MTV's Teen Wolf was a huge hit during the 2010s, and now there are spin-offs on both the big and small screen that have hit the masses. The original series followed a high school student (Tyler Posey) who gets caught up in some trouble, leading to a werewolf bite that gets him into even more trouble across town. The show featured some dazzling action sequences, and we recently caught up with the action designer who helped choreograph it all.
In a new interview exclusively with MovieWeb, stunt coordinator Chris Brewster opens up about his work on the original series as well as Paramount+’s new Teen Wolf: The Movie and the new series Wolf Pack. Brewster stunt coordinated Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam plus all three seasons of Netflix and Marvel's Daredevil series, while stunt doubling for Charlie Cox as the titular character. Brewster also dishes on his upcoming directorial debut and his work on Universal's Renfield, which we can't wait to see.
Action Designing the Teen Wolf Franchise
MW: What was it like returning to the franchise, both for Teen Wolf: The Movie and Wolf Pack?
Chris Brewster: Well, normally, when you're working on any TV show or movie as a stunt coordinator, it's always exciting. But the first couple of weeks, the first month or so, you're kind of building relationships and slowly but surely developing the overall feel of the show. But when you know everybody, it's like a family reunion or like a high school reunion. And literally, day 1 was the most amazing day 1 that I've ever had... And just seeing everyone back together was a really, really amazing way to start it all off... We started off on such a high note, and we were able to maintain a really positive happy energy through the entire shoot.
MW: What exactly goes into being a stunt coordinator?
Brewster: The stunt coordinator kind of has two parts, two pieces of the job. The first one is to ensure safety. The stunt coordinator has to ensure the safety of not only the stunt performers but every person on set. So when there are fight scenes, we have to make sure that the actors are safe, the stunt performers are safe, and everyone in the near vicinity people behind the cameras, everybody's safe. The second part is the fun part, like the action design part, where we get to choreograph the action. We get to kind of tell the story. Whereas the director and the actors tell the story through words and through everything from their posture to their emotion... we tell the same story, but with kicks and punches. And you know, we're using all of the physical movements as our dialogue.
MW: In working on Teen Wolf: The Movie, was there a certain stunt or scene that was particularly fun or challenging to shoot?
Brewster: What I loved about the entire experience of Teen Wolf was right off the bat, Jeff Davis the creator, the man that made Teen Wolf come to life from day 1, told me, "We want to stay true to the story, stay true to all of the characters, but we want to elevate and amplify everything." So he's like, "The action is going to be bigger than it's ever been, but obviously staying within the same route." And I mean, if we started having the werewolves move like John Wick, it would be a very different kind of movie, and it wouldn't stay true to the characters. So it was a really, really fun challenge to take the same style that we've always done for each character and amplify it.
MW: I hear you're directing your first feature film this year. What can you tell us about it?
Brewster: We're actually prepping now. Relentless will be shooting this year. I'm just very excited about stepping into the directing world, having done a good amount of second unit directing. And as a second unit director, you direct the action. And I mean, that's something that I've been doing since my first day of stunts. I always had a love for not only the choreography of the movement but the dance between performers and camera. And so it's been a passion of mine since way before I was doing it as a job... The idea of stepping into main-unit directing and being able to direct every single frame of a film is just a really, really exciting concept to me... Relentless is starring Thomas James, so we are bringing back one of my favorite Punishers of all time. And I mean, we are actually creating a character that is grittier and more bad-a** than Thomas Jane as Punisher, if that's believable. It is going to have the most incredible action you can possibly imagine.
Working on Black Adam and Renfield
MW: What was it like working with Dwayne Johnson on Black Adam?
Brewster: I've done probably 50 superhero projects at this point in time. It's weird to walk on set with a real-life superhero yet. Normally, my job as an action designer is to take a normal human being and make them seem like a superhuman. Dwayne Johnson walks into the room, and he is a superhuman. Like, there's no other way to put it. Not only does he carry the physique of a superhuman, but he radiates an energy, like, you know he's in the room even if you're looking in the other direction. The second he walks in the room, you feel it, you know? And I feel like, rather than having to make him look like something he wasn't, we just got to show the world who he actually is... We pretty much just highlighted him instead of making him seem like something different. It was really, really fun. And I mean, he was absolutely amazing.
Aldis Hodge plays Hawkman. I mean, he trained harder than anybody. And I mean, he literally is also built like a superhuman. He became this character, who was a master of a multitude of different martial arts, and something that would take so many people years and years and years to get to that level. He did in a matter of months. And watching his progression through all of that was incredible.
MW: Are there other projects you're currently working on, that you'd like to share about?
Brewster: The most exciting thing ever: I got to second unit direct a film with Chris McKay, who is an absolute idol of mine. We did Renfield together. And I mean, we had Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage, we had Awkwafina. The cast is out of this world. They're so, so good. And watching them become these characters just blew me away. The action is completely indescribable... Well, I mean, the movie is indescribable. I can't even tell you what genre it is... And watching how Chris McKay kind of like just delicately balanced. All of those [genres] were so cool.
Teen Wolf comes to us from MTV.