Dylan O'Brien on Being the "Skinny Kid" Leading American Assassin - Exclusive Interview

[Music] hey guys welcome to an exclusive Collider interview right now I am lucky enough to be sitting with Dylan O'Brien the star of American assassin Dylan thank you so much for coming in today yeah thanks for having me I want to start at the very beginning with this can you tell me about landing this role did you go after it did they come to you for it yeah well I had worked I had worked with one of the producers previously on something else and I guess like they were still deciding what they wanted to do age wise I mean they it was you know they knew it was gonna be the younger mature app that it was gonna be the origin story but they were kind of determining whether it was gonna be like mid 20s or mid-30s I guess I don't know remember when we were even talking about this project for a long time right yeah any point it was Chris Hemsworth totally I mean yeah a decade ago right exactly and then they were like no let's just get this gig let's take this skinny kid it's a funny movie it is kind of what makes it a little fresher is your physicality is drastically different from Thor I was a drastically all right in a good way in a good different way me and Chris Hemsworth if you put a side-by-side we wouldn't be that far off each other you're gonna take him right know you're honest about it if he doesn't have his thing still know can you tell me a little bit now about just you know where your head was at when you assume the role because obviously we know what happened on Maze Runner get you get this and then because really when I heard the news that you were signing on for this so soon after that happened it's pretty inspiring yeah it makes me root for you because I was a big fan oh well don't don't root for that because I that was also the timing of that announcement was all wrong - I mean they just basically acted like I was I mean I was still in a hospital at that point so there's no way that I was like I was like yeah I'll do that with me that had happened before and then it just kind of like leaked out of after the accident I guess yes that's something you guys have yeah yeah no that was it was a really tough I was in a really tough place you know it was definitely something that was not the easiest thing in the world to launch into you know so soon after that to is only like six or seven months you know so but I'd also I didn't want to I don't want to give the opportunity up really you know if I could make it happen I really wanted to make it happen and it was you know gonna be a challenge I definitely knew that but I just I wanted to take it on I guess you know and I'm really glad that I did because it was definitely a great move for sure and this book series is just beloved best-selling everybody loves that all that you tell me a little bit about the opportunity to honor the source material make the character your own because you probably well known with Maze Runner people who are fans of any kind of source material want it to be exactly the same which I do respect to it totally and I respect that too I do the same thing with any book that I love you know no matter how much people like the movie you'll always have like little problems with it or something you get picky about that stuff I totally get it and also you know from the actor side of things I have experienced that before with Mazur and like you said so you know I think the most important thing is to just like you can't think about that stuff obviously that's the last thing you can think about you know and for me too luckily in a way I mean I was also again not in a place to be even worried about that stuff anyway so in a way that was kind of a blessing I guess like I was able to be just so focused on the character and focused on getting started in the training and you know I had a lot of work to do and I was you know a lot of catching up to do as well coming off recovery so I was really kind of stressed about that and really you know I really wanted to to be prepared for this film and and really like you know being this character a hundred percent so I wasn't worried about you know pressures of like all that stuff comes out now like a year later when you're you know everyone going everyone starts bringing that up to you and then you start thinking about it and going oh yeah crap I hope good thing is that way in order what about the pressure of training because at the very beginning of this movie we do see a montage of Mitch and he's exhibiting so many skills yeah throwing knives to MMA how many of those did you actually have to train in to be proficient on screen you do you do it all you know you try to get as good and comfortable with that's the you can in real life you know try to make it look as authentic on screen at the end of the day you are still always trying to sell a guy who's been training himself every day for a year and a half and obviously I did not get to do that for this movie so you know you do he can but but yeah I mean you know it was it was eight weeks of training before I started and six meals a day and I mean like again it was I'm a noodle so like you got to try to put as much we're trying to put as much you know weight on me as possible and also just get really comfortable with the fighting styles and movement and even just movement specifically for camera to is a different thing and so like all that stuff really and for me it was just really important for the character to have a big contrast you know from when we see him in the beginning when we jump to see him a year and a half later I mean he really needs to just feel like a different person and physically as well so I tried to do what I can but you know who knows I get the feeling that you're a natural athlete to a degree and I do remember watching in particular when I was watching the first Maze Runner movie I watched some of the behind the scenes stuff and you know it's when you strip away the maze and it's just like you and Kay hyung let's say running around you can really soak in the fact that you got to be a natural athlete to pull this stuff off but yeah with this is there anything that you found especially hard any kind of movement that tripped you up well I don't know I mean it's all kind of hard Jiu Jitsu is like a really specific thing and really interesting I I rely learned how weak my core is when I started I mean I would just be laying on my back and they'd be instructing me of what to do and I'm just like wait can I take a rest or put my neck down or something they're just like no that's the position you live in I was like I can't do this so things like that I mean I'm not definitely not like you know naturally fit in that way but yeah I mean I I've always loved physical stuff you know especially in area within a role you know I feel like that's just that's got so much to do with the character and especially this one Mitch rap I mean physically that's like that's such a vital piece of the role you know his physicality and his you know his aggression and all that so I don't know I wanted to do the best I could with it I'm having flashbacks to me being miserable in any gym class I've ever taken to it really with people saying like no focus on your core I'm like I realize that muscle was working when I did this yeah and that's terrible oh yeah that's for sure how about some of the choreography here are you good with taking to that because there's a couple scenes in the movie where you know obviously there's cuts and you could probably stop and do other takes but yeah it feels very fluid like you have to be running through a certain amount of it as a ton at one time oh absolutely yeah yeah and that was um that was a big thing too that the director michael cuesta wanted to implement you know he didn't want it to be chopped up fight scenes he wanted to use his long-winded of shots as he could you know with one fluid motion of us actually doing the choreography and obviously it would be cut up but he didn't he didn't want it to be as choppy as something as anything else you know and so that was our goal you know to always obviously you don't do these long fight scenes in one stretch and you break them up into pieces but yeah but the the lengthy fight choreography was one of my favorite parts you know I've done like action to an extent but uh but that's that's something really specific and I'd never done that before and I really liked it I really enjoyed it it's a lot of work you you practice and rehearse it for weeks you know slowly ramping up the speed and then eventually on the day you just go full tilt and you know it you know you just have it memorized and it's just yeah it's it's like a dance yeah you know if it's like a very aggressive and violent to guys like ballroom dancing kind of it's adorable it is kind of cute thank you yes no I wanted to break down just one specific scene and the one that my mind went to was the scene in the car with the dogs what it look like when you're shooting something like that on set like how close are you to the dogs what kind of choreography is only making that happen yeah well because the dogs are like super cute they're really like sweet dogs and they're just train players yeah they're amazing way better than I am like it's unbelievable they can turn it on they don't have to stay in that mode you know they're really just think they're really like sweet little puppies and then but then they're just trained to kind of like well when a piece of meat is on a stick or something you know and they and they hear like a certain sound or see a certain movement they then just they start like you know viciously barking and salivating and it's it's really weird to coordinate I guess with a trainer because there's a lot of movement in that scene so to make sure that because when you're shooting something like that if the geography doesn't work yeah the scene doesn't work yeah I mean definitely it's no it was you know it was it was a design sequence by the stunt coordinator basically and then they had to work with the with the dog trainers and I don't it's always funny working with dogs you know and because it's it's I don't know it's really funny the whole crew is kind of like rooting them on always because they don't always get it on the first time obviously the dog you know they're dogs and what they're doing is amazing as it is and but it's super cute so I was just like oh come on buddy you know they'd be like licking my face and stuff in between the takes and so it was a much different experience than it looked like there exactly yeah get in there a pup sign so as a final question I want to ask you did you get the wrap-up site would it I I have got a very sneaky friend over there um to wrap up right now yeah I never not listen to I don't listen to Wendy sometime but I promised her this time I would listen sorry when all right go ahead so with this movie you got some people out there saying you know I've seen Jack Ryan I've seen Jason Bourne what is it about your character in this movie that's gonna give people something different than they've ever seen before on one of these you know it's I don't know it's hard for me to say I know we had things that we set out to accomplish in terms of setting ourselves apart and you know what people it'll be interesting now to see how people kind of interpret it and and how people see it I don't know it could they could just be like oh it's a ripoff or they could be like oh that's really original who knows but uh we were we definitely trying you know it was definitely meant to be a fresh thing you know you mentioned my age that's that's a piece of it you know seeing a kid in this kind of role you know a 25 year old kid versus a full you know you know man I'm a fool man I mean it'd be awkward finding yeah but yeah I don't know it's also it's it's meant to be you know as grounded as it possibly can as an honest portrayal as it possibly can you know if not just the characters but the world you know involved in and the landscape that the story operates in you know so yeah I don't know it'll be interesting to see how people you know take it you never know until it so comes that you should be giving yourself a little more credit though right now because you really do command the screen big time in this movie and it feel it feels like a heartfelt portrayal of that character so I really took to that thank you I really stick to the ROI it was it was it was it was I took to it it's it's definitely role that that's that's deep in my heart so thanks it's nice hopefully everybody else will take the same from it American assassin hits theaters this Friday the 15th go check it out Dylan thank you so much for your time today this was a pleasure thank you thank you guys for watching we'll see you soon [Music]

Channel: Collider Extras

Views: 213,428

Keywords: movie news, Movie Talk, tobeornottobethatisthequestion, collider, film, movie, trailer, behind the scenes, actor, actress hollywood, Movie Clips, genre, comics, comic books, celebrity interview, the maze runner, dylan o'brien, michael keaton, american assassin

Id: Jljibh2Zn6w

Length: 12min 12sec (732 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 14 2017