ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Wolf Pack star and executive producer Sarah Michelle Gellar and star Rodrigo Santoro about Paramount+’s supernatural drama series. Wolf Pack premieres today on Paramount+.
“Based on the book series by Edo Van Belkom, Wolf Pack follows a teenage boy and girl whose lives are changed forever when a California wildfire awakens a terrifying supernatural creature and drives it to attack a highway traffic jam beneath the burning hills,” reads the series’ synopsis. “Wounded in the chaos, the boy and girl are inexplicably drawn to each other and to two other teenagers who were adopted sixteen years earlier by a park ranger after another mysterious wildfire. As the full moon rises, all four teens come together to unravel the secret that connects them — the bite and blood of a werewolf.”
Tyler Treese: Sarah, it just feels right to see you in the supernatural realm. So what was it about Wolf Pack that really grabbed you and made you not only want to star in it, but also executive produce?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: I think I love stories that make you feel something and that talk about using these monsters to explain the things in our lives that we don’t have explanations for. And I loved that Jeff [Davis] really wanted to tackle these topics of anxiety, isolation … just the fact that as we become more and more digitally connected, we’re becoming more and more emotionally disconnected. And just the father-children relationship is so beautiful and just how complicated all those relationships are. In terms of being executive producer, for me, it was about environment and protecting the story. I think that the best way to protect the story you set out to make is to be able to have that voice and for people to have to listen to that voice.
Rodrigo, another interesting aspect of the show is that there’s the found family aspect of your character finding these werewolf pups. What did you find most interesting about that theme in the show?
Rodrigo Santoro: Well, I think that the fact that Garrett is a father of these two kids that have a very specific condition … my approach to this character is that even if they … let’s say if they’re werewolves, or they could have any kind of special condition, so it’s a father that needs to take care of two kids that need special care. So my approach is very on a human level, even if it we’re not talking about a genre. What is the style, what is the language, what’s the tone of this project? I think what really calls my attention are the relationships between the characters — Garrett specifically to his kids and then Sarah’s character, when they meet and the whole situation they have to go through and their relationship. I was going to evolve throughout the season.
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Forget normalizing anxiety. I want to normalize men doing laundry! That’s what I’ve just decided. Your character, when he has the laundry basket …
Rodrigo Santoro: I do love doing laundry. Why not?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: That’s why I signed onto the show — to normalize men doing laundry.
Rodrigo Santoro: Right? More and more.
Sarah Michelle Gellar: More and more.
In the first two episodes, Sarah, we see glimpses of Officer Ramsey, but viewers don’t really have the full picture yet. There’s so much uncertainty in the show. So how fun, as an actress, is it to play around with your expectations?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: It’s fun. You know, there’s a little bit of that. I want everyone to understand that you’re correct. In the beginning you are only going to get glimpses, but there’s a reason I’m there. There’s a reason Kristin’s there and there’s a reason that Sarah is there and you just have to be patient and wait for what that is. But in the beginning, it was really fun for me to play such a linear character that has one motivation and one motivation only, which really is just to find the arsonist. There’s no stakes in it for her and that makes an interesting dichotomy and duality than the other characters, who all have great stakes in the beginning.
Roger, your introduction with the forest fire is so intense. What did you like most about how Garrett is introduced to the audience?
Rodrigo Santoro: I like that his life is threatened, as he will be throughout the whole show. He’s in a situation — a very vulnerable situation, and he reveals something about himself that I think even Garrett is surprised by what he’s saying. It’s probably the first time that he needs to put in words his feelings for his kids. So I love that introduction because it goes right straight to the heart of the character. Going back to what I was saying before, wildfire, werewolves, genre, all that is surrounding is being used as a metaphor to discuss the human condition — anxiety, isolation, just like she said before. That’s a very fragile moment for Garrett and it starts with that. So I love that about him.
