Dylan O’Brien says his safety concerns "were not respected" on day of near-death Maze Runner accident

10 October 2024, 15:56

Dylan O'Brien opens up about his near-death accident on Maze Runner. Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images, 20th Century Fox via Alamy

By Katie Louise Smith

"I know I’m not difficult. I know I’m not an asshole. I know I was trying to protect myself that day."

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Dylan O'Brien has just opened up about his serious near-death accident that happened on the set of Maze Runner: The Death Cure in a new interview.

In case you didn't know about what happened to Dylan, here's a quick explainer: In March 2016, Dylan was in a harness on top of a moving vehicle getting ready to perform a stunt on the set of The Death Cure. He was unexpectedly pulled off the vehicle and fell into the path of another vehicle.

He sustained several face fractures, got a concussion and brain trauma. The whole thing almost ended his acting career.

Dylan rarely opens up about the incident but in a new interview with Men's Health, he's now spoken about how he felt on-set in the lead up to the almost-fatal event and how it's changed the way he now approaches his work.

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Dylan O'Brien completed The Maze Runner: Death Cure filming six months after recovering from the on-set accident. Picture: Alamy

Opening up about his traumatic experience eight years later, Dylan explained that he has now changed his approach on how he handles himself on movie sets and how he now prioritises his own safety first.

"It was a life-changing incident," he said. "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."

He continued: "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."

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In 2017, Dylan opened up about his injuries in an interview with Vulture. He had to undergo reconstructive facial surgery after he "'broke most of the right side'" of his face. He took six months to recover, before returning to complete filming.

"I really was in a dark place there for a while and it wasn’t an easy journey back," Dylan said, before explaining that he wasn't sure he would ever be able to work on a set again. "There was a time there where I didn’t know if I would ever do it again … and that thought scared me, too."

"In a lot of ways, those six months went by like that. And then, in a lot of ways, I can still remember that six months as if it was five years of my life."

He also opened up about being supported by his personal trainer after experiencing panic attacks.

Dylan O'Brien didn't think he would return to acting after his near-death accident. Picture: Getty

In his Men's Health profile, Dylan explained that the whole ordeal has taught him to "have your own back" on set and in those kind of spaces.

"I just turned 33," he said. "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."