‘The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien Details His Days After Accident

The Maze Runner‘s Dylan O’Brien has opened up about the details surrounding his accident on set, stating that his recovery was “overwhelming” and that it took a psychological toll.

Speaking exclusively to Vulture, the 26-year-old Maze Runner lead and former star in MTV’s Teen Wolf, finally opened up about the accident that occurred on set while filming the sequel in the Maze Runner franchise.

“I had lost a lot of function, just in my daily routine. I wasn’t even at a point where I felt like I could handle social situations, let alone showing up and being responsible for work every day. Long hours on set, delivering a performance and carrying a movie…it just makes your palms sweat,” O’Brien said of the March 2016 accident that halted production of the movie. “And then there was a part of me, too, that was feeling pressured and stressed out by the mere fact that I had all of these people still emailing me, checking in, I would get so f–ing mad. Like if ever I heard from a producer [who was] seeing when I’d be able to get back on set, I’d f–ing go nuts. It would really, really piss me off.”

The accident occurred just days into shooting for Maze Runner: The Death Cure, the sequel to the original film based on the young adult novel of the same name. It was reported that as O’Brien was pulled from one vehicle, he was struck by another, leaving him with a concussion, facial fractures, and brain trauma, and causing him to withdraw from the public eye as he recovered. The accident ultimately halted production and left O’Brien’s other roles, including his role in American Assassin and his return to Teen Wolf, in jeopardy.

“Nothing inside of you wants to go back to that,” O’Brien admits. “It took a lot of deep searching past those gut instincts that I was having just because of the trauma that I experienced to realize that I did want to finish it.”

The actor eventually returned to finish filming the sequel, which was released in theaters on Jan. 26, 2018, almost year after its original scheduled release date. He also went on to star in American Assassin and briefly reprised his role in Teen Wolf.