Dylan O’Brien has kept busy since MTV’s supernatural drama series Teen Wolf ended in 2017, portraying a number of varied characters and starring in four upcoming movies. Before getting his big break as Stiles Stilinski, O’Brien produced, directed, and starred comedy videos which he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
It was his performance as Stiles in Teen Wolf, however, that would catapult him to stardom. Earning comparisons to other geeky sidekicks from famous teen shows, O’Brien quickly made the character his own. Thanks to the actor’s ability to stand out in both comedic and darker scenes, Stiles became a fan favorite. Lead roles and prominent supporting parts would follow for O’Brien in The First Time, The Internship, and Deepwater Horizon. Most notably, during his stint on Teen Wolf, O’Brien headlined The Maze Runner films and played Mitch Rapp in American Assassin.
The final episode of Teen Wolf aired in September 2017, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure premiered in January the following year. The final Maze Runner movie was originally meant to be released in February 2017 but was rescheduled to allow O’Brien to recover from injuries he’d sustained during filming. O’Brien would next be heard in Bumblebee, providing the voice of the titular character. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a producer on the project, praised O’Brien for bringing a level of trustworthiness to his performance which allowed audiences to empathize with the Autobot more easily. In 2019, O’Brien took on his most well-received role since Teen Wolf when he starred alongside Ed O’Neil in the anthology series Weird City. A blend of science fiction and comedy, the series streamed on YouTube Premium and focused on different characters living in the same futuristic city of Weird.
O’Brien and O’Neil appeared in the first episode of Weird City as Stu and Burt, respectively. Titled “The One” and co-written by Jordan Peele, the episode begins as Stu uses a dating app to meet the perfect match. Much to their surprise, since both men identify as straight, in addition to their significant age difference, Stu and Burt are paired together. “The One” was praised by critics and became an instant hit with audiences for its gentle exploration of love between two unlikely people. In his most recent on-screen role, O’Brien starred in an episode of the Amazing Stories reboot on AppleTV+. Once again headlining the premiere installment of an anthology, O’Brien acted alongside Victoria Pedretti in a story that fused romance and time travel.
O’Brien has also been active online. Back in May, he went viral for his impeccable recreation of Andrew Garfield’s climatic scene from The Social Network. The video, which includes actress Sarah Ramos as Mark Zuckerberg, has garnered more than 2 million views. Additionally, the actor has participated in lively virtual reunions with his co-stars from both The Maze Runner and Teen Wolf. Looking ahead, O’Brien has four upcoming movies on his slate. A few of those movies were previously scheduled to be released in the near future, before being delayed or temporarily shelved.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell, a mystery thriller co-starring Maika Monroe, is completed but does not currently have a release date. Monster Problems, a post-apocalyptic romantic comedy led by O’Brien, was initially going to premiere in April of this year before being delayed to 2021. Infinite, a sci-fi action film, has been postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of those titles, it was recently announced that O’Brien will play the main protagonist in the next movie from Green Book director Peter Farrelly. Based on a true story, the movie follows John Donohue, who traveled from New York to Vietnam in 1967 just to share some beers with his childhood buddies, who were fighting in the Army overseas. For those who have been fans of O’Brien since Teen Wolf, it’s exciting to know that he has a lot of new projects on the way.