Dylan O'Brien

O'Brien is the son of Lisa Rhodes, a former actress who ran an acting school, and Patrick O'Brien, a camera operator. He grew up in Springfield Township, New Jersey, before moving with his family to Hermosa Beach, California, at age 12. After graduating from Mira Costa High School in 2009, he considered sports broadcasting and planned to attend Syracuse University, but changed direction toward acting.

At 14, O'Brien began posting original comedy videos on his YouTube channel, moviekidd826. He produced, directed, and starred in the shorts, building an online following before entering film and television. A local producer and director later approached him about a web series, and an actor he met while working on the project connected him with a manager.

O'Brien's breakthrough came with MTV's supernatural series Teen Wolf, in which he played Stiles Stilinski from 2011 to 2017. He initially auditioned for Scott McCall, but preferred the role of Stiles after reading the script and was cast after four auditions. His performance earned several Teen Choice Awards and a Young Hollywood Award.

He made his film debut in the entirely improvised independent comedy High Road in 2011 and had his first film lead as Dave Hodgman in The First Time in 2012. After a supporting role as Stuart Twombly in The Internship, he played Thomas in The Maze Runner (2014), followed by Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018). He won the 2015 MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance for The Maze Runner.

In March 2016, O'Brien was seriously injured while filming a stunt for Maze Runner: The Death Cure. He was harnessed on top of a moving vehicle when he was pulled from it and struck by another vehicle. His injuries included facial fractures, a concussion, and brain trauma, and he underwent reconstructive facial surgery.

Production was halted while he recovered. He returned to the set in March 2017, and The Death Cure was released on January 26, 2018. He resumed screen work with projects including American Assassin, which he filmed after beginning his recovery, and later appeared in Deepwater Horizon and Bumblebee.

O'Brien played Caleb Holloway in Deepwater Horizon (2016), Mitch Rapp in American Assassin (2017), and voiced the title character in Bumblebee (2018). His later film roles included Joel Dawson in Love and Monsters, Fredrick Fitzell in Flashback, Richie Boyle in The Outfit, Colin in Not Okay, Simon Tarnum in Maximum Truth, and Paris Lang in Caddo Lake.

He appeared in Taylor Swift's short film All Too Well opposite Sadie Sink and was credited as a drummer on Swift's song "Snow on the Beach" from Midnights. He also appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Other Two, and Fantasmas. In Saturday Night, he portrayed Dan Aykroyd.

O'Brien played Roman and Rocky in Twinless, for which he was also an executive producer. The film received the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, while O'Brien received the festival's U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting. His listed projects include Send Help and the post-production film Being Heumann.

Before becoming established as an actor, O'Brien played drums in the independent rock band Slow Kids at Play. His music background has also appeared in his screen work, including his credited drumming on Taylor Swift's "Snow on the Beach."