Teen Wolf season 5 is heating up as it comes to a close, and we spoke with Desert Wolf actress Marisol Nichols about her role in the action.
Nichols found a breakout role as Audrey Griswold in Vegas Vacation (1997) and has continued to make a name for herself on both the big screen and the small. She starred alongside Stephen Dorff in Felon (2008) and has worked on a number of television shows, including 24 as Nadia Yassir, commander of the Counter Terrorist Unit.
Now, she’s joined Teen Wolf season 5 as the mysterious and dangerous Desert Wolf, who has returned to Beacon Hills in order to kill her daughter Malia and take her werecoyote powers back. Malia and the pack aren’t about to let that happen, so we can assume there’s going to be quite a showdown at some point!
In fact, this dangerous air about the character is one of the main reasons why Nichols took on the role. She had never seen the show before, but had heard good things about it. Plus, “I like the idea of playing bad guys,” she says. “It’s fun!”
The casting of the Desert Wolf was shrouded in secrecy given how important of a role it was going to be on the show. When asked if it was difficult keeping that secret, Nichols says, “Thank goodness I didn’t know about it when I was auditioning. It was sort of like, ‘Okay, great, let’s do this.’ And then when I got there, they were like, ‘No, no, no, they’ve been building up this character forever, and I was like, ‘Okay, glad I know now!’ I didn’t have any of that pressure and I’d never seen the show, so it’s not as hard as it could’ve been. But once I found out, it was like okay, I have some pretty big shoes to fill.”
Fans have been anticipating the casting of this role since we first learned what kind of person Malia’s mother was. So how did they react to Nichols landing the role? “The Teen Wolf fans are really phenomenal,” she says. “They are very passionate about their show and very into it, but also extremely kind and cool and they get that I’m an actor playing someone. Even though my character is horrific and may be attacking someone that they love, they’ve been really supportive. Like, ‘Please don’t kill her, but I like you!’ and ‘I love you, but please don’t hurt her!’ and very cool about it. It’s been really nice. I like them!”
It sounds like it’s been quite a ride since that initial reveal, with Nichols describing some of her favorite parts of the role: “Shelley’s great to work with. She’s fun and we have a blast playing off of each other, which is really, really nice and always makes a huge difference when you play off of someone. You want to like them. You want to hope you guys work together well. Some of the lines are genius. ‘People die every day.’ I love those lines. They’re so good. They’re so fun.”
“I’m glad they’ve made her tough and she can fight,” she continues. “It’s fun playing the bad guy. I’ve gotta admit, I’m kind of liking it.”
The fans are certainly taking Nichols seriously as the Desert Wolf. No one is looking forward to seeing the confrontation finally play out between Malia and her mother, considering how hellbent the Desert Wolf is on killing her daughter once and for all.
Speaking of that determination, we asked Nichols whether she’s come up with any of her own backstory in order to better flesh out the character in her mind. “I have, but then I find that I’ll get more information and it changes it,” she explains. “So I sort of just roll with it. Her motivation is she has to kill her daughter, she has to get her power back, and that is a must. Whatever the reasons are for that, underneath, behind it, coming or whatever, that alone has to drive her. Because if I come up with something that works in that moment, it’s great and I’ll play it in the moment, but I don’t know what else is to come. So when I first showed up, it was just, ‘Okay I’m here to kill my daughter, but why?’ I had no idea why. No idea why. Okay. Fine. Let’s go!”
Rolling with those punches can be difficult, but the 24 actress says she’s used to it after having a role on the thrilling series about preventing terrorist attacks on the United States of America.
We may not know much about the Desert Wolf, but regarding her character’s feelings toward her daughter she says, “I have a hard time believing you can’t have maternal feelings. How can you not? It seems you wouldn’t be able to without that, or at least I know I wouldn’t be able to, and I think we say some of that in certain dialogue where she’s like, ‘Oh, you definitely are my daughter.’ I think she enjoys the fight in her daughter, and that it’s there, even if the logic is, ‘I’m still going to kill you.’ I’m not saying it makes much sense, but I still think she has it.”
That may be true, but she’s already been digging around to find out Malia’s weaknesses. Did you notice the way she looked at Stiles at the end of episode 17? “I saw that! I was liking that!” Nichols exclaims. “When I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, great! Good! Let’s go! That could be fun to go after someone else.’ But I can’t say anything. I don’t want to give away anything!”
Unfortunately, Nichols’ inability to divulge much is a growing theme around the actress’ character, who continues to pop in and out of the action according to her own needs. She does say about future confrontations, “The writers are very aware that the audience wants to see this thing happen with [Malia and her mother]. You’ll get your pay off as the audience.”
In terms of any interactions with Braeden, she explains, “I can’t say anything. But your questions are correct in what you’re feeling as the audience and the writers are aware of that.”
Nichols also expresses interest in seeing her character woven throughout season 6 rather than going out in a blaze of glory at the end of season 5. We can’t help but want to see the same happen, and on that note, Nichols leaves us with an ominous message for the final few episodes:
“It’s coming, guys. Just wait. Hang tight. It’s coming!”