Almost a decade after the on-set accident that nearly cost him not only his career but his life, actor Dylan O’Brien is opening up about it.
It was on the set of Maze Runner: The Death Cure – the third and final installment of the series that shot him to stardom – that the unfortunate accident occurred.
In March 2016 he was filming a stunt for the action film, being in a harness on top of a moving vehicle. He was pulled off the vehicle unexpectedly, and, per reports, struck by another after sliding under the car that had been behind him.
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In a statement at the time, WorkSafeBC said O’Brien’s injuries included “concussion, facial fracture, and lacerations”.
It was later revealed the accident had left him with brain trauma, with O’Brien saying it “broke most of the right side” of his face, and required him to undergo reconstructive facial surgery.
It took him six months to fully recover from the accident, which left him reluctant to return to acting. He eventually did, even completing the Maze Runner film in 2018.
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The 33-year-old has rarely spoken about the incident, until now.
He told Men’s Health that the accident completely changed the way he approached filming.
“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,” he said,
He recalled that he had flagged his concerns with the stunt.
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“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,” he shared.
Now he reflects, “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.”
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Though he says it’s a shame that he finally learned this lesson through such traumatic circumstances, he believes it ultimately contributes to the creative process.
”There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. There’s nothing wrong with bringing ideas, even if we’re talking creatively. It’s our job to bring ideas. There’s nothing wrong with raising concerns. There’s nothing wrong with being like, ‘I think we could do this better, I think we could do this differently.’ You know what I mean? That’s the process. It’s a collaborative process,” he said.
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