming up with extravagant and beautiful shots, and creepy, subtle shots. I just love painting the picture. I feel like, as a camera operator and a director, you can be really creative and tell a whole story. You really have to have a good eye and know what you’re doing. So, I definitely want to direct more. I really want my career to go down that path, at some point.

I just directed something with my friends and we’re gonna pitch that to someone soon. We’re getting more and more creative, and we’re working with effects. I really feel like I was made to be on that end of things. I feel like I was made to be in this business, but all the way through, whether it’s as a camera operator, a director, an actor, a producer, or a writer. I just love being involved in it. As an actor, I feel like I don’t get a chance to be creative enough because you’re portraying somebody else’s words and you’re taking direction from the director. There are definitely projects where you’re allowed to improvise and have freedom with it, but there’s just so much control you have, as a director. I feel like I’ve got a really good vision that sometimes a lot of directors don’t have. I want to be the director that I would want to have. Sometimes directors don’t really know how to talk to actors. There’s ego that gets in the way. I want to be the director that everyone wants to be directed by.

How do you feel about directing yourself acting?

POSEY: That was interesting. I expected to feel a little stressed out. I kind of wanted that because, as an actor, I was hardly stressed out anymore. Directing, I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna be really stressed out. This is going to be hard.” It proved to not be that stressful, except for when I was directing myself. I had people helping me because I couldn’t sit down and watch what we were filming when I was in the scene. I had previous directors that were helping me, and a whole crew of people keeping an eye out for what I was doing, but I would get some conflicting direction from a director. I’d be like, “I don’t want to do it that way,” and he’d be like, “I think you should.” I’d be like, “Ah, no.” That became odd and a little stressful, but I prefer it that way. Jumping right in and directing something that you’re in is hard, and I feel like I really tackled a hard project by directing Teen Wolf, specifically, because that’s not an easy show to direct, but I was really impressed with the episode. I thought it looked really good. I had the greatest experience of my life, doing that.

It clearly sounds like you’re passionate about it.

POSEY: Yeah, I really want to direct and make some cool stuff. I think it’s gonna happen soon.

Truth or Dare opens in theaters on April 13th.