Why Theo From Teen Wolf Looks So Familiar
If you were watching television during the early 2010s, chances are that you remember the massive craze around the MTV supernatural-drama series "Teen Wolf." The show starred Tyler Posey as Scott McCall, a high school teen who struggles to reconcile his complex personal life with his secret status as a werewolf. Along with Posey, the series was host to a beloved cast, with most members getting their own compelling character arcs over the course of the show.
However, few character arcs in the series can rival that of Theo Raeken and his journey from maniacal villain to trusted protector. Theo was only a part of the show for its final two seasons, but he made a big impression on fans. A childhood friend of Scott, he returned to Beacon Hills as a Chimera, a being with the mixed genetics of several creatures (a combination of a werewolf and werecoyote, in this case). Theo secretly schemed to steal Scott's powers, though his plans failed to come to fruition. He continued to act in the shadows with his own pack of fellow Chimeras, but as new shared threats came to haunt Beacon Hills, he slowly grew into a reliable ally of his former enemies.
Fans loved seeing Theo's growth as a character, but some may have wondered why his actor, Cody Christian, looks so familiar to them. As it happens, Christian has appeared in an array of notable shows and movies, ranging from family-friendly sitcom shenanigans to gritty gangster dramas.
Christian entered the world of vampires in True Blood
Though it stands as one of his defining roles, "Teen Wolf" was actually not the first supernatural drama series that Christian appeared on. Before entering the world of werewolves, the actor first dove into the realm of vampires in "True Blood," the HBO series that featured a timeline where the bloodsucking creatures attempted to coexist with humanity. While Christian didn't necessarily encounter any vampires himself, he did play an integral role in one major character's backstory.
Christian appeared in a flashback sequence in Season 1, Episode 5, titled "Sparks Fly Out," as an unnamed screaming child. As vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) publicly narrates the story of his own original death in the American Civil War, he explains that his friend Tolliver Humphries (Caleb Steinmeyer) perished when he was lured into the line of fire by the child's screams. While Christian's character survived the chaos, Tolliver and Bill weren't so lucky, eventually leading to the beginning of the latter's new life of vampirism.
The doctors saved his life on Grey's Anatomy
At least one appearance on a medical drama series is essentially a rite of passage for many TV actors at this point, and Christian got his in early on with an episode of the long-running show "Grey's Anatomy." Popularized for its compelling focus on the lives a group of surgeons led by Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the series has seen the doctors navigate through some really intense and difficult medical cases. Christian's appearance precipitated yet another harrowing case for the surgeons, with plenty of twists, turns, and thrills.
Christian appeared in Season 6, Episode 13, titled "State of Love and Trust" as a young patient named Brad, who claimed to have lasting abdominal pain. Brad's condition caused tensions to run high between his parents and the doctors, as his parents believed he was lying just so he could skip school and did not want to pay for an expensive procedure while doctors Alex (Justin Chambers) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) believed that something was truly wrong with him and he needed to be operated on. The latter pair's suspicions were confirmed when they unearthed an underlying cardiac issue in him. Brad's life was saved and Alex learned a valuable lesson about the complexities of dealing with child patients.
He played a future gangster in Kill the Irishman
Christian doesn't only have TV credits to his name, as the actor has also appeared several times on the silver screen. In fact, he actually played a fairly integral role in the thrilling 2011 biopic "Kill the Irishman," which chronicled the life of the historic gangster Danny Greene and his bizarre ability to outwit death in even the most dire of circumstances. The movie had an absolutely star-studded cast, featuring the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Linda Cardellini, and more.
Ray Stevenson starred for the majority of the movie as an adult Greene, but the younger version of the man was played by none other than Christian. Looking at pictures of the two versions of the character side-by-side, it's clear that the film's crew made the right choice for the casting. The resemblance of some of the pair's facial features is honestly a bit uncanny.
Christian discovered a terrible murder on Body of Proof
Christian returned to the realm of medical dramas once again when he appeared on the half-police-procedural-half-medical-drama series "Body of Proof," starring Dana Delany as gifted medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt. Christian appeared in Season 2, Episode 16, titled "Home Invasion," as a teenage boy named Greg Lux. As with Christian's appearance on "Grey's Anatomy," the drama once again centered upon a boy and his parents. Except, this time, the parents were a little more ... well, dead.
Out on a date and trying to tell if his parents are still awake, Greg used an app to see through his house's security cams and discovered that both his mother and father had been brutally murdered. Megan worked through the case and it was eventually revealed that Greg's friend Travis murdered the pair because they were physically abusive to Greg. This slew of revelations was nothing short of immensely traumatic for the boy, but he at least got some sort of consolation by reuniting with his estranged brother. Hooray?
The actor also appeared on two classic Disney sitcoms
In perhaps as jarring a tonal shift as possible from the past several works on this list, Christian appeared in two of Disney's family-friendly sitcoms from the early 2010s. The first appearance came in 2012 on "Lab Rats," the Disney XD series that focused on a gang of teenagers with bionic superpowers. Christian appeared in the show's premiere episode, titled "Crush, Chop, and Burn" as Kavan, a student at Mission Creek High School who had a flirtatious relationship with Bree (Kelly Berglund), one of the bionic teens.
Roughly one year later, Christian made a guest appearance on "Austin & Ally," the Disney Channel series that focused on the friendship and eventual romance between the titular two teen musicians (played by Ross Lynch and Laura Marano respectively). Christian appeared in Season 2, Episode 9, titled "Campers & Complications" as Elliot, an old summer camp friend of Ally's who had come for a visit. Over the course of the episode, it seemed that love was in the air for the two, causing Austin to confront his own feelings for Ally. Such a romance wasn't to be, however, as Ally eventually rejected Elliot, stating that the two didn't have much in common beyond their shared time at camp. Ouch.
He had some secrets of his own on Pretty Little Liars
Christian recurred on another show that was notable for its dark-tinged teen drama, but with considerably less in the way of werewolves or vampires. Throughout most of the duration of "Pretty Little Liars," the series — which saw a group of friends hunt for the identity of their shared anonymous blackmailer, known only as "A," — had Christian sporadically appear as Mike Montgomery, the angsty younger brother of lead character Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale).
Over the course of the show, Mike became just as embroiled in the central mystery of "A" as many of the lead characters. He even struck up a romance with the original "A," Mona Vanderwaal (Janel Parrish), and believed for some time that she had been murdered by a new version of "A" before the two later reunited. In the sixth season, Mike headed off to college and Christian's tenure on the show concluded.
He turned kidnapper in Assassination Nation
Surprisingly "Pretty Little Liars" was somehow not the only property that Christian appeared in that featured high school girls facing off against an anonymous cyberthreat. Christian also played a part in "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson's controversial 2018 comedy-thriller film "Assassination Nation." The movie followed several high schoolers living in the fictional town of Salem when it becomes plagued by a mysterious hacker who reveals many of the taboo secrets of the community's residents.
In the movie, Christian portrayed Johnny, just one of the town's many residents who went absolutely insane once everyone's secrets started getting revealed to the world. Johnny kidnapped one of the leading girls, Bex, and planned to kill her because she had a secret relationship with his friend Diamond. The other girls managed to save Bex and decided to spare Johnny's life, leaving little in the way of a satisfying comeuppance for his crimes.
He also portrays a troubled football player in All-American
Christian's latest credit to date is his ongoing role on the main cast of The CW's "All-American," the sports drama series that follows the turbulent personal lives of the members of the fictional Crenshaw High School football team. Since its beginning, Christian has starred as Asher Adams, the team's wide-receiver with an especially troubled personal life. Over the course of the series, Adams has suffered from home life problems, alcoholism, and steroid abuse, the latter of which eventually resulted in him developing a heart condition that led to him no longer being able to participate in football.
Simply put, the character has had a rough go of things so far, and though he's far from perfect, fans of the series are holding out hope that Adams will eventually get a happy ending. For now, however, the character has found a new passion in coaching, so perhaps things really are looking up for him from here on out. Only time will tell.