Being a werecoyote is completely different from being a werewolf. Shelley Hennig knows it well, for the young actor plays the role of werecoyote Malia Tate in popular TV series, “Teen Wolf”. The series revolves around the lives of Scott, his best friend Stiles and their gang (all of whom have a supernatural status) at Beacon Hills High School and the constant challenges they face from mysterious incidents and new villains.
Season 5 highlights the lives of Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Kira and Malia in their senior years and the Dread Doctors (the new villains) plotting and attacking to break the pack apart long before they graduate.
At the age of 16 years when she was still in high school, Shelley won the title of Miss Teen USA 2004. Winning Miss Teen , she feels, “was a huge honour, very unexpected, it changed my life forever’.
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After finishing college, she won a scholarship and went to acting school in New York. For Shelly, acting was her first significant encounter with creativity.
On being asked how she relates to the role of a headstrong werecoyote, Shelly responds, “Both Malia and I share this sometimes inappropriate quality of being honest. I love that about her. But it also gets you in trouble here and there.”
Though she doesn't watch too many supernatural films, she feels it is quite a popular genre among viewers and super fun to make. “You have to use your imagination. It is a world we don't know much about. There is so much magic involved, you kinda remain young at heart.”
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Revealing how much transformation the character of Malia has undergone from season 3 to season 5, the actor says Malia has realised the power of solidarity and being in a pack. “When she was young Malia lost her parents. When you are young, your parents are talking, you grab your mom’s arm and tug on it and she's like ‘honey I am talking right now’. Malia never got that. As a werecoyote, she lived in a cave for 8 years. She never knew when she overstepped her mark or what inappropriate behaviour was.”
(Teen Wolf's Season 5 will go on air on AXN from May 7th at 11 pm.)