Over last few days Dylan has been doing a bunch of press for “The First Time” and instead of doing single posts for each, I decided to make one huge post of the different interviews and videos! There will also be more interviews to view when you clicking read more on the bottom of the post. Enjoy!
Collider Interview
Collider: How did you come to be a part of this film? Was it just an audition, or was it something you specifically pursued?
DYLAN O’BRIEN: It was an audition for me, like any other thing. The only thing that separated this film was that it was something that me, my manager and my agents all just really loved and really thought that I was right for it. For me, the script and subject matter was so personal to me. This was all still very fresh in my mind, too. I was 19 years old and this had all just happened to me, two years prior. So, it was really refreshing, in that sense, and in the sense that it’s entirely different than any other script I was reading or going out for. It’s a teen comedy, but none of it was raunchy or tasteless. It was really classy and really sweet, and a really true, honest, endearing story. Jon [Kasdan] changed a lot with the script and was writing the whole way, but he has such an understanding of relationships and how people communicate with each other. It’s fascinating because I don’t [have that]. It’s really incredible when somebody has such a beat on it.
Examiner.com Interview
Question: “The First Time” has significantly more intelligence and emotional depth than most movies made for this particular demographic. Is that what drew you to this particular project?
Answer: You hit the nail on the head. That is what separates this movie from other teen comedies that are being made nowadays. It has got character depth and conflict. [Writer/director Jon Kasdan] was not afraid to make these teenagers smart. For some reason, it has become kind of normal for teenagers in movies to be dumb over the last 10 years. I also think that it is an amazing accomplishment for Jon to have not only gotten this movie made but to do it the way he wanted to.
It’s a long way from Teen Wolf‘s Stiles, but Dylan O’Brien turns up his signature charm inJon Kasdan‘s indie teen romancer, The First Time.
“This story and this script is something that doesn’t come around much,” O’Brien tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s just something very smart and it’s a teen romance. There’s no raunch factor to it — and it’s even called The First Time — you’d think that you’d read a script called The First Time nowadays and they’d literally be like, ‘Ah, devirginize’ and it’s like a crazy American Pie kind of movie, but that’s what was so refreshing about this script was that it wasn’t that.” (It’s worth noting that O’Brien is a self proclaimed fan of said raunchy fare, but he feels there is a void in Hollywood when it comes to teen films.)
So let’s start with your roots. You got your start much the same way Justin Bieber got his start by first becoming a YouTube sensation. Yes, a lot of people do compare me to Justin Bieber (laughs). I get it plenty, especially as an actor. I did start on YouTube. It wasn’t deliberate in any way. I wasn’t trying to find fame or be an actor even. I was the only actor I had to use in these little videos I wanted to make. I wanted to direct initially. I was going to film school and whatnot, but my lovely manager just randomly found me on that little YouTube and called me in. That’s how it all started.
TWIST: Can you tell us about your character, Dave?
Dylan O’Brien: Dave’s a senior and you get the idea that he’s never had a girlfriend because he’s shy with girls. At the beginning of the movie, he’s rehearsing to himself a love letter that he has written his best friend, Jane, played by Victoria Justice, who he’s in love with. He’s going through this all for the first time. He’s feeling certain ways and trying to respond to them and doesn’t know if he’s doing it right.