Dylan O'Brien - Wikipedia

Before beginning his acting career, O'Brien produced, directed and starred in a number of short comedy films which he released through his personal YouTube channel, "moviekidd826".[12] He was also the drummer for the independent rock band Slow Kids at Play.[13]

O'Brien's acting break came when he landed one of the main roles in MTV's Teen Wolf, a series loosely based on the 1985 film. He was intended to play Scott, but after reading the script, he wanted to audition for the part of Stiles instead.[14] After four auditions, he was cast,[4] and started playing the role in 2010.[15] He received several Teen Choice Awards and a Young Hollywood Award for his work on the series.

In 2011, O'Brien was introduced to audiences in the entirely improvised independent comedy film High Road. The next year, he starred in the romantic comedy The First Time.

In 2013, while on hiatus from Teen Wolf, he co-starred in the comedy film The Internship; and that summer, filmed The Maze Runner (2014),[16] playing the lead role of Thomas. Yahoo! Movies named him as one of the 15 Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2014.[17] He reprised the role of Thomas in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, released on September 18, 2015.[18]

In March 2016, O'Brien was seriously injured on set while filming a stunt for Maze Runner: The Death Cure. He was in a harness on top of a moving vehicle when he was unexpectedly pulled off the vehicle and hit by another vehicle. His injuries included facial fractures, a concussion, and brain trauma.[19][20] He later said that the accident "'broke most of the right side'" of his face; he underwent reconstructive facial surgery.[21] After months of recovery, he eventually began filming other projects, and his March 2017 return to The Death Cure set marked his complete return to health.[22] The film premiered January 26, 2018.[22][23][24]

In 2016, he appeared in the disaster thriller-drama Deepwater Horizon, based on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. He starred in 2017's American Assassin, an action-thriller where he played titular character Mitch Rapp;[25][26] and voiced the CGI title character in the Transformers spin-off film Bumblebee in 2018.[27]

In 2019, he guest-starred in the comedy sci-fi anthology series Weird City.[28] In 2020, he starred in the mystery thriller Flashback (filmed in 2018),[29] and the post-apocalyptic road trip film Love and Monsters.[30]

In February 2021, he was cast in The Outfit,[31] for which filming finished in April 2021.[32] In August 2021, he was cast in Not Okay,[33] for which filming finished in September 2021. Also in August, he was cast in Caddo Lake, originally reported by Discussing Film[34] and later confirmed by Deadline Hollywood in October 2021.[35] In October 2021, it was announced he would guest star in season 11 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.[36] On November 12, 2021, O'Brien starred opposite Sadie Sink in Taylor Swift's short film All Too Well.[37] He was credited as a drummer on the track "Snow on the Beach" from Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022).[38] He then appeared as Dan Aykroyd in Saturday Night and in the psychological black comedy Twinless directed by James Sweeney. Twinless was screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award – U.S. Dramatic.[citation needed]

In 2026, he starred in Sam Raimi's survival horror film Send Help, released in January.[39] Also in 2026, he was scheduled to star in Sian Heder's biographical drama Being Heumann.[40]