January 25, 2023
2023 Rewind: Tyler Posey Opens Up about Sexuality on Eve of 'Teen Wolf' Return
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
This piece is part of EDGE's 2023 Rewind series. We're reaching into our archives and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past year.
Tyler Posey is putting on the fangs once again as "Teen Wolf" heads back to screens as a feature film – and he says the series was instrumental in helping him sort out his sexuality.
The actor, who is openly queer and sexually fluid, told Gay Times that the show, a favorite among the LGBTQ+ community that ran for six seasons on MTV, "definitely helped not let the subject [of his sexuality] die in my head. It was constantly there and it was constantly being accepted."
"Teen Wolf" readily accepted different sexualities, depicting them as equally normal, so "it was easier to not be ashamed about what I was going through," Posey told the publication. "I was just instilled with this idea of acceptance for who I am.
"I owe that to the show," Posey added, "but also just the way that I've grown up and who I am and who I want to inspire people to be; to just be yourselves with no shame."
Along those lines, Posey clarified, the show "didn't shove the subject down everyone's throat. It was just natural and normal.... You're gay, you're straight, whatever. These topics weren't like, 'Here's gay! Here's straight!' It was all super normal. I think that's what people really appreciated," he added.
Posey has been straightforward about his sexuality and experiences around it in the past, including sharing his participation in sex parties, as well as having had encounters with trans women. He's made some of his disclosures through his OnlyFans account, and also shared details on Twitter.
In 2020, in one OnlyFans segment, Posey said, "I haven't had sex with a man," but explained, "We've blown each other, you know what I mean? But never had sex."
He put it in a different way in another OnlyFans moment, saying, "To anybody who is new here and asking if I've hooked up with guys before, the answer is yes."
Elsewhere, he addressed explicit material having leaked online, including a nude video that went viral, noting that "I didn't release an apology about it and that made it easier for people to forget about."
"I didn't bring attention to it," the actor said. "They wanted me to. They definitely wanted me to say, 'Look, I'm sorry. I'm ashamed of myself,' which I wasn't, and I wasn't sorry. I didn't want to lie and say that."
Posey returns to the role of werewolf alpha Scott McCall for the film, which pits characters old and new against a dangerous new threat. "There was so much relatable-ness with the show that I was really interested and excited to see how it was going to make Scott relatable again, but grown up," Posey told Gay Times.
The film will stream on Paramount+ starting January 26. Watch the film's trailer below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.