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Charlie Carver On Playing Teen Wolf's Gay Werewolf: Interview

One of the high points of the third season of MTV’s intoxicatingly fun, scary and sexy Teen Wolf was the addition of Charlie Carver and his twin brother, Max. We watched the Carver brothers grow up playing the Scavo twins on Desperate Housewives but their roles on Teen Wolf have given them even greater exposure—their chiseled physiques are on display often, and the brothers have held their own against fellow TW hunks Tyler Posey, Tyler Hoechlin, Keahu Kahuanui and Dylan O'Brien.

As twins Ethan (Charlie) and Aiden (Max), the guys may have been werewolves with the ability to merge into one massive killing machine to battle new Alpha Scott but they also served as romantic interests for Danny (Kahuanui), who dated Ethan, and Lydia (Holland Roden),who set her sights on Aiden.

At the end of the first half of the season, the possibly redeemed Ethan and Aiden were wolves without a pack so the biggest question going into the new episodes that begin January 6th is whether they will be on the good side of things with Scott (Tyler Posey) or be all out villains. And, right up there, will the romance continue to grow between Ethan and Danny?

TheBacklot grabbed some time with Charlie recently for a photoshoot and also to talk about his role on the show, working with Hot 100 regular Kahuanui and about the new HBO project Charlie will also be appearing in with his brother.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

Charlie Carver photographed by Clinton Gaughran for TheBacklot

TheBacklot: When you and Max first came on the show, I was bit concerned because neither of you spoke much!

Charlie Carver: It was really funny. At the beginning of the season I don’t think we even really knew where we were going. We had a general idea of journeying from bad to kind of good or redemption, which in some ways we didn’t fully redeem ourselves. But I think what was really fun was at the beginning of season getting to be violent and crazy and blood thirsty and starting to find out where we came from and what we really wanted out of Beacon Hills. It was really fun to shoot.

Talk about what you thought of the storyline you had with Danny and where it went in the first half of this season.

I thought it was great. I think what was really cool about how Jeff [Davis, creator] told the story of the twins is that we each ended up having romantic interests and they were handled very similarly. The stories were different and Max, as Aidan, was trying to infiltrate the pack a little bit more and I think my storyline was a little bit more genuine. I just think it’s so cool that Jeff could treat a gay storyline and a straight storyline with an even hand. It didn’t seem like it was trying to make a spectacle out of it.

The big sex scene between Ethan and Danny in the motel episode (#306). How did you feel about doing that scene?

I think what I really loved getting to shoot the sex scene was going from being in a really intimate moment with someone and then hallucinating that a werewolf is popping out of my stomach. It was a really fun couple of days. I mean Christian [Taylor], one of the directors and producers on the show, had a very clear vision. He wanted to pay homage to a whole bunch of different horror movies and stuff, so we knew going in exactly what feel we wanted out of it. I think what was really sweet about that love scene in particular, it was just two people on a field trip hanging out on a bed. It wasn’t really trying to be anything super serious.

How has it been working with Keahu?

Keahu’s great. He is such a nice guy. I really love everybody I’m working with right now. We all really get along. I’ve only been on now almost a year. But Comic Con was a blast because we were all stuck there together kind of experiencing this overwhelming amount of attention from our awesome fans. We just loved it. Everybody didn’t know what to do other than have a good time.

How did you and Keahu prepare in terms of chemistry? Did you guys talk about it much or do you just kind of say ‘let’s see what happens?’

There’s been a couple of romantic moments even this second part of the season. I think more than anything you just have to go with what’s in front of you. If somebody seems like they’re not in a good place that day then you have to be aware of that and kind of make that part of what you’re attending to. If you’re just having fun then the scene can be fun. I think chemistry’s a mix between being present and the circumstances of a story and finding something really charming and likeable with who you’re working with.

Have there been any more sex scenes?

I wouldn’t call it a sex scene but there’s definitely some romance.

Do you think Ethan and Danny are in love or is love maybe growing?

I think so. I don’t want to spoil anything. But I think that what has to happen between Ethan and Danny is trust. So, I think that’s what we’re kind of working towards.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

I’ll throw this out there, you can answer it or not answer it. Is Keahu a good kisser?

Yeah, he’s a good kisser.

In Season 3B, do we get more of an answer as to whether Ethan and Aidan are good or bad?

I was wondering before we started shooting, ‘how are they going to explain the end of the Alpha pack?’ We ended the last episode of the first part of the season with everybody kind of holding hands and being in high school together. While I did think it was legitimate after such an epic moment of things falling apart like they did in the finale, part of me, too, went how is it that we’re all of a sudden incorporated into this game? I’m so glad to say that in 3B a lot of our journey, my brother and I, is trying to get into the pack because we’re without an Alpha. We kind of lost our Alpha status after getting neck snapped. We’re in a very different place in 3B than we were in 3A. To answer your question, you will see whether or not we’re good or bad.

Jeff [Davis] mentioned things are much more psychological in this second half.

It’s also Japanese. We’re getting a lot of Japanese mythology. It’s hilarious on set since nobody can really pronounce, at least the first time, what they’re supposed to be saying. There’s a really cool storyline. I think what was so genius about the way we ended the first part of the season was now that the Nematon is open there’s all sorts of possibilities. You don’t really know what could happen.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

So much of the attention in the first half of the season was on you guys and the workouts and shirtless scenes. Have you had to maintain that through the second half of the season?

You never know. I think the danger of being on Teen Wolf is any time a scene is kind of flat they’re like all right, take it off. I think the last part of the season was going for a definite feel, which was very aggressive and very large scale. This part of the season is very different. It’s almost a new season. It’s much more about the psychology of these people. So, I haven’t been taking my off my shirt as much, which I’m grateful for because I’ve been eating things that I didn’t for a while.

Do you have any self-consciousness when you have to take your shirt off?

I mean I’ve gotten used to it. I hope this doesn’t sound bad but I've gotten to like my body more, do you know what I mean? I do try and stay in shape. It’s really nice to have the kind of incentive to stay in shape. It’s not really an issue. The only time it’s an issue is if you didn’t know and you’ve been going to an In-N-Out fest all weekend.

Will we see you interact with any different characters in 3B?

It definitely has changed up. I think with 3A we definitely saw Lydia’s powers start to emerge and dynamics in Scott’s pack shift as Isaac started to flirt with Allison. So, you will definitely see in this season people who you wouldn’t expect to team up kind of being stuck together and having to solve or fix stuff.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

Being twins, you and Max have been side-by-side since Day One, so I suspect you don’t know anything different.

We do actually. We were very, very different growing up. I went to kind of a pre-profession training school to come into this. We were in different states. I was in Michigan. He was up in New Hampshire and Boston in different boarding schools. It was only by coincidence that we both applied to the same college and accepted our offer and admission. That’s really when we started.

Was this pre-Desperate Housewives or after or during?

During. Actually, I just graduated this year, seven years later. But it’s really been working together that we’ve gotten really close. Now we live together because we found an awesome place that would fit both of us.

Did you ever kind of resent having a twin just because there was somebody that looked like you?

I think that definitely fed into us wanting to pursue different things when we were younger because we felt like no matter how we wanted to individuate or how we were just different as people, that everyone was going to see us as a unit, which is funny because now we really love working together. It’s fun to get to do stuff on our own.

I feel like, especially on Teen Wolf and maybe it’s because Jeff has a twin, they’ve differentiated Ethan and Aiden.

Absolutely. That’s something we talked about before we even started shooting. I’m like ‘I just want to let you guys know that I’m a twin and this is how I see I’m going to treat things.’ They went, ‘Wow, that sounds great.’ I think when you’re around a set for a long enough time people start to write for you a little bit more. They start to pick up on the differences between Max and I. The more time we’re somewhere the more we kind of get cleaner, clearer characters that are distinct from each other.

Do people on the set know who you are as soon as you walk in the room or does it take a minute?

Usually. It feels a little bit like a game where the prize is you got my name right. We did both finally get some ink done…so that’s how people kind of tell us apart on set.

Does he have ink too?

He has one on the outside of his arm.

Are they letting you have it on the show? I can’t remember.

They cover it up.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

As an actor, what do you see yourself doing as far as a career?

I’m just really excited and grateful about my career thus far. I’ve just gotten to do all sorts of different things. Even on top of that I’ve done a couple of independent films. I played a quarterback. I was somewhat athletic in high school but I never played football. So, I got to train with these professional football players and they let me do my own stunts. It was called Underdogs. I got to play a dick at this East Coast prep school.

As far as I see things going, I want to be able to do anything. One of my role models…I get told that I look like him, which I just respect his career and who he is as a person, but somebody like Matt Damon. I go ‘what a guy.’ He’s shifted from Good Will Hunting to something like The Talented Mr. Ripley to the Bourne series to a [Steven] Soderbergh comedy.

Teen Wolf Charlie Carver

Did you see Behind the Candelabra?

Yeah. Bravo to HBO for picking it up because it was really good.

I was really impressed. Did you know of Liberace at all?

I knew about a guy in a white cape at a piano. I knew him but I didn’t know anything about him. I had no idea what that world was so it was interesting.

I’m old enough that I remember when I was a kid and I was like ‘there’s something different about him.’

That’s what was interesting about the movie. I’m sorry, how could you not know?

It was just a different time when people didn’t talk about it as freely as they do now.

When I was in college I was lucky enough to participate in a production of Angels in America. I threw myself into the research about the ’80s and AIDS and kind of the whole world. I mean it’s sort of devastating how it was dealt with early on.

Who did you play in that?

I was Prior.

You tweeted pics from Halloween and I have to say your outfit with Max was fantastic!

Thank you. We’d never done a twin outfit before. I think somebody had just said it like six months back and it popped into our heads the night before…work was so intense we were juggling a couple things at that point. We went on Amazon.com at 3:00 in the morning and went how the hell do we get a blue dress that fits?

I was going to say, did you go dress shopping?

I did. There was like a plus size Alice in Wonderland collection so that’s how we figured it out. We got the dresses, took off the little aprons. Drove around the corner, there’s this awesome costume shop/vintage store in Hollywood called Ozzie Dots. They have wigs and tube socks.

Charlie Carver halloween

Source: Twitter @CharlieCarver

What can you talk about with the HBO project, The Leftovers?

I don’t know when it’s airing but it’s got a great team behind it. It’s based on a really wonderful book by Tom Perrotta (who also wrote the books Little Children and Election). It’s he and Damon Lindelof and Peter Berg directing and the cast (including Justin Theroux, Chris Zylka and Amy Brenneman) is incredible. It’s a really exciting concept.

Tell me about your character, Scott Frost.

CC: I will be playing this kind of stoner sweet kid in high school, which sounds like it would be somewhat generic these days but in the context of this story it’s a little different.

Teen Wolf  Season 3B begins January 6 at 10pm on MTV.

Related: Interview/Photospread with Teen Wolf star Keahu Kahuanui

 

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