'Maze Runner' star Dylan O'Brien on return from injury: 'It really meant a lot to me to finish the film' (exclusive)
In March 2016, Dylan O’Brien was seriously injured while filming the third and final installment of the Maze Runner franchise, The Death Cure. While the exact nature of the accident has not been disclosed, we do know that O’Brien was hurt in a stunt gone wrong. He was pulled from a vehicle, was struck by another, and wound up with facial fractures and brain trauma.
After taking time to recover and complete American Assassin, O’Brien was able to return to the set of The Death Cure nearly a year later, in February 2017. In a Facebook Live with Yahoo Entertainment, O’Brien shared his gratitude to have been able to complete the franchise that took him from supporting television player on Teen Wolf to burgeoning action star. “It’s just been amazing to finish the movie,” said O’Brien. “It was not an easy thing to go through at all for me. It’s kind of hard to still be talking about it, so much time later. …
“It’s been almost two years now. But I understand that’s something not everyone’s been going through it like I have, with me. It’s just really, at this point, it’s something I’m so proud that I ended up getting through. It really meant a lot to me to still finish the film and get through it with everybody.”
At a recent screening in Los Angeles, The Death Cure director Wes Ball offered a bit more information on the injury. The accident occurred during a sequence shown in the film’s trailers, where O’Brien’s character, Thomas, and his allies pursue a train.
“There’s one shot of Dylan on a car, and that shot’s in the movie,” Ball said during a post-movie Q&A. “It was the most awful experience I could imagine that I’ve ever really had and probably will ever have. I was there, there was just a couple of us. We were out from everybody else and Dylan got hurt very badly. I was the first person to run up to him, actually. It’s a scar that I’ll carry too, forever, basically.”
It’s certainly a moment that O’Brien’s Death Cure costars will remember. His onscreen love interest, Kaya Scodelario, said his return to the set “was emotional for us. I think, for us, it’s our friend, you know? The movies are great, but this our friend. We’re proud of him. It’s f***ing cool.”
Watch our full chat with the cast of Maze Runner: The Death Cure:
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