Dylan O’Brien

With his natural talent and drive, it was inevitable that Dylan O'Brien would find his way into show business. While he initially harbored dreams of becoming a cinematographer, the future star eventually found himself acting in front of the camera. O'Brien's first onscreen job was a lead part on the original Web series "Sweety High" (2010) followed by a featured role in the mildly buzzed about independent film "High Road" (2011), in which he played a fearful teen runaway.

With just a few acting credits to his name, O'Brien was suddenly thrust into the spotlight when he nabbed a starring role on the television series "Teen Wolf" (MTV, 2011), inspired by the cult classic 1985 film of the same name starring Michael J. Fox. On the series, O'Brien played the lead character's outgoing and loyal best friend, a role that made the actor a household name among the teen crowd and established him as one of his generation's most dynamic and promising young stars. O'Brien's starring role in the dystopian young adult action film "The Maze Runner" (2014) and sequel "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" (2015) made O'Brien a rising young film star, but his serious injury on the set of the third film in the trilogy at least temporarily put that future on hold.

Dylan O'Brien was born on Aug. 26, 1991 in New York City. Growing up, he had always dreamt of having a film career, working behind the lens like his cinematographer father. After high school, he applied to countless film schools all over the country, but he eventually found himself acting in front of the camera instead. In 2010, O'Brien landed a lead role on the popular Web series "Sweety High," an interactive comedy series created for tween and teen girls. His character, Clever Trevor, was an outspoken and charming high school student who often found himself in hot water for making the wrong joke at the wrong time. In 2011, he had a featured role in the independent film "High Road," the directorial debut of improv comedy legend Matt Walsh. The comedy centered on Fitz, a part-time marijuana dealer (James Pumphrey) who heads to Northern California after the breakup of his band. O'Brien played a 16-year-old runaway who joined Fitz on his road trip to escape his father's threats of military school.

In the summer of 2011, O'Brien's career kicked into high gear when he joined the cast of the action-comedy series "Teen Wolf," based on the 1985 blockbuster film starring Michael J. Fox as a pubescent, basketball-playing werewolf. Like the movie, the series followed a geeky high school student named Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) who, after a random attack with a wolf, transforms into one himself and suddenly gains new super powers. O'Brien played McCall's goofy and very loyal best friend who covered for him, usually around full moon time. His character also provided much-needed comic relief from the show's mostly dark and suspenseful storylines.

After appearing in the comedy "The Internship" (2013), O'Brien landed his first starring role as Thomas, the protagonist of dystopian action thriller "The Maze Runner" (2014). That film and its sequel "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" (2015) were fairly successful, but while filming an action sequence for the third and final film in the trilogy, "Maze Runner: The Death Cure," in March 2016, O'Brien was seriously injured while performing a stunt that involved jumping from one moving car to another. Although the film's producers initially minimized O'Brien's injuries, it was soon revealed that the second car had actually run over O'Brien, causing serious facial injuries and causing him to briefly lose consciousness. The film, which had announced that it was on a brief hiatus while O'Brien recovered, shut down indefinitely in April 2016.