Posted in: Paramount+, streaming, TV | Tagged: Amy Workman, Chris Brewster, Crystal Reed, Dylan Sprayberry, mtv, paramount, Teen Wolf, teen wolf: the movie

Teen Wolf: The Movie Stunt Coordinator on Franchise, Wolf Pack & More

Teen Wolf stunt coordinator Chris Brewster spoke with Bleeding Cool about working on the MTV series, the Paramount+ movie, Wolf Pack & more.

Chris Brewster is one of the busiest stunt performers in Hollywood, and it's thanks to the connections he's made over the years with his stunt team, crew, and versatile talent. With over 160 credits to his name, there isn't a project too big or small for him even become well-known in the biggest franchises like Marvel and DC on the film and television front. His most active TV projects were Netflix's Daredevil and Jeff Davis & MTV's Teen Wolf. He's been fortunate to return to the 2023 film adaptation for Paramount+ in Teen Wolf: The Movie. Brewster spoke to Bleeding Cool about returning for the movie, working with the actors five years after the series ended in 2017, any film-challenging film sequences, and coordinating his stunt team to work on other projects like Renfield and Wolf Pack (also created by Davis, but not related to Teen Wolf).

How Chris Brewster Worked His Way Up in 'Teen Wolf'

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'Teen Wolf?'

Brewster: I got involved with 'Teen Wolf' ten years ago on the original series. A friend of mine, Brycen Counts, was the stunt coordinator. He called me up to double one character, and then I doubled another, and [before I know it] I ended up doubling almost all of the actors at one point or another. I also played a couple of different characters for all small little stunt acting spots. I got to be one of the original Oni's, and I was part of murdering [a few characters] on the TV show [laughs]. As time went on, I went from performing to choreographing a lot of the action, doing some fight coordinating.

I got to stunt coordinate a couple of episodes and grew with the show. After the show finished, I ironically stayed friends with a lot of the actors, and I continued working with a lot of the producers on other projects. When the 'Teen Wolf Movie' came to fruition, it was a dream come true. I love the actors and crew, and it was just something I wanted to be a part of.

Does it feel like there is more pressure to top yourself following up on the original series?

The challenge was less on me as a stunt coordinator and action designer. The biggest challenge was after the time off, seeing if the actors could pull the same emotion out of those characters. I'd like to come back to those characters, as true as they were years and years ago. Every one of the actors not only pulled the character right back to where it was, but they added all of these additional elements. The characters are all older now instead of being in high school. They've graduated and watching how each actor not only snapped back to their character so quickly but then added a layer of what happened since the TV show. It was a cool thing to witness.

What inspiration did you take from coordinating the fights?

The challenge was…just like the characters had to bring back the same style of their character had to return true to the story. We had to make sure that the action looked very similar to what they had in the original series. They have to move the same way they used to move, but bigger, more enhanced, going from the TV show to feature film. [Creator] Jeff Davis said, "We're going to stay true, but we're going to make it bigger and better than it's ever been." We wanted to have the same kind of skeleton to the movement, the same style, but amplify it as far as the intensity, energy, and emotion throughout the movements and making it even cooler than it used to be.

Was there any particular sequence in the show or the film that was more difficult that stands out to you?

For the first time in my career, I choreographed the final fight with 20 actors and a handful of stuntmen playing both Oni's, the stunt werewolf, and everything with zero prep and rehearsal time. It was an incredible challenge to get everybody on point and keep everybody safe because, at the end of the day, no matter how cool the action looks, I fail as a stunt coordinator if anybody gets hurt. I need to make sure that everybody stays as safe as possible while creating the best action. For the first time in my career, I had to choreograph several hundred beats of action and teach it to the stunt performers, actors, and everybody else, and then rehearse it, get it dialed in, and be able to perform it safely in no time whatsoever.

Luckily, I've got one of the most incredible stunt teams on the planet, and we were able to preset. We knew the finale was coming up, and we knew we were going to have no prep for it. We designed all of these little pockets of action that we can plug into any moment with any character. The stunt team memorized 20 little pieces of action. We'd say, "We can take piece number one, this is going to be Allison [Crystal Reed]. Rather than the punches and stuff, it's going to be with the bow and arrow. We're going to tweak this and make this more aggressive because she's a very aggressive fighter through her movement. During take piece number two, we're going to have Hikari [Amy Workman] do this with the sword.

We assigned the different pieces of action to different characters. It was a lot easier to individualize and characterize the pieces of action since they were already choreographed. Luckily, we were blessed with an amazing cast who pick up choreography in no time at all. If they were not as incredible as they are, you would not get any action on screen, but they rose to the challenge. Every single actor learned at least ten moves in a matter of minutes and added their character on top of the movements they all had ideas for amping it up. Following with, "Can I finish with this because my character likes this kind of pose?" They all added several layers to the choreography, and they were able to do it at such a high level in a short amount of time.

Who among the actors were the quickest studies?

Crystal has always been good at choreography. She had to not only add her character on top of her movement but add her character on top of her new version. Not only was she Allison, but she was Void Allison turning back into Allison and remembering who Allison is. There's a whole lot that she had to put on top of her movement, and she was thrown into some big action sequences. It was no surprise that she would be such a rock star with it, but it was awesome to see her do it.

Amy, who plays Hikari, I had never worked with before, and I was told we needed somebody to come in and be a sword master. It's one thing to fake punches and kicks, but to spin a sword and make it look believable takes a lot of practice. That was going to be the biggest challenge until I met Amy, but realized that she is better at swordwork than most stunt people who do swords. She's incredible. They were awesome.

Liam [Dylan Sprayberry] and Hikari's fight in the rain with the Oni's, we designed it that morning. They went out and were filming that fight scene as a master from top to bottom for like 10 hours fighting outside. They were rock stars. Every single take, they gave it their all and blew me away. Every actor rose to the challenge, and they were all incredibly talented and passionate. It shows in every move they do.

Do you typically work with the same people on other stunt people across all projects, or does it vary? I know you're also on Paramount+'s 'Wolfpack,' Did you work that series fresh?

I have a stunt team that is comprised of about 20 close friends, and they're some of the best stunt performers and filmmakers on the planet. We try to travel everywhere together. In every show that we do, there are new elements. You have to make sure you find the perfect match for each character. If there are special skills like swordwork and stuff like that, you always bring somebody new in. My core team has done many projects together. We ran three back-to-back last year. We did 'Renfield' with Chris McKay for about eight months. That was one of the most amazing experiences ever. We had massive action sequences that went over perfectly, and we wrapped 'Renfield' on a Friday. The following Monday, we were on 'Teen Wolf [The Movie].' We went shot for a few months, and then the day we finished it, we went right on to 'Wolf Pack.' So the whole team traveled from show to film to show. It's because we're all so familiar with each other, and we have like such a bond that we're able to pull off huge challenges, like creating a finale fight sequence without any prep time.

Teen Wolf, the series, and The Movie are available to stream on Paramount+. New episodes of Wolf Pack stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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