In the first half of Season 5 of the hit MTV series Teen Wolf, Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his friends are dealing with senior year and find themselves facing the possibility of a future without each other, as they think about what direction life might take them. Of course, it wouldn’t be Beacon Hills, if outside forces weren’t also plotting to break the Pack apart, and this season’s new villains are using a combination of science and the supernatural for a malevolent and mysterious purpose that will eventually pit this tight group of friends against their greatest enemy yet.
During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Tyler Posey talked about the tone of Season 5, that this is their goriest season yet, that his character’s journey will be driving the storyline, where the threats and dangers are coming from now, what Scott wants for his future, where things are at with Scott and Kira (Arden Cho), the status of the friendship between Scott and Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), his favorite arc on the series, getting to add a producer credit this season, his desire to direct and episode, and where he’d like his career to go, in the future. Be aware that there are some spoilers.
Collider: You had a very dark Season 3, with the death of a major character, and Season 4 was a little bit lighter. What are the biggest differences in Season 5?
TYLER POSEY: Tone wise, it’s still very dark. It’s really hard to beat Season 3. Season 3 was great and intense, in the darkness aspect. This season is really, really, really gory. We’ve got some really disturbing images where it’s just like, “What are we doing?” That’s a lot of fun to play with. It’s always fun to be gory. In past seasons, a lot of the characters that didn’t really get their chance to be involved with the gory darkness are going to get their chance to do that, this season. That’s the biggest difference. It’s just so damn gory! It will be good, though.
Is it fun to shoot that stuff?
POSEY: Yeah, it’s so much fun having blood spewed out of your mouth. Every now and then, it gets a little weird, but I love it. Some of my favorite stuff to do is being covered in blood and guts, and being able to do stuff like that. I think everyone else has a really good time doing it, too.
What can you say to tease the overall story this season, as well as what your character individual journey will be?
POSEY: My character’s journey is the arc that drives the storyline of the whole season. What’s cool about it is that it is dragged out for the first 10 episodes, and then into Season 5b. It always kind of revolves around Scott, but this is different. It just brings Scott to the lowest point he’s ever been. It reminds me of Season 1 because he was so vulnerable and so had no idea what the hell was going on. It’s an homage to that, only it’s got more dread and more stress on Scott. He’s losing his mind. He gets to a really, really dark place. And it’s really fun to play that. Scott always knows what to do and how to handle situations, and this time, he has no idea what to do and it really kills him on the inside. It separates him and his Pack. The whole “Watch Your Pack” tagline is congruent to Scott’s storyline for the whole season.
Where are the threats and dangers coming from now?
POSEY: They’re coming from literally all over the place. His head is turning so fast that he’s going to get whiplash, from all the threats that are coming in. Some he doesn’t know are threats, and some the audience doesn’t know are threats. Some are very blatant threats, like the Dread Doctors. They’re pretty blatant villains. There are all of these new supernatural characters that are rule-changers in Beacon Hills, and we don’t know how to deal with it. They’re coming from every single direction, on top of the Dread Doctors and some other villains that I’m not able to mention. They’re coming from every direction and it’s intense, but it’s really good. It creates a great storyline.
Who are the Dread Doctors?
POSEY: I love the Dread Doctors so much. They also have this way about them where they’re very intellectual, very precise, and calculated. They’re really creepy, but they’re also brutal, powerful, strong and have no remorse for anyone’s life. If you get in the way, they’ll just knock you on your ass and kill you. They’re one of my favorite parts of this season. They’re gonna be fun.
Would it be wise for viewers to be nervous for everyone, this season, as a result?
POSEY: Oh, absolutely! Yeah, definitely! A lot of characters, including Lydia who’s not usually a part of the action, are in danger. Everyone should be worried for every single character, this season. Absolutely no one is safe. We’ve seen plenty of regulars and beloved characters get killed off and not come back. It’s the same for this season, so look out. Be careful everybody. Don’t fall in love with each character too much because they might not make it.
Typically, a show like this would keep the teen characters playing to their teen audience for the entire run, but this show has really allowed the characters and the story to grow quite a bit. Is it exciting, as an actor, to not only be able to go on a journey of growth with this character, and do you also feel it’s worked to the show’s advantage to allow the characters to grow up with the actors who play them?
POSEY: Oh, my god, absolutely! The show wouldn’t be as good as it is, if the characters just remained the same as they were in the first episode. Scott’s growth has been my favorite part about acting on this show. It’s been so much fun to play. I can’t put it into words. I’ve had a great time. As an actor, you need that constant change, or things will get stale. It’s so much fun to keep the characters moving and changing. I’m always looking for new ways to keep Scott growing, and Jeff Davis’ writing really helps me with that. We’re always trying to have Scott grow, along with each character. Each character has just grown so much, and they have their own storylines and arcs.
Everyone is reflecting on their senior year now, which is usually a time when you think ahead to the future. At this point, what do you think Scott wants for his future?
POSEY: Scott wants to be with his friends. He wants to stay with his Pack. He wants to pursue school. He wants to pursue being a human, a little bit. He loves his girlfriend, he loves his friends, and he’s talking about moving to San Francisco with Stiles and pursuing college there. He’s still a 17-year-old kid with all of these aspirations and dreams. He wants to have fun and work hard, on top of being a hero and a werewolf. Scott is really ambitious, and I admire that. If I was involved with the shit that he’s involved with, I would need a break to relax. He is very ambitious, and it’s inspiring. I hope that kids see that and go, “Well, if Scott can do it, I can do it.” He has a really great storyline, this season.
How are things with Scott and Kira, this season, and how have you felt about the addition of that character?
POSEY: I love Kira because she reminds me a lot of Scott, in the first season. She doesn’t know how to get a handle on her abilities and she just fumbles around. I think it’s so cute, and it’s so perfect for Scott because he’s been there before. He sees himself in Kira, and he thinks she’s adorable and so sweet. I love Scott and Kira. I think they’re relatable and awkward, and they show what true love is like. They’re just so cute. I love their relationship.
Are there any significant or major bumps in the friendship between Scott and Stiles, or are they stronger than ever now?
POSEY: What’s cool about this season is that they are stronger than ever. You can tell that they’ve been through hell and back with each other, and their friendship just keeps getting stronger and stronger and stronger. Scott’s there for Stiles a lot, when he needs him, and vice versa. But saying that, there is probably one of the craziest scenes between Scott and Stiles that could break them up. With all of the shit that Scott and Stiles have been through together, this is, by far, the most detrimental to their relationship.
You’ve had characters come and go on the show, and Tyler Hoechlin is no longer series regular now. With the dynamics constantly changing, what’s it been like to have Dylan O’Brien there, since day one?
POSEY: It’s great! Holland [Roden] is there, as well, so we have that core group of people. Dylan and I talk about how great it is. Dylan and I hang out, all the time, and we have these moments where we look back and are just so proud of ourselves, and are so impressed with the work that we’ve done and how far we’ve come. We’ve maintained such a great attitude on set, and we’re very proud of that. It’s incredible. Dylan and I have done amazing things on this show. It came so naturally with us, and we’re very proud of it. It doesn’t go unnoticed by us. We love our show, and we love each other. I wish we could be doing this forever. It’s a perfect situation. It couldn’t get any better than this. We’ve had so much fun, and still do. As much as Scott and Stiles have grown, Tyler and Dylan have grown even more. It’s interesting to see how we’re such little men now, and we were such boys before. It’s really fun to watch that growth.
What can you say about Theo and where he fits in? Should we be suspicious of his motives?
POSEY: It’s hard to say because he just pops up out of nowhere. He helps Scott out in the first episode, and Scott has been known to trust people, in the past, but we’ll see. First of all, I love Cody Christian. He’s my favorite person in the world. It was just so much fun to work with him. I don’t want to give too much away because Theo is a pretty crucial part of the season.
POSEY: Yeah, that’s an aspiration of mine that came to me during Season 3. I was really intrigued by it. It came to me because we don’t really have any producers on set. For the most part, most of our producers are our writers, and they’re busy writing. And I’m always on set. It just made sense to me that, if I had some insight and some information on the inside, since I’m always on set, I could really help out. I just really wanted to help out. I want to be an actor forever, but I also want to do other things. Having a producer credit will go very far, in this business. I was so humbled by the fact that they wanted me to actually do it. I think it’s a great idea, and a good start. My whole take on it, for this season, was just to sit in the background, take everything in, really learn how to produce and what it means to be a producer, and just throw out my ideas when I feel like it’s necessary. The more and more we worked on the episodes, the more involved I became, even more so for Season 5b. It’s just really humbling. I wanted to be more involved with the show. I wanted to sacrifice more to my show, and it just made me love the project even more. I didn’t think that was possible because I really love being on Teen Wolf, but it was just really nice. I’m very grateful, very happy, and very humbled.
Quite a few actors who are interested in directing try their hand at it on their own show. Is that something you’ve also thought about? Are you interested in directing an episode of the show?
POSEY: I’ve definitely thought about it. I’ve never directed anything, in my life. I definitely know the show so well, and I know that I can get the feel of it, but there are so many things that I would need to learn. But absolutely, I would love to! That’s absolutely where I want my career to start heading. I think that would be so much fun. I think I have a great eye for filmmaking and I think I could do a really good job at it. It’s absolutely a dream of mine to direct an episode of Teen Wolf. Hopefully, this article gets to Jeff Davis ‘cause I’m too nervous to talk to him about it.
Have you had a favorite arc to play, on the show?
POSEY: I think this season is my favorite arc. It’s dragged out and is the longest arc we’ve ever had. It takes over Season 5a and 5b, which is something we’ve never done before. The reason I like it so much is that it brings Scott to the lowest point he’s ever gone to. It’s really dark this season. He gets thrown into the darkest point he’s ever been, and he doesn’t want to live anymore. He’s almost in a numb state. That’s really fun to play because I haven’t done that before. It’s not fun for Scott, but for me, it’s really fun. It’s going to be really sad for the fans to see him in this place where he’s just lost.
When you get to grow up on a show, and you really grow with your character, is there one life lesson that Scott has learned that you wish you’d learned, as a teenager?
POSEY: No, I don’t regret anything from when I was a teenager. I think my life lessons were perfect then. But there is something that’s Scott’s learned from Deaton, that I think about, all the time. It’s that life can’t always be good, and life can’t always be bad. That popped up in the first episode, and it’s an ongoing theme that we play with. It’s also an ongoing theme in actual life, and I’ve come to realize that. It’s a beautiful statement. Life can’t always be good, and life can’t always be bad. That just holds true. I’ve learned a lot from that statement, and I think about it, all the time.
At this point, you’re closer to the end of Teen Wolf than you are to the beginning. Once all is said and done with the show, have you thought about where you’d like to see your career go and the kind of roles you’d like to explore?
POSEY: Not so much, role wise. I don’t have a dream role that I want to play. I’ve tackled a lot of that on Teen Wolf. I’ve just done so many things on Teen Wolf. I don’t know. I want to do a romantic comedy. I think that would be really fun, and I think I’d be really good at that. I want to do really dark things. I want to do everything. I want to go all over the board, role wise. And career wise, I want to direct, I want to keep producing, and I want to host. I love hosting. That’s a new-found passion of mine. I’m confident enough to say that I kick ass at hosting. It’s the only thing that I’m that confident about. I’m not that confident at anything else, but for some reason, I understand hosting. I also love music, and I want something to happen with my music. I’m meeting a lot of musicians and people in the music business, and am constantly trying to figure out what I want to do with music. We’ll see. I want to do everything.
Teen Wolf airs on Monday nights on MTV.