By now you’ve probably read a lot about Dylan O’Brien’s on-set accident. The Maze Runner star was struck by a vehicle on the set of third entry in the franchise, landing in the hospital and out of the public eye for over a year. To be honest – as I prepped for this interview with O’Brien, I had no intention of bringing up the accident. I figured that there would be numerous profiles exclusively detailing the horrific events and O’Brien’s remarkable recovery. Perhaps, for the first time ever doing press, it would be a welcome relief for an actor to talk about the movie he’s actually promoting: in this case – the spy-thriller American Assassin.
O’Brien’s actually very good in American Assassin, elevating what could be your typical stock-hero into a broken anti-hero, less interested in doing ‘the right thing’ than avenging the loss he’s suffered, the cost be damned. Any hints of the boyish charm of Teen Wolf and Maze Runner dissipate, revealing previously untapped notes of rage and sadness.
In talking with O’Brien about this decidedly darker role, it became apparent how much the accident loomed over his performance – the actor channeling his feelings during recovery into the character. I may have had no intention about discussing the accident – but the conversation, naturally and inevitably led there…
In the following interview with Dylan O’Brien, the actor reveals how his Maze Runner accident affected his performance in American Assassin, his concerns over the film’s political message and the unending angst of being a Mets fan. For the full interview, read below.
(My interview tape began in medias res as Dylan chatted about the NY Mets less than stellar season)
Dylan O’Brien: It's just one of those years, but I don't think it will be a complete tear down and rebuild season…
Q: Yeah – my family are huge Mets fans...
O’Brien: It's been a rough season. I thought this could be it. I thought this could be a good year… but I guess not…
Do you channel that angst for your roles?
(laughter)
O’Brien: Oh, yeah -- that's the only way.
Real method acting...
O’Brien: You channel whatever you can that truly gets you mad and that's the Mets. Actually I was just in New York and I went to my first game of the year because I've been in South Africa for the first three months of the season. I was there on a night where we probably will have the best win of the whole season so it was really cool.
Well – that's good.
O’Brien: deGrom was lights out and we beat the Rockets 14-2. It was amazing.
You're the good luck charm.
O’Brien: That's a lot of pressure.
Getting to American Assassin...
O’Brien: We can keep talking baseball if you want to...
We probably could.
O’Brien: Trust me - I'd love it.
(Laughter)
Did you have a favorite spy film performance growing up?
O’Brien: I wish I had a more creative answer but The Bourne movies were really cool for me when I was a kid. I really loved that character. The first part, just where that character starts and his arc and Matt Damon... He's one of my favorite actors ever. He's always been a hero of mine growing up. That was always the coolest one for my generation.
Did you ever pretend to be a spy as a kid?
O’Brien: Always. The Matrix is another version of that… I was all about that as a kid.
So a lot of slow-mo and diving bullets?
O’Brien: Yeah. A lot of rolling around your living room with a plastic gun. A lot of trying to run up walls.
How does actually playing a spy compare to watching your idols?
O’Brien: You definitely don't feel as cool as those guys were to you. I'll never be, at least in my mind, as cool as Jason Bourne. That's something that’s normal though. First of all – you don't look at yourself and go, 'Yeah I'm even cooler.' It's a generational thing. It'd be great if some kids grew up with me as that Jason Bourne figure… But you can't quite grasp that yourself necessarily.
How did this script for American Assassin first come to you?
O’Brien: I worked with [producer] Lorenzo [di Bonaventura] before...
On Deepwater Horizon?
O’Brien: Yeah - and funny enough, I think he mentioned it to me while we were shooting. At the time though, I didn't know what he was talking about. Then when American Assassin [finally got going], there was a lot of talk about ‘going older’…
Did the original script have a 35 or 40 year old in it?
O’Brien: I'm actually curious about that. I'm sure years ago it did because [the script’s] been around for awhile. Even the first draft that I saw, which was an early draft compared to what we ended up with, I'm sure was not ‘the first draft’. The thing’s been around for a decade. I think at some point they had an idea about going younger. Obviously that was up for debate, but yeah – I can't remember the exact age it was written for or what draft I received… I think it was a 25-year-old guy at that point. There was still some talk about making it a little older. But that doesn't really require a huge adjustment...
Did the script change once you came on board?
O’Brien: It changed a lot. There's a lot of things about it that needed to be cleaned up and become more of a film with a stronger… making it a subjective journey through this guy. When you're with a guy subjectively, the audience being told the story is just more inclined to be with him. There were changes. I had my notes that I went over with [director] Michael [Cuesta].
What in particular concerned you about the character when you were first signing on to it?
O’Brien: The arc that I dug and envisioned for him just wasn't as strong at first.
Did his fiancée always die in the first scene?
O’Brien: Yeah, that was there, but I wanted it to be a driving force throughout. It was adjusting the script to support and focus on that more. Let that be the arc. I know – Michael Keaton and I have talked about how we were both very concerned at first with the political aspect of this. If we’re going to part of something like this, we both wanted to do it right. Not do anything ignorant. You know?
Yeah, absolutely.
O’Brien: That's a huge thing for me. Just as a person - I don't want to be a part of anything I don't believe in. A lot [of the changes were] just focusing on the ambiguity of terrorism right now. Not selling to anyone that America's ‘good’ and a certain part of the world is not. Or a certain religion breeds bad and evil people - that's just not the way it is… I was interested in American Assassin because of how current it is unfortunately. There's something interesting to me about being a part of something like that and telling that with an emotional personal story as well. But I wanted to make sure it would be responsible.
How do you feel the final movie reflects on these current events?
O’Brien: I just hope it all gets across. I know it can be interpreted in different ways especially just seeing the trailer and the title. So it's still a little bit of a concern of mine. I just hope that I can do my best to preach that—
I think there's plenty of shading in the movie.
O’Brien: Yeah, I think so too. Ultimately I think we did the job. But it's still up to people obviously, who can absolutely take it as they want; but we did a lot of work intentionally for that reason…
How did you come up with the look of the character? For instance, Mitch has a beard early in the picture? How important was the physical aspect?
O’Brien: It was really important to me. That was something I fought for and I'm really glad [the studio] allowed that to happen.
Yeah, usually studios don't like their lead actors with beards…
O’Brien: It's not usually a good pitch, but they were really cool about it. When I was getting ready for this role, I was going through a lot of things. The beard happened because after my accident. For six to eight weeks after my accident, I couldn't shave because I was still [healing], but even when I could [shave], I didn't want to. Now that I look back on it, I think I was in a way hiding behind [the beard]. It's just not at the forefront of your mind to shave or get your haircut. That ended up being really telling to me. I was like, ‘Wow that correlates a lot.’ This guy who's been through trauma - I don't think he would necessarily be going to get his haircut. That could be a good jump to add layers and shed light on who this guy is now – how much he's changed physically as well as emotionally and psychologically.
Do you always draw from your own personal experiences for these heightened motivations?
O’Brien: Yeah. However you can filter it through yourself that's going to deliver the most honest performance. That's the best I can do as an actor. I happened to be going through things that were a little bit similar that I was able to utilize for the role with the hair and beard.
American Assassin opens everywhere Friday.
