In interview after interview, Tyler Posey—the hot young star of MTV's hit show "Teen Wolf"—is asked where in Mexico his family is from. But until recently, the 20-year-old teen heartthrob didn't know how to answer that question. "I just figured out what kind of Mexican I am," Posey tells The Huffington Post. "I was working on a movie last summer and somebody asked me, "what part of Mexico are you from?' I didn't know there were different parts, so I asked my mom and she said I'm Zacateco...from Zacatecas," says Posey.
The funny and laid-back actor spoke exclusively with The Huffington Post about his Latino roots, why he doesn't speak Spanish, and growing up in an hacienda. He also reveals what's coming up on tonight's all-new episode of "Teen Wolf," (10/9c on MTV) and explains why he doesn't mind showing some skin on the hit show!
Tell us about your Latin roots?
On my mom's side I'm Mexican and my dad is a White dude {Laughs}.
Do you speak Spanish?
Muy poquito, muy muy poquito {Laughs}. I took Spanish in high school and I didn’t do too well in it. My Spanish teacher told me not to go on with Spanish anymore, so I was discouraged a little bit. But I have been wanting to learn it more lately. Hopefully I'll be able to learn some more. Screw my teacher {Laughs}.
Did you speak Spanish with your parents growing up?
My mom would swear at us in Spanish {Laughs}. And you know, just call us M'ijo, and stuff like that. But literally my whole house looks like an hacienda! It's bright, has colorful strands everywhere - I wish I could show you pictures of it. It is really beautiful. I grew up in a small suburb called Santa Clarita just north of L.A.
The fact that you're half-Mexican and the star of your own hit show on MTV, is obviously a big source of pride for the Latino community. Do you feel like you're representing for Latinos in Hollywood?
I definitely do. Especially with all of the attention I'm getting from Latino magazines. I also just got nominated for an Imagen Award {which aims to recognize and reward positive portrayals of Latinos in all forms of media} which I'm super stoked for! I can't even tell you how excited I am about that. Oscar Nunez from "The Office" is going to be there and I love that show, so I'm really excited to see him. So yeah, I completely embrace the fact that I'm Latino and the lead of a show. If anything, I hope it shows that, well, don't be discouraged if you're ethnic {Laughs}.
In your career, you've played characters from a wide range of backgrounds. Do you like the fact that you're not typecast?
I love it! I mean, people don’t know what race I am. They never know if I'm Hawaiian or Italian or Mexican or Spanish or White. I could play Jewish, I could play anything. I used to get typecast when I was younger...
Your character Scott McCall is an all-American guy. He's not Latino, right?
Well, his mom has got a dark complexion, so I think he's half-Latino. It never comes up in the show, but I'm pretty sure that he is Latino. I mean, look at the guy! He looks Latino, a little bit.
The second season of your show is bigger and better than the first. Have you noticed a change from season 1?
Yeah. There's not one dull moment in the show, which I think is the coolest part about it. First season and second season, there's a huge change. It's a lot more intense and a lot more fun to watch and be part of. It's so much bigger in every single way and I think it's so cool that we're pulling it off and we're not jumping the shark. We're actually doing a really good job of making the show bigger without hurting it at all. It's really cool.
The show loves to feature you and your male co-stars shirtless. Is that something you're OK with?
It's actually not my real body! It's my head on... No, I'm just joking {Laughs}. No, I'm completely OK with it. I mean, sometimes I'll be walking around shirtless on set and the only aspect I don't like about it is that I feel like people think that I like to be shirtless and that I'm like, "check out my body, look at this!" But other than that, I'm really OK with it. I don't mind it at all. I'm not some weirdo who wants to take off his shirt. But there's pretty intense training to get the physique to 12-year-old girls' standards, I guess. {Laughs}.
Young girls go crazy for you when they see you! Is that scary?
Well, for me it's normal. If I see a girl, and she doesn't scream, I'm like 'are you OK?' {Laughs}. But no, I embrace it. I think it's so cool that people like us enough to have all of these crazy emotions about us. I think it's awesome and I try to do the best I can to try and make them feel welcome and not crazy —even though sometimes they are crazy. I just try to make them feel good about themselves and I do the best I can to make them happy.
What can you tease about tonight's all-new episode of "Teen Wolf"?
You find out who the creepy mysterious creature is. It’s insane...
40 STARS YOU NEVER KNEW WERE MEXICAN