Dylan O’Brien reveals traumatic accident on Maze Runner set in 2016 ‘rewired’ the way he sees life

Dylan O’Brien reveals traumatic accident on Maze Runner set in 2016 ‘rewired’ the way he sees life

He’s famous for starring in Teen Wolf and the Maze Runner movies.

But Dylan O’Brien’s career almost came to a screeching halt in 2016 when he suffered major injuries after being hit by a stunt car during the making of the third Maze Runner film The Death Cure.

‘It absolutely completely rewires and restructures the way you see your life and what you deem important,’ he said of the traumatic experience during an interview on Wednesday’s Variety and iHeart podcast The Big Ticket.

Tough experience: Dylan O’Brien, 29, told The Big Ticket podcast that his traumatic on set accident in 2016 while filming a stunt for Maze Runner: The Death Cure changed his life

The actor, now 29, had to undergo reconstructive facial surgery after the on-set accident that left him with facial fractures, concussion and brain trauma.

After months of convalescence, he did manage to return to the production in 2017 and complete shooting the movie, which was released in January 2018. 

O’Brien told The Big Ticket that he still feels the impact in his professional and personal life. 

‘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,’ he explained.

Changed: 'It completely rewires and restructures the way you see your life and what you deem important,' the actor, who suffered facial fractures, concussion and brain trauma, shared

Changed: ‘It completely rewires and restructures the way you see your life and what you deem important,’ the actor, who suffered facial fractures, concussion and brain trauma, shared

Back in action: After months of convalescence, he did manage to return to the production in 2017 and complete shooting the movie, which was released in January 2018 (pictured)

Back in action: After months of convalescence, he did manage to return to the production in 2017 and complete shooting the movie, which was released in January 2018 (pictured)

Never forgets: '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,' he explained (pictured in 2015's Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials)

Never forgets: ‘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,’ he explained (pictured in 2015’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials)

Found fame: O'Brien's big break came when he was cast as Stiles in MTV's Teen Wolf series in 2010. It was a role he continued to play until the show ended in 2017

Found fame: O’Brien’s big break came when he was cast as Stiles in MTV’s Teen Wolf series in 2010. It was a role he continued to play until the show ended in 2017

He shared that he also now makes sure to focus on friendships and not get too caught up in his work.  

‘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, he said. 

O’Brien’s big break came when he was cast as Stiles in MTV’s Teen Wolf series in 2010. It was a role he continued to play until the show ended in 2017.

In 2013, he was cast in the lead role in the film version of the popular book The Maze Runner and reprised the role in two sequels, The Scorch Trials in 2015 and The Death Cure.

The actor is currently promoting his new movie Love And Monsters which is being released digitally on demand by Paramount on October 16.

In the adventure, he plays a character who emerges from an underground bunker after sheltering there for seven years while monsters ravage the earth and goes in search of his childhood sweetheart. 

Coming soon: O'Brien is currently promoting his new movie Love And Monsters which is being released digitally on demand by Paramount on Friday

Coming soon: O’Brien is currently promoting his new movie Love And Monsters which is being released digitally on demand by Paramount on Friday