Keahu Kahuanui Talks Danny Mahealani and “Teen Wolf” Season 3

Alysha Boynton ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

MTV’s Teen Wolf, currently in the second half of its third season (3B), is a powerhouse in the pop culture world right now as it is dominating social media sites and captivating the hearts of its many enthusiastic viewers.

Since returning in early January, Teen Wolf has been treating its viewers to a whirlwind of terror, suspense, humor, and romance, continuing its tradition of upping the stakes even more with each passing season. Scott, Stiles, Allison, and the rest of the Beacon Hills gang have been dealing with not only their own emotional demons, but some very real demons as well, and the most recent episode left off with a nail-biting cliffhanger where it was revealed that Stiles was being possessed by a very powerful one.

Keahu Kahuanui, the 27-year-old actor who gives life to fan favorite Danny Mahealani, was nice enough to chat with Emertainment Monthly about his character and what fans can look forward to in the remaining seven episodes of the season. Danny may have been absent for the first couple of episodes, but since his return in “Galvanize” he’s been present on screen more and more, hopefully an indication of an increased amount of Danny scenes in the second half of 3B.

Emertainment Monthly: You must be aware that Danny is a huge fan favorite, do you think it’s because he’s such a non-stereotypical portrayal of a queer character on TV, who isn’t defined by his sexuality, or just because he’s funny and awesome? 

Keahu Kahuanui: [Laughs] I’d like to think that it has to do with my… That it doesn’t have to do with my terrible acting? No, I mean, I like to think that Danny is a very likeable character in general, whether or not it has to do with the type of queer character that he is on TV, I think there’s more to him than just that. For likeability, you know, I’d like to think that Danny is just very well-rounded.

It feels like Danny keeps coming so close to discovering the whole supernatural secret, but that he’s never actually going to. Can you give us any hints about whether or not that’s ever going to happen?

My general opinion on this, at least in the Teen Wolf world, is that ignorance is bliss. It tends to be the case that the more people know and the more they find out [about the supernatural], the more likely they’ll have to be put in danger, and Danny’s already put in danger quite a bit.

Do you think the twins deserve redemption? A lot of people love Danny/Ethan but personally I think Danny deserves better.

Everybody makes mistakes, as you’ve seen with the blue eyes, and those who maybe haven’t been able to control the [werewolf] powers and may have accidentally murdered someone. But I think in the case of the twins, they were a part of a werewolf-hunting Alpha pack, so I don’t know… We don’t know a whole lot about their history, except for the fact that they had to kill their entire pack in order to become part of the Alpha pack, and that they also killed Boyd, but I’m beginning to root for them a little bit, myself. [Also, on “Dethan”] I definitely think that if you want to have a good relationship, there needs to be a little bit of honesty and openness, but I don’t know… It’s Beacon Hills, so, almost anything flies.

Do you think the #MoreDanny “movement” has had any effect? Does Jeff Davis pay attention to what fans are talking about and wanting or does he just do what he wants?

I think Jeff sails his own ship [laughing]. Now that I think about it, that’s probably pun intended [?]. I mean, I feel like Jeff has a vision and sometimes, you know, some things take longer to happen than others and some unexpected things can happen, and sometimes you can predict what the outcome is gonna be, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.

The thing that’s really been on everybody’s minds is the fact that there’s going to be a major death this season, do you personally think fans will be satisfied with the way the show says goodbye to this character?

Uh, [laughs] I can’t really answer that… I think the fans are often very unsatisfied, but I also feel like as the show continues that’s [character death] part of the experience that you just have to embrace. It’s really difficult to decide what I’m gonna say because I really don’t wanna give anything away!

Do you have any headcanons about Danny as a character?

I think he’s more capable of taking care of himself than he lets on.

Can you tease anything general about the rest of 3B?

There’s definitely more Danny to look forward to… I really can’t say anything! Every time I even hint at something miniscule… There have been some instances where people have reasoned out the right answer, and then there have also been some theories that were incorrect. Like I said, you guys [Teen Wolf fans] are all like investigative reporters [laughs] so I’ll just leave you to think about what the possibilities are.

You can watch Keahu on Teen Wolf Monday nights at 10pm on MTV.