Dylan O'Brien Admits He Was 'Self-Conscious' About Being 'Miscast' as Dan Aykroyd inSaturday Night

Mar. 15, 2025

From Left: Dylan O’Brien in 2024; and Dan Aykroyd in 1976.Photo:John Nacion/Getty; NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

John Nacion/Getty; NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

When he was first cast asDan AykroydinSaturday Night,Dylan O’Brienwas “self-conscious” about their lack of resemblance — and feared that people would dub the move a “miscast.”

In a new interview withMen’s Health, published on Monday, Oct. 7, the 33-year-old actor opened up about this initial insecurity, admitting that he felt like he “entered this process thinking I was so wrong for the part.”

When asked exactly why, theTeen Wolfalum replied, “I don’t know. I was self-conscious that I didn’t look like him, that I didn’t sound like him, that I thought people wouldn’t think me — Dan Aykroyd.”

“And I guess it was an insecurity that I would be skewered for being miscast or something,” he added.

Dylan O’Brien for ‘Men’s Health’.Brad Ogbonna for Men’s Health

Brad Ogbonna for Men’s Health

Eventually, however, O’Brien came around to a “f— it” attitude, choosing to ignore the noise and potential criticisms about his lack of physical similarity to Aykroyd, 72.

“But even with that insecurity, again, I’m still so happy to be there and, like, whatever, f— it. I don’t care if that’s the response,” he said. “I’m boned, but whatever. It’s great to be here and get to do this, and what a blast of a thing to get to be a part of.”

TheMaze Runneralum also revealed the one quality he and Aykroyd shared, which he said helped him construct his unique spin on the legendary comedian. He decided to embody the “loose” energy Aykroyd possessed as a 23-year-old duringSaturday Night Live’s debut season — at least compared to his fellow cast members.

“My way of achieving that, with permission from [Saturday Nightdirector Jason Reitman], was to embrace this quality in myself that I didn’t originally associate to Dan — that I only then did after Jason pointed it out to me — which was to have an aloofness on set,” he told Men’sHealth.

Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd in ‘Saturday Night’.Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures

“I feel very relaxed in that space. In a way, I wasn’t too worried,” he said, later adding that “weirdly enough, that type of aloofness amidst other people having to handle some really tense stuff was what Jason was telling me to embrace.”

Plus, he told the magazine, he was playing a real person, but Reitman, 46, “had no intention of just copying the person coming in.”

“He really wanted everyone to have their own spin on the person, which, if you’re overthinking it, can be tough to do because it can be very easy to do,” O’Brien explained. “If you’re like, ‘I’m just going to watch my guy’s interviews and sketches,’ then you can kind of fall into imitation. As far as I know, I was just doing what I thought he was like. But I don’t f—ing know. That instinct was that Jason was always telling me what to run with. He was big on not overpreparing, not overwatching things and not impersonating.”

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“I’m curious to hear people’s take, because I don’t really know,” O’Brien admitted. “ I just went with my gut.”

The actor previously opened up to PEOPLE about how he dealt with the pressure that comes with stepping into Aykroyd’s shoes forSaturday Night,joking that he’s “okay if my guy hates it.”

“It’s acceptance,” he added. “That was my method.”

The cast of ‘Saturday Night’.Sony Pictures

TheNot Okayactor also said he couldn’t wait to meet the comedy icon. “I hear we’re very similar, in a way that I never knew,” he said. “I feel like we’re going to get along.”

Saturday Nightis now in select theaters and everywhere starting Friday, Oct. 11.

source: people.com