Last year, when director Wes Ball was filming his adaptation of the James Dashner YA novel The Maze Runner near New Orleans, I got to visit the set with a few other reporters. While some movies are made primarily on soundstages, the production found a rough patch of land filled with poisonous snakes and transformed it into a filming location in order to bring this film to life. And if you think I’m joking about the snakes, the production had a few snake wranglers on set at all times and their sole mission was to make sure where they were filming was snake free. For more on that, watch this interview.

During a break in filming, I participated in a group interview with Dylan O’Brien. He talked about how he landed the role, why his MTV hair almost cost him the job, what the film’s about, if he feels pressure being the leading man, what it’s been like working with Ball, his reaction to the production artwork, the stunts, and a lot more. Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Before going any further, if you’re not familiar with The Maze Runner, the film centers on a group of teens who appear in an area known as “The Glade” but have no memory when they wake up. The only way out appears to be through a shifting maze of massive walls that harbor dangerous creatures known as Grievers. Only one of the teens, Thomas (O’Brien), holds the secret to their escape. The Maze Runner also stars Kaya Scodelario, Aml Ameen, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, and Patricia Clarkson.

Question: Was this a project you went after? Did they come after you?
DYLAN O’BRIEN: Just like anything, I just auditioned for it. It’s funny. The way Wes told me it happened was, at first, I went in on it initially with the casting director, just like everybody. I didn’t hear back for like a month and a half, because Wes was like, “His hair is too MTV!” That’s what he thought, which was so funny. Then he saw a picture of me with more regular hair, the buzzcut or something from Teen Wolf, and he brought me back and it worked. It just ended up working out.

So, your hair almost cost you your job?
O’BRIEN: Yeah! [Laughs] Isn’t it funny how that can happen?
[Will Poulter passes by and calls out, “I love you Dylan!”]
O’BRIEN: That’s Will. He’s my boyfriend here. You have to latch onto somebody while you’re working. It is a little bit like prison, what we do here.

His character is like your enemy in the movie. Are you having fun being horrible to each other?
O’BRIEN: It’s actually uncomfortable! We’re so funny. Even tonight, what we’re doing right now. We wrestle. He’s vicious. He’s scowling. He’s the antagonist of the movie and I’m the protagonist. Wes always says we’re opposite sides of the same coin, so we’re always supposed to be butting heads. Even after every take, he’ll go, “Are you okay?” I’ll go, “Yeah, are you?” He’ll go, “Yeah, but oh, I hit your knee!” And I go, “Yeah, my knee is fine! But how’s your elbow?” It’s just hilarious. We’re buddies off screen, as we all are. Having to then just act, like, awful to each other. It’s always weird with acting.

There’s a scene where your character goes into the maze, basically to sacrifice yourself. Do you think you would do that for your friends?
O’BRIEN: When you think about it, I think it gets in your way, in your head about it. But instinctively, I’m always one who will lash out at anyone hurts my friends, viciously, kind of. Like, murder. [Laughs] No, but I’m very protective of the people I love. Sacrificing is a whole other thing. I don’t think you often come to that situation in life. But it’s a primal instinct, but maybe. Put me in that situation and we’ll find out!
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It’s been a hell of a year for Stiles on Teen Wolf – he’s spent the better half of Season 3 possessed by a killer Japanese spirit — and tonight’s finale (MTV, 10/9c) might just prove to be his most harrowing hour yet.

Dylan O’Brien spoke with TVLine about Stiles’ dark turn in Season 3B, the affects of Allison’s death — on himself as well as his character — and what the future might hold for Stiles’ love life.

TVLINE | Stiles has been unrecognizable this season. How have you handled that huge shift?
It’s been incredible. I mean, I still can’t get over the fact that I’ve gotten to be on a show for a few years now — my whole acting career, literally — and that I’ve gotten to play a character that provides so much humor. And then to get an arc like this, and to do it with my family — I’ve been working with these people for the last four years of my life, and [they’re] really close to my heart — has been the best experience I could ask for as an actor.

TVLINE | Is this something you asked for, or did they just kind of throw it at you?
I wouldn’t say they threw it at me, but there was never really a discussion. The first time it came up was this one night when I sent an e-mail to [executive producer Jeff Davis] with some random thought like, “Hey, it could be really cool to go evil with Scott.” And he e-mailed me back immediately, saying, “It’s funny that you said that, because we were already planning to go evil with you.” My immediate thought was, “Whoa, really?” I was sort of nervous and not sure what to expect, but also so game to do it.

TVLINE | I have to say, you carried it well. I think everybody was really impressed.
I really cared about it. It was a huge challenge for me, and I was scared at first. I’ve never even tried something like this. But you have to just go for it, and that’s why I love acting; it’s made me face my fears and try things I’d normally be too uncomfortable to try. It’s therapeutic.

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Previewing tonight’s Teen Wolf season 3 finale, Dylan O’Brien (Stiles) talks about how the major death in last week’s episode will affect his character.

If you haven’t watched last week’s episode (season 3, episode 23, “Insatiable”), we suggest you get right on that. There are spoilers ahead.

The death of Allison Argent stunned fans of Teen Wolf, but we’re not the only ones struggling with coming to terms with the main character’s permanent departure. “These kids have gotten almost good in these situations; they’re used to this terrifying life. But [Allison’s death] scared them. This was the first time they’ve lost one of their own,” O’Brien tells TVLine.

And while it’s true that they’ve lost friends and family members in the past — Boyd, Erica, and Victoria are just a few — this time it’s different. This time, it was someone in their inner circle, someone who had been around since the very beginning. And that’s bound to send ripples through the entire group.

Speaking of his own character, though, O’Brien says that Stiles will be taking Allison’s death roughly. “Allison’s death affects Stiles, specifically, because he can’t help but feel responsible for it.”

Allison was killed by the oni, which were being controlled by Void Stiles. Though the real Stiles had no direct part in her death, it is understandable that he feels as though he had the power to stop it. And if he couldn’t do it before, he’s certainly going to try now.

“The only way to stop the Nogitsune, as far as [Stiles] knows, is for him to die. Her death, and what it does to Stiles, is kind of the last straw. He’s now fully committed to sacrifice himself.”

The remainder of the interview on TVLine talks about Stiles’ continued interest in Lydia, but also his blossoming romance with Malia (Shelley Hennig). And speaking of Malia, it looks like she will be a season 4 regular from here on out!

-Source: Hypable.com

Stiles is out of it these days on Teen Wolf, but you would be too if you were possessed by a mischievous and evil Japanese spirit.

And following last week’s epic reveal of that possession, we hear it’s only going to get worse for the gang in Beacon Hills before it gets better. In a chat below, Dylan O’Brien previews the horror to come and breaks down last week’s creepy (and slightly bro-mantic) episode.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We need to start by talking about last week’s episode. Tell me about filming that scene at the hospital between Scott and Stiles because it was, honestly, one of the quieter moments of the episode and still my favorite of the hour.
DYLAN O’BRIEN: Tyler [Posey] and I are always excited when we get those scenes. I think those are the scenes we’re more drawn to because, I guess, those are the ones that get us, too. They get the audience [excited] and those are the scenes that [also] excite us. It’s almost a little nervewracking because you feel a little pressure to portray it nicely. But when you’re there and you do it, I think a lot of my and Tyler’s actual relationship translates to screen because we are really close in real life. We’ve been doing this together for four years now, and the show is really close to both of our hearts, you know? It always will be. But it’s all very personal for us, and it’s all real, I guess, in a sense.

How fun has it been playing evil Stiles?
It’s been awesome. It’s always one of those things that you’re worried about, I guess. I had fun doing it always and it’s been a blast as an actor. It’s been really cool discovering this new character and this entire other essence I get to play that’s so polar opposite from what I’ve already done on the show. At first, I didn’t really know what to do. I also didn’t know entirely what [the situation with the character] was going to be. We get the episodes week by week and I’m kind of rolling with the punches a little. But that’s what I love about the show, though. I find it challenging as an actor to always adapt to what’s being created for your character on the page. So there’s definitely a lot of stuff this season, for sure, that I’d never had to do before or ever had to try.

We’ve seen a few actors — especially on TV in the past few years — have to take on two roles on one show at the same time. When preparing to play Evil Stiles, was there any show or movie that you looked to for inspiration or ideas?
The funny thing is, no. Never. I never thought about it once before I was doing it and I think throughout the whole filming of the season, I didn’t really think about it…There’s always those Jekyll/Hyde roles in movies and stuff. I guess maybe I should have researched before hand. I don’t know. I’m also scared of copying what people have done. So maybe I try to keep myself as ignorant as I can possibly be. Because I feel like you get the most pure performance in that way.

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In the remaining episodes of Season 3 of the MTV drama series Teen Wolf, Scott (Tyler Posey) is struggling to find his place as an Alpha, while he, Allison (Crystal Reed) and his best friend Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) are experiencing strange side effects after reigniting the power within Beacon Hills. And in the heightened world these teenagers live in, all of their lives are in danger and everything has extreme consequences.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, actor Dylan O’Brien talked about just how close Stiles will get to losing his mind, the challenge of finding the comic relief as the storylines get more serious, and how much better it is now that Stiles’ dad knows what’s going on. He also talked about his work in the post-apocalyptic film The Maze Runner, due out in theaters on September 19th, how much he enjoyed working with the cast, how beautiful it looks, and how he can’t wait for audiences to see it. Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Collider: What can you say about where things are going for Stiles, and just how close he’ll get to completely losing his mind?

DYLAN O’BRIEN: Pretty close. It’s stuff I’ve really been working hard on, and it’s my first try at [stuff that dramatic]. It gets worse, for each of us. There literally becomes a point where Stiles is going to check himself into a mental hospital. It’s that bad. We finally pinpoint what’s going on mid-season, but then that just brings on a whole other bag of problems, like how it usually goes on our show. But, it’s done in a really clever, cool way. It was a lot of fun for me, this season. I had a lot of really cool stuff that I’m excited for everybody to see, and I hope goes over well. At the end of the day, it felt good walking away, and it’s just about the experience. It was a really fun season to do, and I think we all feel that way, about the show in general, about each other’s parts, and about our own parts. It’s good. It will be weird, but good.

Is it a little bit harder to find the comic relief, for these episodes?
O’BRIEN: Yes. That’s a good question. That’s one of my main challenges. I never want to lose that essence of the character that I built a foundation on and that I love so much. I get all these tormenting storylines, and I just try to figure it out. Clearly, that changes a person, but I refuse to toss Stiles away, at all. My job then becomes about balancing and trying to blend the humor and the comedy with the horrible, daunting, crazy stuff that’s going on. When he’s going through this season is dramatized, so it’s hard to keep the humor in. But, fans should not fear ‘cause that is always something that’s on my mind. I will never let Stiles get too dramatic. I don’t care what they write for me, I’ll just start cracking jokes. I want him to have that confident energy about him. I love that. I also love that people have every layer possible in them, too. I just hope that the scripts keep everything that I like about Stiles, and that the fans do, too. I basically hope that this season doesn’t make them hate me. The whole time I’m like, “Oh, god, please don’t kill me!”

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Season 3B of Teen Wolf kicked off last week, and we got to see Allison, Scott, and Stiles slip into madness. But that is only one step in their journey this season. We sat down with Teen Wolf stars Tyler Posey, Dylan O’Brien, and Crystal Reed to talk about new supernatural creatures and mythologies, new characters, new romances, and how Stiles is finally coming into his own this season. Plus, they get goofy – and we love it when they get goofy.

Teen Wolf airs Monday nights on MTV.

-Source: Fearnet.com

It’s a big week for Dylan O’Brien. Not only does his wildly popular MTV show, Teen Wolf, make its return for a highly anticipated third season, but he’s also jumping onto the big screen in The Internship, a comedy flick that stars classic funnymen Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, plus Max Minghella, Josh Gad, Rose Byrne… you get the idea!

We caught up with the busy actor to find out about how he prepared for his comedic turn on the big screen and why Teen Wolf fans are the best fans.

Between Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, it must have been so much fun shooting with the cast.
Oh, it was like summer camp. We shot for two and a half months, pretty long for a comedy. It allowed us to really take our time, really get to know our characters, and really get to know one another.

In the film you’re an intern at Google. Did you shoot at Google HQ in San Francisco?
Most of the shooting actually was done at our recreated Google at Georgia Tech. It was insanely impressive because Google is not an easy place to recreate. It’s kind of insane. And then we got to do two weeks at the real Google, and that was so cool. Seeing the real Google and talking to the real Googlers—it was just so fascinating. The whole world that they live in is so different, and it’s their workplace. It’s like a playground.

Were you ever an intern yourself?
No, never! I’ve been acting since I was 18. I’m kind of just getting to the age now where I’d be going for internships. So yeah, I kind of missed out on that whole little thing. But my sister is an intern, actually, which is really funny. All of my friends were applying for these internships last summer, and I was filming a movie called The Internship. A bunch of them called me to joke, saying, “Hey, congratulations, I heard you got that internship.”

Did you do any research for your role?
Yeah, I spoke to the Googlers while I was there. They had Googlers volunteering for background throughout the day, so if you were sitting in a scene, you were sitting with a bunch of real-life Googlers. I would just pick their brains the whole time and they would do the same back to us. And a bunch of them laid out what intern week was really like. But it’s not intern week, it’s actually like an intern summer course, which isn’t exactly how we depict it in the movie. It’s crazy hearing the hoops they have to jump through. And to even build that initial resume to even be approved for an intern week, where then you’re not even guaranteed a job, it’s just so crazy.

What was it like working with Vince and Owen?
Oh my god, it was so cool. It was like a dream—like one of those things that you know was real so you tell yourself it was, but it almost feels like it didn’t even happen. It’s so crazy. It was the coolest experience ever, for all of us. I’m 21 years old. Five years ago, I was just like a normal kid in high school with my buddies going out and seeing Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn movies. Literally, nonstop quoting these guys around school and joking around all of the time. So it’s just so crazy that I got to work with them. I’ll always have the two different memories that I’ll go back and forth between of being a kid, seeing Wedding Crashers for the first time in theaters and then now, being 21 and getting to be in their next movie together. I mean that’s just the craziest thing in the world.

Was there a lot of improv on set?
So much. The scenes would change and it was always on the fly. We would always be riffing. Sometimes Vince would want to go off on something and he would. He would always allow anybody to throw in anything they wanted—he was so game for it. That’s what’s so fun about working with those guys.

Did you have a secret backstory for your character?
I had this whole kind of background thing: First of all, he has a British dad. I don’t know why I thought that. Maybe because his last name is Twombly, so I thought that was an English sort of thing. And also because of his sort of his cynical, sarcastic view on things. He’s kind of like an English person without being an English person.

What do you like to do on your days off?
Sleep. I always like to go see my parents when I can. They’re in LA. Teen Wolf shoots there, so whenever I get a day off I like to go have dinner with them or watch Walking Dead or hang out with my girlfriend. Just throw in some normalcy.

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Developed by Jeff Davis, the hit MTV drama series Teen Wolf has returned for a super-sized, 24-episode third season. Having picked up four months after the events that nearly ended Jackson’s (Colton Haynes) life and resurrected Peter Hale (Ian Bohen), Season 3 finds teen werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his friends Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden) and Allison (Crystal Reed) beginning their junior year of high school while having to deal with a new threat has arrived in Beacon Hills – a deadly pack of Alpha werewolves intent on bringing Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) into their fold.

With the filming relocated to Los Angeles, Collider was invited to check out the set and chat with the cast for a series of exclusive interviews. While hanging out in his trailer on a break from shooting, actor Dylan O’Brien talked about where Stiles is at in Season 3, Stiles and Lydia teaming up, the chances of Stiles actually finding love, where he stands with both Scott and Derek, whether he wishes someone would turn Stiles into a werewolf, how much fun he’s had constantly learning new things about his character, and how nervous he gets about pulling off the dramatic side of the show. Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Collider: Where is Stiles at, in Season 3?

DYLAN O’BRIEN: Stiles is focusing more on himself, and he’s trying to better himself. And he’s focusing more on his detective work. He considers himself an expert on the wolf stuff now.

Now that Lydia (Holland Roden) knows about what’s going on, is it fun to have that shift in dynamics, with her relationship with Stiles?

O’BRIEN: It was so sad when Lydia didn’t know about any of the werewolves, or anything. Lydia was in the dark for so long, as were a lot of people, but she was left in the dark so much longer than anyone else. Now, she’s finally a part of things. With us and our relationship, it becomes more of a team thing, working together, and not so much always about the love, even though that’s still there, on one side. And she loves me, in a way. So, it’s cool to see that dynamic change. It’s cool to see Stiles and Lydia pull together, and Lydia come to the group. She’s also really useful because of how smart she is. It’s good to have her involved.

Do things ever get awkward between them, or is he okay with the way things are with Lydia?

O’BRIEN: I think it’s always been a little awkward. What’s always been awkward is the unreciprocated love. Now, it’s at a point where it’s not awkward. He’s made peace with loving her, and not necessarily having that love returned.

Is there any chance that Stiles will find love that’s actually returned?

O’BRIEN: Yeah, there always is, on this show. And there definitely is, this season.

Where are things at with Scott (Tyler Posey) and Stiles’ friendship, at this point?

O’BRIEN: I don’t know if you could say things are stronger than ever, right now, but the strength of their brotherhood is still there and will always be there. This season, they definitely take an even further route from each other than they have, in previous seasons. It’s all getting so crazy that it could be getting to the point where something comes between them, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

How are things between Stiles and Derek (Tyler Hoechlin)?

O’BRIEN: They’re fine. It is what it is with them. They accept each other, despite their annoyance towards one another. Even if they don’t directly care, their connection through Scott leads them to ultimately care for each other’s well-being. They wouldn’t want to see the other one get hurt, for Scott’s sake. That’s always their connection.

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Dylan O’Brien, who plays Stiles Stilinski in MTV’s Teen Wolf has brought his dorky, yet adorable character back to the hit show for Season 3.

And with the premiere scoring rave reviews, we can only imagine what upcoming episodes have in store for fans.

So what’s Dylan’s favorite episode of the season?

He shares with On Air with Ryan Seacrest: ”Episode six was kind of a cool episode. We shot at this motel and it’s kind of this whole creepy Shining-eqsue thing. We’re at a motel and the motel kind of posesses you. That was a really fun episode for us all to shoot.”

Until then, tune in to a new episode of Teen Wolf on MTV on Mondays at 10/9c.

-Source: RyanSeacrest.com