Model-turned-actor Colton Haynes (Privileged, Pushing Daisies, Melrose Place) stars as lacrosse team captain Jackson Whittemore in Teen Wolf, MTV’s new TV remake of the classic 1985 movie starring Michael J Fox.
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From Criminal Minds creator Jeff Davis, the 12-part werewolf drama is currently airing at 8pm on Thursday nights on Sky Living.
> Buy the original movie on DVD on Amazon.
CultBox caught up with Colton Haynes to find out more about the show…
Are you enjoying your time in London?
“Oh gosh, it’s amazing! It’s one of my favourite places and I’d like to stay as long as possible, but unfortunately I have to leave on Wednesday. I keep telling everyone I’m going to accidentally lose my passport!”
Have you had much time free to explore the city in-between doing all the promotional stuff?
“Yeah, I got to do all the touristy things, like Big Ben. If we’ve got time later today, we’re going to try to hit up a few museums, like the Natural History Museum. I got to go to Oxford, went to the shops…”
Have you been getting recognised much when you’re out in public?
“Only a few times, not too many times here. But in the States, it’s all over the stores, I think the show has become this really great cult hit and I think it’s great that the teenage audiences and their mums are paying attention to the show – or we wouldn’t have one!”
What sort of thing do fans come up and say to you?
“I think they always identify you with your character, they don’t really know your name, it’s just ‘oh my gosh, you’re on Teen Wolf!’. People are normally a little too afraid or nervous to actually say stuff, so you’ll walk by and just hear ‘Teen Wolf, Teen Wolf!’. It’s kinda funny.”
Do you mind that side of acting; having people recognise you?
“You always hear people who complain about stuff like that – ‘oh, this is horrible!’ – but it’s like, this is what you signed up for. You take that risk by putting yourself on people’s TV screens, so that just comes along with it and you have to be prepared for that. So no, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Can you tell us a bit about your character for anyone who’s not seen the show yet?
“I play Jackson Whittemore, who is… the mean guy. I was going to say ‘the big jerk’, because that’s exactly what he is! He’s the captain of the lacrosse team and he’s this kid who’s just really misunderstood in a way. He’s very, very rude to people and has such a hard exterior. He does this because he grew up just not having a very normal life and you realise, as the season goes on, you start to find out a lot more about him. He’s just very emotional on the inside, so he’s got to put on this heard shell on the outside.
“He starts going after Scott McCall, who was the loner kid but who is now getting a lot more attention in school because he bitten by a werewolf, which people don’t know about. But now he’s becoming good at lacrosse, which people are recognising, and he’s trying to dethrone me in a way and I’m not about to let that happen!
“I set out to find out what he is and how he got to be like that, so that I can get it for myself.”
Do we get to see a softer side of Jackson as the season goes on?
“You do, yeah. Initially you love to hate Jackson, but as the season goes on you get to see the whirlwind of emotions that he goes through. He might start off as the stereotypical character who’s just mean all the time, but eventually he starts to unravel in a way which is very unexpected. It’s very shocking!”
Were you familiar with the original 1985 Teen Wolf movie before you got the part?
“I wasn’t before I got the part actually. I watched it after I was cast and I’m actually glad I watched it after I was cast or I would’ve thought I was going in to do a comedy!
“Our reimagination of it is a definitely completely different thing to the original. It was funny, the backlash from the movie fans when they find out we were doing the TV series, they hated that we were trying to remake Michael J Fox’s story. Ours is a lot edgier and a lot more cinematic. The feel is really romantic and opposed to comedic. “
When you first read the pilot script, what was it about the show that appealed to you?
“Initially, when I first read it, the first scene of every episode is really gripping. Often with TV shows the story kinda flows all the way through, but ours really gets your attention from the beginning and leaves you wanting more the next week when you get to the end.
“I find myself, when I’m watching the episodes – even though I worked on in them, it’s been a few months since we finished – I watch them and I’m like ‘what’s going to happen next?’, then I realise ‘I know what happens next’. I’m a fan of the show and I forget that I worked on them!”
Are you pleased with the reaction to the show so far?
“Definitely, yeah, we’re very pleased with the way it’s going. It’s grown every single week, the public are starting to take notice of the show. The fans of the original Teen Wolf aren’t trying to kill us for remaking their classic! And now I think we’ve got the beginning of our own classic, it’s great. We’re trying to contribute to the supernatural TV community and I think we’ve done a great job of that.”
It’s quite an action-packed show, have you had many stunt scenes yourself and do you enjoy the more physical side of filming?
“Yeah, actually I do have a lot of stunt scenes, especially with the lacrosse games. I’m not very good at the stunts, so the stunt doubles definitely have their work cut out for them because they realise that I can’t play lacrosse! It’s a very difficult sport, it takes a lot of skill. You have to be really quick and kinda smart to play the game. It’s a lot of fun to watch though!
“Our stunt team are unbelievable. A lot of them come from doing parkour, jumping off buildings, so they’re amazing.”
How long has it been since you finished filming?
“It’s been a couple of months, but we started the first episode over a year and a half ago. Once it got picked up, we started filming it a year after. It’s interesting to see the change in all of us after a year off!”
With teen-based TV series, there’s often a limited life for the shows. With ‘teen’ in the title here, how long do you think Teen Wolf could run for?
“Yeah, normally with teen shows people do start looking older and our approach on that is that each episode takes places almost daily or weekly. So we can be in high school for a very long time, because they’re not going to treat each season as a different year.
“So if it does come back, they can show us during the summer, as opposed to starting a new school year, so I think the longevity of the show could last a lot longer.”
Have you heard any news about a possible second season yet?
“We haven’t yet, but the success of the show is only growing, so one would hope that we’ll get one. It’d be nice to go back and see what they have in store, definitely!”
Can you give us any hints on what’s coming up for Jackson as the season progresses?
“Yeah, Jackson starts to stick his nose in business that he shouldn’t do. He sets off on this journey to find out what’s making Scott the way he is. He makes that his top priority in his life. And with that comes Jackson stepping into territory that could get him into trouble or could help him in the long run. Nobody’s safe in this show.
“The mystery each week is trying to find out what’s going on with each of the characters and are they really as they seem?”
Which UK TV shows are you a fan of?
“Last time I came here I started watching The X Factor. It’s such a big deal over here [in the UK]; I remember people stop what they’re doing just to watch The X Factor. So that’s the one that sticks out the most!”
And are there any UK TV shows that you’d like to act in if the opportunity came up?
“Doctor Who is the really, really big one – is that still going? I remember a while back I got into that. Oh, there’s this one show that my cousin watches online about a performing arts high school – Britannia High, that’s the show!”
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