Whether it's from his role as Stiles Stilinski on the MTV show Teen Wolf or as Thomas in The Maze Runner, Dylan O'Brien is no stranger to fame and adoration. But O'Brien has done more than just win fans over on big and small screens. He's won them over on the internet, too.
On O'Brien's 31st birthday, take a look down below as L'OFFICIEL walks you through five times the actor broke the internet.
The Social Network Reenactment.
Back in 2020, O'Brien and actress Sarah Ramos reenacted the iconic "lawyer up, asshole" scene from the 2010 film The Social Network. In the clip, O'Brien took on the role of Eduardo Saverin, who was originally portrayed by Andrew Garfield. While throngs of fans were impressed by O'Brien's performance, Garfield, himself, has even commended the reenactment. In a 2022 BBC Radio 1 interview, Garfield commented on O'Brien's acting chops, saying that his take was "just as good, if not better."
The Blonde Buzzcut.
The 30-year-old actor sent fans into a frenzy last year after O'Brien debuted a blonde buzzcut for his new Hulu film Not Okay. In a TikTok posted on the film's account, viewers first saw O'Brien with his usual dark brown hair color. In the background though, viewers hear the iconic words "So you're breaking up with me because I'm too... blonde" from Elle Woods, the Barbiecore-wearing, sorority girl turned lawyer. As someone pulled off O'Brien's salon cape, O'Brien's new blonde hair was revealed. But that wasn't all, he also was sporting multiple tattoos giving him an edgy, bad-boy vibe. Not only did the TikTok receive 2.9 million likes, but it was also shared over 163,000 times.
The Dancing TikToks.
Back in August of 2021, fans did a double take when O'Brien appeared in the back of TikToker Sheela Awe's video. Standing in the back, behind others in the video, O'Brien in a purple tie-dye Mickey Mouse shirt danced along to Doja Cat's "Get Into It (Yuh)" song. The comments in the video seemed to pick up on O'Brien's cameo and ranged from sentiments like "wait is that Dylan?!" to things like "OMG DYLAN."
The 10-Minute All Too Well Short Film.
Taylor Swift knew all too well that casting O'Brien in her short film would be sure to get people talking. Starring alongside Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink, the two portray a couple—which supposedly mimics the relationship between Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal. Almost four minutes into the video, both Sink and O’Brien get into a big fight, delivering a performance worthy of an Oscar.
The Doja Cat Twitter Exchange.
After Doja Cat tweeted, "y’all dippin ur d*cks in smoked salmon before u hit the club so it smell like u got bitches," back in April, O'Brien had something to say. "Ur an icon," was all the actor wrote, but this wasn't the end of the interesting exchanges between the two. The rapper and singer then brought O'Brien's film series The Maze Runner into the conversation. See the exchange below.
