Now that he’s 31 and sober, Tyler Posey looks at his “Teen Wolf” role through a new lens.
Speaking with Variety at the premiere of Paramount+’s “Teen Wolf: The Movie,” the actor reflected on the nearly five-year journey of self-discovery and sobriety that led him to his return as Scott McCall.
Just two years ago, Posey opened up about his sobriety on the “Just for Variety” podcast, telling host Marc Malkin about his struggles with substance abuse and how he’d given up drugs and alcohol during the pandemic but wasn’t “completely sober anymore.”
Yet as he approached the long-awaited opportunity to reunite with the “Teen Wolf” franchise and his former castmates, he revealed on Wednesday night’s red carpet at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles that he is now clean and sober once again.
“The older you get – the more comfortable you get as a person, you settle into yourself more. And that’s what I brought to Scott McCall,” Posey told Variety. “Last we met Scott McCall, he was dealing with trying to be the hero and save his town every single day from a new bad guy. Now he’s really settled in.”
He continued, “That’s kind of what I brought to the role. I’m more present. I’m sober now and it was the first time I was in ‘Teen Wolf’ sober. I was a pothead before. I was always high. So it’s nice to be present and fully aware.”
The film picks up in the present day, with a new terror threatening to torment the small California town of Beacon Hills. An adult Scott McCall answers the call to protect his hometown, building a team of new allies and trusted friends to ward off their deadly enemy.
Crystal Reed, Holland Roden, Colton Haynes, Shelley Hennig and Dylan Sprayberry also returned to reprise their roles in the film and were present at Wednesday night’s premiere. Executive producer and writer Jeff Davis commented on the growth of his cast — some of whom started on the series as teenagers almost 12 years ago.
“There’s a lot more depth to their acting, I would say,” said Davis. “We wrote them as adults. This time out, I wanted to see what Scott McCall would be like in his early 30s. I wanted to see if he would be lonely, if he would have a family and asking all those questions. And I really wanted to see Derek Hale [Tyler Hoechlin] as a father; what would he be like with a son?”
Posey also showered some praise on Davis for creating a story that became a “perfect storm of everything” that inspired a fan base so zealous, it was able to reunite the pack for a second go-around nearly six years after the show ended in 2017.
It’s that same fan base that seems to have some of the “Teen Wolf” team convinced that the recent film won’t be the end of the road for their story. Both Davis and several cast members, including Haynes and Vince Mattis, teased the possibility of a sequel film.
“Jeff has said openly in multiple panels that there has been talks about maybe wanting to do two more. I don’t know how that’s gonna happen,” said Haynes. “To all the fans, just remember that it’s never the end. If Alison’s character can come back from the dead, so can other characters. That’s all I can say.”