Actor Dylan O’Brien was left severely injured after a stunt went wrong during filming for his Maze Runner movie trilogy.
On set of the third instalment, Maze Runner: Death Cure, Dylan was pulled off the top of a moving vehicle unexpectedly while wearing a harness and was hit by another vehicle.
He was left with a concussion, facial fractures and brain trauma, in a recent interview with Men’s Health, he said, “Looking after yourself should never be conflated with being difficult.”
He was asked how the accident had impacted his life, to which he said, “It was a life-changing incident.”
“I’ve approached everything differently, you could say, particularly with regards to standing my ground on set,” he added.
“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.”
“I learned after the accident to not conflate taking care of yourself and looking after yourself.”
“Don’t let them manipulate you into thinking that is being difficult,” he warned.
“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,” he continued.
“And then what happened happened.”
“And by all accounts, it was all pretty gotten away with, I would say, as well.”
“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.”
“I just turned 33,” he added.
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years.”
He continued: “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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