During the filming of the third and final installment to the Maze Runner trilogy, the series’ star, Dylan O’Brien, faced serious injuries that stalled production for almost a year. The actor was hit by a stunt car while shooting an action set piece and rushed to the hospital for a concussion, a facial fracture and brain trauma. According to the actor, he “broke most of the right side” of his face.
It’s been over four years since his accident, and Dylan O’Brien is now up and at 'em with a new action film about an apocalyptic world -- Love and Monsters. But that’s not to say the actor doesn’t look at filming action sequences in a different way these days. In his words:
Whenever I’m putting on a rig, I’m vetting every piece of that rig and much more. Even to this day, if I’m on set and I’m doing a stunt, if I’m in a rig, if there’s some action going on, I am slightly irritable. There is a degree of anxiety in me that I don’t think there’s ever not going to be.
Dylan O’Brien thankfully recovered from the rough accident, but he’s found himself checking his safety gear more aptly and having some anxiety about shooting risky scenes these days. And who can blame him? The 29-year-old dealt with a serious accident that he’s lucky to have come back from. While speaking on Variety’s The Big Ticket with Marc Malkin, O’Brien also spoke about how it affected him in other aspects:
I had friends that were so dear to me that I had felt that I had neglected for years. All of a sudden, it was very important to me to nurture those relationships and not lose them. I think that it absolutely completely rewires and restructures the way you see your life and what you deem important.
Before the accident, O’Brien had been on a non-stop franchise train, shooting all the Maze Runner movies between 2013 and the setback. That doesn't even include the actor’s work on Teen Wolf for six seasons and other films like The First Time, The Internship and Deepwater Horizon. Suffering the injuries allowed him to take a hard look at his life and friendships more than ever before.
The actor also told Deadline, that aside from the accident, he was going through “shit for a long time” due to the different changes happening in both his personal and work lives. After he recovered from his injuries, the actor was able to finish the delayed Maze Runner film and complete the franchise he had started with his castmates like Kaya Scodelario and Will Poulter.
Dylan O’Brien’s Love and Monsters is about a young man living in the monster-pocalypse, who decides to make a dangerous journey to reunite with his girlfriend after spending seven years in an underground bunker. Love and Monsters is available to rent or buy now, and check out what else is coming out soon with CinemaBlend’s 2020 release schedule.
