On Dylan O'Brien's Courage

Dylan O'Brien in "American Assassin"

I Didn't Know Anything About Dylan O'Brien...

Before watching American Assassin (2017) in March of 2020, I had had no exposure to actor Dylan O'Brien. I wasn't aware of the Teen Wolf TV series or the Maze Runner movie trilogy. And I did not know that Mitch Rapp, the counter-terrorism CIA operative that Dylan plays in American Assassin, was a strong departure from his previous roles. This actually came as a big surprise to his fans. One fan in the net put it like this: "No one saw this coming! We still remember when the first photos were released. It was truly a day to remember".

Mitch Rapp by Dylan O'Brien

As I watched Dylan play Mitch Rapp, I soon became aware that I was witnessing something intense, special, and...personal. I felt almost immediately that I was watching one of those performances that transcend the art of make believe.

It was like watching Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan, or Andie MacDowell in Sex, Lies and Videotape. It was remarkable. On occasion, actors and actresses allude to the fact that they become greatly affected by the personality of the characters they play. Daniel Day-Lewis, for example, talked about being affected for several months after playing the main role in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. However, I strongly felt that this was the reverse of Lewis' experience. Dylan O'Brien was hijacking the character! He was creating it.

Dylan's Mitch Rapp in American Assassin conveys an unquenchable anger dished out with such gazes of conviction and determination that most of us would lower our eyes if facing them. And he combines it with an underlying, ever-present sense of grief that grabs us and sticks to the heart like a stain.

(As almost an aside, let me point out that I never read the books on which the movie is based. I think that was my luck as well. I came to this movie completely unbiased by expectations.)

More About Dylan O'Brien

I had to find out more about Dylan O'Brien. What other movies had he been in? What kind of person was he? Well, it did not take long to come across a few online articles that instantly grabbed my attention: Dylan suffered a near-death accident while filming the Death Cure in March of 2016, just 6 to 7 months before the filming of American Assassin!

I read much about this accident, including a few pointed interviews with Dylan around the time of American Assassin's release on September 2017. But in the months prior to that there were no signs of Dylan. He spent some very difficult months recuperating, away from the public eye. Reading him talk about it is painful even though he stays grounded and measured when speaking of it. Dylan at one point did not even know if he was ever going to act again. But he made it back. And with a performance for the ages.

Overcoming Moments

Dylan describes himself as sentimental and has indicated that American Assassin has a special place in his heart. And it is an extraordinary aspect of human nature that empathy can at times hit us so hard and so deep. I say this because this movie also has a special place in my heart. And if you are a fan of his, it most probably has a special place in your heart as well. Dylan's performance in American Assassin is a cry of anguish, anger, grief. On the real-life side, it is a cry of victory. It is a victory cry from a young man who overcame the odds of a very serious accident and courageously returned to his life and work with determination and commitment. And passion.

May Dylan continue to bless us with his great talent. I hope to see him in many more movies, gifting us with all the captivating ways he has of expressing himself. But aside from where his professional experience and desires may take him, young Dylan's courageous victory will live forever as part of my own life experience.