Tyler Posey is diving deep into the murder mystery genre, and he’s hoping it eventually leads him to a role in the Knives Out franchise.
“I love Knives Out so much,” the 34-year-old actor told Us Weekly while discussing his latest role as Ryan in Fox’s Murder in a Small Town, which aired Tuesday, October 21.
Posey also revealed he’s a big admirer of author Freida McFadden’s work, saying, “I’m a huge fan of Freida McFadden’s writing and her first movie [The Housemaid] is about to come out. So I would love to be involved in that, in any of it.”
The Teen Wolf alum admitted that he’s ready for “more of this genre” when it comes to future roles.
“I actually have a murder mystery [and horror] project that I’ve written and that we’re going to start filming pretty soon,” he shared. “I’m all for it.”
In his guest appearance on Murder in a Small Town, Posey plays a high schooler who finds a wounded body in the woods, setting off an investigation that connects to an old unsolved case.
“Everything was appealing about the show,” he said.
“I am a huge fan of murder mystery whodunnit and there’s just something so appealing about it. You get so sucked into the content and the audience really gets to play along. It’s this puzzle piece that the audience tries to figure out the entire time.”
Posey said what made the series even more interesting was its setting, a beautiful seaside town with dark secrets.
“One thing that’s cool about the show is that it’s based in this picturesque and beautiful seaside town. Underneath there’s a lot of murder and problems,” he explained.
“That’s really cool symbolism for a lot of these guest stars, especially my character, Ryan.”
The actor added that part of what draws audiences to the show is how it explores human nature.
“People love to watch human nature [stories] and to be able to respond and resonate with these characters,” he said.
“Ryan is just so complex and troubled and sad. You do feel for him and what’s cool about this character is that a lot of the viewers will find a lot of sympathy for him.”
By the end of the episode, fans were surprised to see Posey’s character revealed as the killer, a twist the actor says they worked carefully to pull off.
“We wanted it to be really natural because we wanted him to actually be that character,” he explained.
“Everything is real with him and we just really leaned into the realness of him being very concerned. You know, he was, but it just seems like to the audience that he’s concerned about his friend — rather than concerned about his own livelihood.”
Posey said the goal was to make sure the reveal wasn’t obvious too early on.
“We had to walk this balance of making sure this guy stays very concerned and have a levity to him,” he said.
“That is the hope that I have for everybody who’s watching the show because that’s the nature of these shows. You don’t want to know who did it until the very end.”
From Teen Wolf heartthrob to murder mystery suspect, Posey is clearly embracing a darker, more layered side of storytelling, and if he has his way, we might just see him solving (or committing) crimes alongside Daniel Craig in Knives Out someday.
