Crystal Reed plays Allison Argent on ‘Teen Wolf,’ the new girl in school who falls in love with the story’s main character, Scott McCall (Tyler Posey).

MANILA, Philippines – Almost every new show that features vampires or werewolves gets caught in a “Twilight” comparison. The latest addition to this list, “Teen Wolf,” is no exception.

Crystal Reed, one of the stars of MTV’s first scripted drama (which will be aired on AXN Beyond in Asia), finds the comparison flattering.

“I like the [‘Twilight’] franchise and I think it’s wildly successful. If we could have a fraction of that success I’d be really happy,” she told Bulletin Entertainment in a recent phone interview.

It seems, though, that the similarities only lie on the surface, as Reed attested to what sets “Teen Wolf” apart from what may well be one of biggest worldwide phenomenon today.

“We’re really much different than 'Twilight' because we do have a comedic element. So I don’t feel any pressure to be anything other than what we are, which I think is really great,” she said.

“Teen Wolf” the series apparently does not only deviate from “Twilight” or other “vampire-werewolf” TV shows such as “Vampire Diaries” and “True Blood,” but even in the very material from which it is based---the 80s film “Teen Wolf” that starred Michael J. Fox.

“It wasn’t nearly as dark as our remake. Our show is really scary and it’s got a lot of blood and people die and there’s a bunch of horror. It’s also really sexy and racy,” Reed related.

The new TV series, as Reed described, is a “coming-of-age story about teenage transformation.” It centers on Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), an ordinary high school student whose life is completely changed after he got bitten by a werewolf.

As he struggles to discover who he really is and what he has become, he gets smitten with the new girl in school, Allison Argent (Reed). The catch? She comes from a family of hunters.

“She finds that out and she just has to choose between the love of her life and her family,” Crystal said about her character.

In spite of the supernatural element in “Teen Wolf,” Reed said it comes from a universal truth that makes it fairly accessible to viewers.

“It's about the struggles with growing up and not knowing who you are; not feeling like you belong and trying to hide who you are.  I think that’s especially present in my character because she’s gone from school to school to school and she’s an outsider. And also with Scott, he’s turning into a werewolf and he can’t tell anybody. He’s hiding it from his family and his girlfriend.

“And that’s true for the young teenage girls who are struggling with their body image, or a boy who’s homosexual and can’t tell anybody about it,” she related.

Even the werewolf look of the characters in “Teen Wolf” was given a more human touch, Reed added.

“They have more human characteristics and they don’t completely change a hundred percent into wolf. And it’s just make-up and prosthetic and none of it is CGI, which I think is really cool,” she said.

The resulting look, in turn, “makes them a little sexier than any other wolf on TV,” Reed quipped.

In playing Allison, Reed admitted it was “physically challenging” and “draining” as they shot in the “freezing cold” state of Atlanta.

“We’re filming 14 hours a day, five days a week,” she said.

Nevertheless, Reed said, “I would do it all over again because I love it so much.”

Being cast in “Teen Wolf” also allowed Reed to do her own stunts and study archery---which is an integral part of her character Allison.

“It was actually a lot of fun for me. They set up archery lessons for me in Atlanta and I learned about the form and the different types of bows. I got to do all that stuff myself on set.

“I had a stunt double but majority of the stunts, I did by myself. And that was a lot of fun, too, for me because as an actor it’s really much more gratifying when I get to do my own physical work,” said Reed.

If she would be given a superpower, Reed said she’ll take “a werewolf’s sense of hearing.”

“They have a heightened sense of hearing so they can hear people around them and people far away talking. I think it’d be really cool just to hear different conversations in different worlds,” she said.

But given her own power---as an artist, that is---Reed, a Detroit, Michigan native, aims to inspire other people, a dream that took form when she was 10 years old.

“I really love to be able to take people on a journey. It’s important as humans to be able to have a kind of escape through art. At the end of the day when you’re tired and you come home from work, you can just turn on the TV and just leave your world for an hour or so...

“I think you can really change people through acting, film, theater, and TV and I’ve always wanted to do it for that reason,” she said.

“Teen Wolf” premieres on July 17, 9p.m., on AXN Beyond.