When he rejoined the world of Teen Wolf, Tyler Posey did so in a different state of mind. The actor, who starred on the original MTV series for six years as Scott McCall, is reprising his role in the sequel, Teen Wolf: The Movie. In an interview at the premiere of the Paramount+ film, Posey revealed that while he's sober now, he wasn't when he was filming the supernatural teen drama, which ran from 2011 to 2017. Read on to find out more about the former teen idol's sobriety journey and to see what he had to say about not being "fully present" for the original show.
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Posey said he was "always high" while filming Teen Wolf.
Speaking to Variety at the premiere of Teen Wolf: The Movie, Posey talked about how he approached playing Scott as an adult.
"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," the 31-year-old said. "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 noted that he's also changed a great deal in the years since the show went off the air. "That's kind of what I brought to the role. I'm more present," Posey said. "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."
He first opened up about sobriety in 2020.
In an October 2020 interview with The Jason Ellis Show, Posey said that he was 71 days sober at the time. (Warning: Explicit language in the video above.)
"I went through a rough patch. I'm sober now. I'm 71 days sober," he said. "I kind of fell out with everybody that I love and that I know. I became kind of a recluse. But now … I love myself for the first time in forever. Things are really, really, really good. It's really cool. I don't smoke weed anymore … I don't drink. I don't drug. I don't do anything." He added that he was still smoking a "lot of cigarettes," because, while he tried to quit, he realized that it would be difficult to cut out everything at the same time.
He explained further, "For me, my drug abusing and all that was just kind of restricted to my home and by myself. I was one of those lonely, self-deprecating addicts and alcoholics … I started smoking pot when I was like 12 years old and kind of developed this addict routine."
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There have been some bumps in the road.
In an interview with Variety's Just for Variety podcast in March 2021, Posey shared that he was "full on sober for about five months," but was no longer "completely sober anymore" at that point.
"When I first got sober, I definitely really wanted to break these habits that I had," he explained. "That was most of it, because I never really considered myself an alcoholic. There was moments of substance abuse that I kind of felt like I had control over, but there was a moment that got a little scary, and I felt like I needed some help." He added that he had "just always viewed [himself] as a lazy pothead."
The Maid in Manhattan actor continued, "I didn't know how long I wanted to be sober. I've since started coming back into the other world, the other side of things, so I'm technically not sober anymore, but I keep in touch with everybody. But it's definitely not anywhere near where I was, but I learned a lot about myself."
He released music inspired by his experience.
Posey is a musician as well as an actor, and in 2021, he released an EP titled Drugs about his substance use.
"[I]t's about me becoming sober, dealing with sobriety, dealing with depression for the first time without [choosing to] turn to a substance to abuse and dealing with missing getting [expletive] up," Posey told Inked. "It's also about starting this new life and realizing there's this brand new, beautiful world that's better than being high all of the time."
Lia Beck Lia Beck is a writer living in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Best Life, she has written for Refinery29, Bustle, Hello Giggles, InStyle, and more.Read moreFiled UnderCelebrities • Entertainment • NewsRead This NextThe Biggest '90s TV Teen Idols, Then and Now
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