Dylan O’Brien is opening up about his personal and professional journey. In a candid interview with Men’s Health, the 33-year-old actor shared insights about his career, including how a life-threatening accident on the set of Maze Runner nearly a decade ago changed everything for him.
In the interview, Dylan delved into the profound impact the accident had on his outlook and how it shifted the way he approaches work and safety on set.
“It was a life-changing incident,” Dylan admitted. “I’ve approached everything differently, you could say, particularly with regards to standing my ground on set. It’s very commonplace in the culture for young actors to be controlled, and the way they strive to do that is by always being like, Oh, don’t become difficult. Don’t be a pain in the ass. Or Are you complaining, are you being difficult? Things like that.”
Dylan reflected on how the accident made him realise the importance of self-care, especially when it comes to safety. He shared, “I learned after the accident to not conflate taking care of yourself and looking after yourself. Don’t let them manipulate you into thinking that is being difficult, because I can look at that day and know I was a 24-year-old kid who was raising concerns about how we were approaching things, and they were not listened to, they were not respected. And then what happened happened. And by all accounts, it was all pretty gotten away with, I would say, as well.”
The actor expressed how this experience taught him the value of self-reliance. “It’s taught me that, at the end of the day, in these spaces, you have your own back, and that’s the most you can rely on. I just turned 33. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I know the person I am, and the character I bring to set, and the way I treat people and the way that I treat a workspace, and I know I’m not difficult. I know I’m not an asshole. I know I was trying to protect myself that day, and so I’ve just never forgotten that. That’s always rung true as being the thing to hold with me.”
Dylan also addressed rumors that have floated around over the years about him potentially taking on superhero roles like The Flash or Spider-Man. Despite fan excitement, he set the record straight: “I wouldn’t rule out anything. Certainly, it’s not of interest to me as of now. Maybe when I was 20 and they were rebooting Spider-Man—I was excited about that. But I didn’t even get past the casting pre-call or anything. No, none of those rumors have ever been true. I didn’t even know there were rumors. I just thought they were people just putting it out there.”
Looking ahead, Dylan shared what excites him creatively. “There are obviously filmmakers I’ve loved since I was a kid who I would love to work with. I always want to challenge myself, and I always want to go with my gut and trust when I respond to something, I’m responding to it for a reason. Trust that when I’m scared of something, maybe that’s a good thing I should lean into,” he explained.
He emphasized his passion for championing new filmmakers and original projects, saying, “Try to find the new filmmakers, and try to champion them, and be a part of the early parts of the careers of our new wave of filmmakers. Try to champion original things as much as I can, too. I feel like that’s obviously trending so much further and further away, and towards extinction, that I just feel like it’s important to lend yourself to those things when you can, as much as you can.”
Dylan O’Brien’s journey from a young actor on Maze Runner to a thoughtful and self-assured artist is inspiring, showing how resilience and introspection have shaped his career for the better.
