Stiles StanHow He Started! Everything Dylan O’Brien Has Said About ‘Teen Wolf’ Since the Show’s End: Quotes

Teen Wolf pretty much launched Dylan O’Brien into fame, and we will forever thank the MTV series for that. Keep reading to uncover everything Dylan’s said about his time on the show since it ended.

ICYMI, Teen Wolf ran from 2011 to 2017 for six seasons and followed Tyler Posey as high school student Scott McCall, who is transformed into a werewolf after being bitten in the woods one night. Dylan played Tyler’s very human and very funny best friend, Stiles Stilinski.

The show quickly became a cult classic on MTV, and viewers immediately claimed Stiles as the lovable fan-favorite character. Dylan’s overnight fame soon followed. “All of a sudden girls were coming up to me in places, wanting to take pictures,” he told Bustle in March 2022 of being launched to fame so quickly. “It was very scary.”

When asked about his longstanding adoration of fans, however, the Maze Runner actor says it’s both “overwhelming” and “wonderful,” adding, “it’s just gnarly to think about little me having this really special thing happen.”

Teen Wolf returned in the form of a Paramount+ movie in January 2023! The reboot, titled Teen Wolf: The Movie, starred nearly all of the actors from the original TV show — except one.

“It was a difficult decision. A lot went into it,” Dylan explained to Variety in March 2022, announcing the news that he would not be reprising his iconic role of Stiles in the reboot film. “The show couldn’t be more dear to me. It was the first thing I ever did, and so many people there are extremely dear to me. It was something I was trying to make work, but it all happened very fast. We didn’t really know that it was happening and they kind of just threw it at us a little bit, which is fine because we all love the show. We were trying to figure it out.”

Unfortunately, his schedule did not work out with the timing of the film. “It was my first job ever, so that show will always tug at my heartstrings,” he told GQ. “A lot of things went into the decision. It was really hard to wrangle this. First of all, I think it all happened really fast. It came as a surprise — we did not know that this was happening, so to announce and then try to wrangle everybody for a deal and be on set all within six months is a really hard thing to do.”

On His Rise to Fame

“All of a sudden girls were coming up to me in places, wanting to take pictures,” he told Bustle in March 2022 of being launched to fame so quickly. “It was very scary.”

On Breaking Out of the ‘Teen Wolf’ Box

“My career is a constant acting class,” Dylan told NME in May 2021. “To be able to do the Maze Runner movies simultaneously with Teen Wolf was amazing in terms of getting in reps and working my [acting] muscle.”

Dylan spoke about his thoughts on some viewers attempting to put him “in a box” after Teen Wolf and Maze Runner.

“People will put you in a box no matter what,” he begins. “There was definitely a time when that would get to me, especially when it felt like somebody had a perspective on me that in my soul, I just felt wasn’t accurate.”

“If anything,” he added “it just makes me think: ‘Right, I’m really gonna show them now.’”

Why He Didn’t Return to ‘Teen Wolf: The Movie’

“When [the movie] came up, I immediately tried to make it work, but then I just realized that I was going against my gut feeling the whole time,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2022. “I think I was doing all of those things for other people and not myself. I was like, ‘Oh, I actually don’t feel like I want to open that door back up, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I should just listen to that instinct and go with it.’ So that’s ultimately what I decided, and I think I kind of knew it in my heart the whole time. It was already left in a really nice place, you know? So I didn’t want to touch it. I didn’t want to f–k with it.”

‘My First Job Ever’

“It was a tough decision because I love Teen Wolf, [my character] Stiles, and so many of the people that I worked with,” he told GQ in March 2022. “It was my first job ever, so that show will always tug at my heartstrings. A lot of things went into the decision. It was really hard to wrangle this. First of all, I think it all happened really fast. It came as a surprise — we did not know that this was happening, so to announce and then try to wrangle everybody for a deal and be on set all within six months is a really hard thing to do.”