Dylan O’Brien has said his concerns on set about the Maze Runner: The Death Cure movie “were not listened to” before he suffered a near-death experience.
The actor was severely injured in a stunt in Vancouver in March 2016, which resulted in production being shut down for a period before the film was eventually completed and released in 2018.
The accident left him with a concussion, a facial fracture and brain trauma.
“It was a life-changing incident. I’ve approached everything differently, you could say, particularly with regards to standing my ground on set,” O’Brien told Men’s Health.
“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.”
Actors Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dylan O’Brien and Kaya Scodelario attend the ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ premiere at Le Grand Rex on January 24, 2018 in Paris, France CREDIT: Marc Piasecki/WireImage
Following the incident, he said he previously said he underwent extensive facial reconstructive surgery.
He continued: “I learned after the accident to not conflate taking care of yourself and looking after yourself. Do not let them manipulate you into thinking that’s 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. 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 have just never forgotten that. That’s always rung true as being the thing to hold with me.”
NME has reached out to 20th Century Fox’s parent company Disney for comment.
O’Brien is currently starring in the biographical comedy film Saturday Night which tells the behind-the-scenes story of Saturday Night Live‘s premiere episode on October 11, 1975.
It is set for release in US cinemas tomorrow (October 11).
English (US) · 