Dylan O’Brien is recalling the near-death accident on the set of Maze Runner: The Death Cure and feeling his concerns were not being respected.
In a new interview, O’Brien reflected on filming the dystopian science fiction movie in which he suffered an accident. He says that experience has changed his approach to handling himself on movie sets and how he prioritizes his own safety first.
“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.”
O’Brien noted that he “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,” he added. “And then what happened happened. And by all accounts, it was all pretty gotten away with, I would say, as well.”
While filming Maze Runner: The Death Cure in Vancouver in 2016, O’Brien suffered an accident while performing a stunt. The accident left the actor with a concussion and other physical injuries. Production was halted to allow O’Brien to recover. The film resumed production the following year and was released in theaters in January 2018.
O’Brien said 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 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,” he continued. “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.”
