It’s been five years now since Teen Wolf ended its run, and the fans are not the only ones who are still so passionate about the show and its characters. Melissa Ponzio couldn’t even imagine of saying no when Jeff Davies and the Teen Wolf creative team asked them to come back on set to work on Teen Wolf: The Movie, considering all the incredibly good memories and relationships she’s built throughout the years.
We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with Melissa Ponzio about the start of her acting career, her experience as Mama Melissa McCall on Teen Wolf, her relationship with the cast and what fans can expect from the upcoming sequel movie. Check out full interview in the video below!
Among the roles you’ve played so far, which of the characters is the closest to you in real life, in your opinion?
Melissa Ponzio: It would have to be Mama McCall on Teen Wolf, you know, outside of Chicago Fire, you know, being married and having a child and all of that, that was a different experience because I didn’t have that experience in real life. But as far as Mama McCall, you know. I am a stepmom in real life. I feel like I’m a caretaker, Terre caretaker; I listen very well. I feel like I’m supportive person. And so, you know, her values and morals align a lot with mine in real life.
One of the roles that the audience loved the most among the ones you played is Mama McCall, Melissa McCall. How would you describe your experience working on Teen Wolf with that character?
MP: Well, it’s amazing. She’s very solid, very steadfast, right? You know what you’re going to get with Mama McCall. She’s going to be supportive, loving, kind. She’s going to come to your rescue. And it’s really interesting.
Some people like to play characters that are crazy, that are good one week and bad one week that, you know, like a switch allegiances. But for me it’s very, it was very calming to be able to come in. And to work knowing who she was, you know, there wasn’t going to be much surprise. So I could step into those shoes and and really be this character and and be a human that is doing extraordinary things. You know, a lot of people ask on us, on a show that has a lot of mythology, ‘would you want to be a werewolf? Would you want to be a monster or creature?’. For me, being human on this show was very important, to have the attributes of a person that could be a hero in in real skin.
See with Jr [Bourne], with Argent. He was kind of introduced as one type of character and then he kind of had a turn within his character.
Both Linden and I, in our characters with Sheriff Stilinski and Mama McCall, we’ve kind of been the North Stars we’ve always been the constant for our children. We’ve always been supportive and putting them first, you know, and so I think that’s a really beautiful thing to have been a part of.
And now, some years after the Teen Wolf series finale, there’s a sequel movie coming out January 26 on Paramount+. What can you tease about it and what’s next for Melissa?
MP: Well, it’s set a little bit in the future. So we’ve had some time that has passed. All of our characters have gone and had some experience during this time and we’re catching up with them. So we’re seeing everybody in a new place. People have had new jobs, new relationships, loves that have been lost, loves that are found, those kinds of things.
And I think it’s really interesting ’cause I think we all have this experience in life where maybe we know someone from junior high school or someone from high school or college and time goes by and then we see them and we’re right back where we were. We’re able to grab on to who we were those years ago and have that instant connection and instant spark of helping or you know, knowing each other in a way that you know things don’t even need to be said.
And I think that even though each one of these characters had growth. We have that as well, because when we’re all asked to show up and be heroic, we all do, because we all have had our characters, 100 episodes of communication, working together, working against each other and so all of that has been brought into the movie as well. I think it’ll be an interesting experience because people that have loved Teen Wolf as a TV series or maybe haven’t seen any of it, I think they will still enjoy the movie and see something in it that they like.
When we got the call, we were all very excited to know that our characters were going to get a chance to to live again, so to speak.
If you had to choose a character among all the characters on Teen Wolf apart from Melissa, a character that you would have loved to play if you could, which one would it be and why?
MP: So I always joke and say Greenberg. Just a little inside joke for everybody, but along those lines, I’ve always thought that Coach was a very interesting character. You know, he’s always the one that’s bringing the funny. He’s always very sardonic. And also just to be the school coach, you know, there’s a legacy behind that that I think is fun and you’re able to connect with kids in a way that maybe you can’t as a parent. You know, you’re like an older buddy of sorts, and so that’s the character that I would choose.
The interview with Melissa Ponzio has been edited and condensed for lenght and clarity. Watch the full video interview at the top of the article!
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