February 23, 2010

The cast and crew of the upcoming Teen Wolf remake are back in L.A. and away from the Georgia chill. For actress Crystal Reed, it’s immediately back to work. Shock Till You Drop caught up to her on the set of Skyline, the creepy new thriller being directed by Colin and Greg Strause, and got her to talk a bit about Teen Wolf. The film, directed by Russell Mulcahy, serves as a TV pilot for MTV.

Were you familiar with the original Teen Wolf when you got this one? Which character do you play?

Reed: My character Allison doesn’t exist in the original. I guess I’m sort of the Boof character, but not really. The difference is I’m the love interest from the beginning. I’m so excited about this!

What’s the biggest difference between the original and the remake?

Reed: It’s not really funny. I mean, there is that comedic aspect, definitely between Scott [Tyler Posey] and Stiles. There’s a Stiles in our version and he’s brilliant, he’s going to be really good. So you have that, but there’s also the romantic kind of pull, which is really the center, and it’s also really dark. The way it’s filmed, the colors are very saturated, so the look reminds me of True Blood. The blacks are black and the red’s pop. The script is not at all like the original. It’s not a remake, they’re just simply using the names, the locations are the same and instead of basketball, he plays lacrosse. There are going to be some really interesting twists and turns. The writing is amazing and the special effects are brilliant. The other thing that’s cool is he’s not in a full werewolf costume.

What does Scott look like when he “wolfs out”?

Reed: He looks really human, because he’s a young werewolf, so the things that are changing are his eye color. His ears are going to be a bit pointier and the hair on his hands is going to go up to about here. [Points to her elbows] Obviously, his muscles are going to grow. Progressively as he gets older as a werewolf, he’ll become more wolf-like. The very first time he turns, it’s actually pretty scary.

Are they using CG or physical prosthetics?

Reed: I think they’re doing both.

What about working with the director Russell Mulcahy, who’s good friends with the creator of Teen Wolf, Jeff Davis?

Reed: He’s a lovely person and so great to work with, because he gives you your artistic space where you can kind of interpret what you want the character to be. And then he’ll just say, “Now, what if Scott was looking at you this entire time and you can just sense him? How would you look at him?” He kind of lets you think that you thought of what to do on your own, and that’s what a great director does. When you think about it, it all clicks. He’s really mellow and really great.

More on Skyline to come!