MTV’s “Teen Wolf” was honored with an event at the Paley Center for Media earlier this summer. And we got to speak with the cast on the red carpet. One of our favorites wasTyler Hoechlin, who plays Derek Hale, a warewolf and mentor figure for Scott (Tyler Posey). While Hoechlin didn’t offer much in the way of spoilers, he did hint at a fairly big fight for Derek in the upcoming second season finale.
CraveOnline: How is Derek different in season two than he was last year?
Tyler Hoechlin: Derek in season two is no longer hunting an alpha. He is the alpha. Derek has this new swagger. He’s kind of a confident guy now. He’s enjoying his power a little bit which is I guess well deserved after a season of hunting one down. He’s building an army. He’s trying to keep up with the hunters that are building in number as well. It’s a lot. It’s a lot going on with Derek.
CraveOnline: Do you feel they paid off that powerful moment in the season one finale where Derek realizes he’s the alpha?
Tyler Hoechlin: It does. We don’t find out exactly why that’s what he wanted, but we do get a little bit of why that was such an important thing to him and why he wanted to be in control and be ready to face the hunters and finally be able to build a new pack and build a new family.
CraveOnline: How much action were you able to do this season?
Tyler Hoechlin: A lot. Actually they’ve finally allowed me this year to do a lot of my own stunts which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I did gymnastics as a kid and I was always into baseball until a couple years ago. So I was always into sports and athletics and stunt work is something that was always very interesting and I think very fun to do. So playing Derek this year, I wanted to try to do as much as I could and they finally allowed me to do that. By the [season] finale I think I did the whole final fight scene on my own. Hopefully next year I can do more of the same.
CraveOnline: Is Derek focused on more than just Scott at this point?
Tyler Hoechlin: Yeah, I think Scott’s still a focus but I think Scott’s a focus as far as he still needs Scott. I think he recognizes that Scott is a powerful force that he would rather have on his side than working against him so there’s still definitely a big enough reason for him to be trying to court Scott for his help.
CraveOnline: What other characters are important to Derek now?
Tyler Hoechlin: His new pack. His new wolf pack. Derek is trying to keep pace with the hunters so he’s trying to grow in numbers as they are. He is going to need some troops to be able to help him.
CraveOnline: Is the alpha makeup any different than last year’s makeup?
Tyler Hoechlin: It’s a little different. We’re still doing the prosthetics so I can actually be on set being the wolf as opposed to being CGI. So there were alterations in the makeup but for the most part still prosthetics, sitting in a chair and showing up with the fangs and the contacts and all that stuff.
CraveOnline: And what are you excited for fans to see on the Season 1 DVD?
Tyler Hoechlin: I’m hoping there’s a couple cool things on it for people to enjoy. They’ve done a good job with everything so far so I would imagine they put some fun stuff on there.
