As “Teen Wolf” celebrates a milestone anniversary, Tyler Posey talks 15 years of Scott, Stiles, stunts, and more: “It was my first leading role, and I really resonated with it.”

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Teen Wolf had it all. It was scary, funny, and relatable — it had the perfect formula for a teen drama. At the heart of it all was Scott McCall, the lovable underdog-turned-Alpha, played charismatically by Tyler Posey.

Fifteen years after the series first premiered, it was an honor to chat with Tyler about growing up alongside Scott, his bond with co-star Dylan O'Brien, and behind-the-scenes memories that had both of us cracking up on the Zoom call.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tyler: At the time, I was an 18-year-old skateboarder punk-rock kid. I grew up acting, and I was at that age when I almost felt "too cool" to watch things like Twilight. I actually auditioned for Twilight, and I think it was between Taylor Lautner and me for Jacob. So when the audition for Teen Wolf came along, I just assumed that it was going to be this kind of melodrama, but about werewolves. I also knew of the original Teen Wolf, and how funny that was. I was thinking, "What are they going to do with this?"

I read the script, and I saw how different it was from anything in the genre. I loved Scott. I loved the writing and how funny and intense it was. Being 18, I wasn't too far away from Scott's age. I understood that feeling of wanting to be more popular, the anxieties behind feeling like an outcast, and then also falling in love. I was blown away. I was like, "This might be the best thing I've ever seen."

I'd been acting professionally for 12 years, but it was my first leading role. I really resonated with it and understood it. I thought, "I know what they're going for here, and I think I can give them what they want."

I'm a comedy guy. The movies that changed my life are films like American Pie, Super Troopers, EuroTrip, Scary Movie — and there was really smart humor in Teen Wolf. I also love action movies like Fight Club and Point Break. There was this hodgepodge of everything I loved in terms of cinema and TV. I thought it was perfect.

Tyler: My favorite part of playing Scott is just how good of a person he is. That's something I've always strived for. Starting this business at such a young age, you meet a lot of people and question their motives and agendas. Some people don't have your best interests at heart.

I always wanted to put other people before myself, and Scott was the same way. That isn't always healthy, but the more Scott pushed himself to be a better person — the more he showed me the kind of person I wanted to be.

I loved watching him evolve from this gentle, kind soul in the first couple of seasons into that same really good-hearted person who becomes the true Alpha. That's something I would have loved to go through as Tyler Posey, that sort of evolution of being such a good person that you literally transform.

As I've gotten older I've realized, that in order to take care of other people, you have to take care of yourself first. You need to figure out your limits, and I think Scott went through that. He messed up a lot because he was duped. There were many scenarios where Scott led with emotion rather than with smart, calculated moves. It was cool watching him transform into a slowed-down, more calculated version of himself.

Tyler: I always thought the show should have been called Scott and Stiles, because it's so much about their lives and their relationships. My connection with Dylan was immediate. We met each other at the audition. 

I grew up in a small town in Los Angeles. I loved skateboarding, listening to music, and just having fun. That was my influence, and I wanted to be "normal" so badly.

Whenever I would go to an audition, I always saw kids that were trying so hard to look presentable or to be "on," you know? I went the opposite route. I always had messy hair. I always wore skateboard clothes. When I walked into the Teen Wolf chemistry read, I was wearing a Hurley sweatshirt, which is a surf-and-skateboard brand. I saw Dylan, with a buzzed head and wearing a DVS shirt, another skateboard brand. I just thought, "Who is this guy?"

I felt like I knew him, and he knew me, and we hit it off immediately. I think it was our destiny to be close. Maybe we've known each other in other lifetimes.

We had the best day at the audition. Normally, there's a lot of stress, and you're really nervous. But I didn't feel that. I was just hanging out with Dylan, and by the end of the day, we were both like, "Man, if you get this and I get this, you know what? We should live with each other."

I found out that Dylan plays the drums, and I play guitar, and we were like, "Should we bring our instruments?" Eventually, that's what happened, and it was really cute and really sweet and really genuine. The immediacy of our friendship was unlike anything I ever felt, and our love and respect for one another have only grown.

"This photo is from Season 2, all of us hanging out between shots in Dylan's trailer. I always had a guitar, and we were always laughing and always together."

It changed my life to meet Dylan and work with him. We really had so much fun and looked out for one another on set. He'd done a couple of small things before Teen Wolf, but I knew this was his first big project. I wanted to give him the kind of experience I always wanted, to have someone you’re close with guiding you through it.

I had a lot of my influences at that point, like Jennifer Lopez and Robert De Niro, who were both really amazing. I wanted to be that for him — someone who showed that you can be a good person, be an actor, and stand up for yourself. I was also inspired watching him grow into his own person on set. It was very full circle for both of us.

I try to see Dylan, and we talk as much as we can, and man, it's beautiful. I don't know if I'll ever have anything like that again. It's really special.

Tyler: One thing I would say all the time was, "I get to do the coolest things." There was one episode where I got sprayed by a fire extinguisher. I'm like, "When is that ever gonna happen?"

There was one time when we were in Stiles' Jeep, and we had to back out really, really quickly. I was in the passenger seat, and they had a stunt person driving. 

You can't even see me, so I shouldn't have even been in there, but it was exhilarating. He reversed really fast and then spun the wheel. Jeeps are super top-heavy, and they're built like a box. We went up on two wheels, and that was pretty scary.

There were a lot of fight scenes. I loved when we got to break things, whether we were going through a wall or the locker room. We would get hurt a lot, like getting punched in the face. There was one scene where I'm fighting the twins, and they're beating the shit out of me, and I think we're in Derek's loft at the time. They hit me a few times in the face, and the first couple of times were cute. Then I was like, "Alright, please hold your punches."

There was another time when I accidentally punched Dylan Sprayberry in the face. Scott is supposed to get Liam angry, so he can turn. I'm supposed to hit him in the face a bunch of times, and I hit him right in the nose.

He didn't break character at all. He kept going, and I was like, "Stop, dude, stop!"

I fainted one time while fighting Cody Christian. We were doing this fight scene that was long hours and lasted for three days. I probably wasn't hydrated, and I was exerting a lot of energy. In intense scenes, you have to really pant and sound exhausted, which can make you lightheaded. So he stabs me, I fall back on these stairs, I'm hyperventilating, and I fainted. 

Tyler: Yeah, absolutely, there's a lot of stuff that I'm developing. One is a TV sketch-comedy show that features different characters in each episode. It's like if Mel Brooks did The Twilight Zone. I wrote it with my brother, directed it, and we filmed the pilot. We had a lot of Teen Wolf crew members come on to help, and we filmed it on the Teen Wolf stages, so you'll recognize many of the sets. It was created by me, my brother, and my best friends. It's called The Midnight Sector, and it's really fun and very raunchy.

There's an upcoming feature film that I wrote and am directing, called Sober House. It's a comedy/thriller/horror about three best friends who go to a sober house, and all this crazy shit happens. It's very reminiscent of the comedy style that I grew up loving. I'm very excited for it, and it's a project I've been wanting to make for a long time. Most films that talk about substance abuse or addiction are really dark, because they're so real. I wanted to shed light on the subject, but do it in a way that hasn't really been done before.

I'm also currently trying to pitch to bring Teen Wolf back. I really want that to happen. I love the project, and I think that there's so much more story for Scott and everyone else. I'm gonna keep trying to do that until the wheels come off.

Tyler: It's been a while. I haven't seen it in a pretty long time.

More time has passed, and I really miss those days. I reminisce, and I'm brought right back to it. I don't analyze the episodes or my acting, but I'm very proud of it all. I think it's so good and so fun, and I love getting to walk down memory lane. That's the emotion that comes up. I get emotional in a good way.

It's like being with your friends, and thinking back to 15 years ago, like, "Wow, dude, remember this?" I really should go back and watch more. 

Around four or five years ago, I started rewatching it with my wife a bit. I realized how niche Teen Wolf really was. There still aren't many shows like this. It was grounded and real, and we shined a light on characters that typically wouldn't get the spotlight. 

Keep up with Tyler and his new projects on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.