Twinless<\/em> meant confronting an emotion he\u2019s long dreaded.<\/p>\n\u201cGrief is, funny enough, something I have not experienced a ton,\u201d O\u2019Brien, 34, exclusively tells Us Weekly<\/em>. \u201cI think about it in a grateful way and in a fearful way, in that I fear I won\u2019t be able to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\nYet the 34-year-old found himself drawn to this script about, as he calls it, a very \u201cunique type of loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Written and directed by O\u2019Brien\u2019s costar James Sweeney<\/strong>, Twinless c<\/em>asts the versatile actor in dual roles as Roman, a 20-something trying to process the death of his twin, and that brother, Rocky. At a grief support group, Roman connects with Dennis (Sweeney), a fellow \u201ctwinless\u201d soul who quickly becomes his fragile lifeline. But as their friendship deepens \u2014 and boundaries blur \u2014 secrets threaten to crack their bond wide open: Dennis isn\u2019t a twin at all but a man who once had a one-night stand with Rocky and sought Roman out under false pretenses.<\/p>\n\u201cThese are all universal feelings: loneliness and grief, identity, friendship,\u201d O\u2019Brien explains. Here, he tells Us<\/em> more about stepping into his most personal role yet:<\/p>\nUs Weekly:<\/strong> How did you go about portraying this heavy emotion realistically?<\/p>\nDylan O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> I\u2019ve experienced loss to some degree, but for the most part, I\u2019ve been very fortunate. I still have both of my parents and most of my family and friends. But I think I\u2019m a very sensitive human. I have other areas of deep pain that I have gone through in my life, and it felt in my world, certainly. I\u2019ve always been somebody who\u2019s been really struck by other people\u2019s experiences in a really deep way. So I was certainly struck by this piece as a whole. We\u2019re talking about such a unique type of grief and a unique type of loss. When I first read it, I thought it was such a beautiful honoring of this existence on earth, one that I had never seen before, and one that I felt like was handled so respectfully and sensitively and beautifully.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> Is that how you were able to tap into Roman, who\u2019s so empathetic?<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> I just felt him. I just was that guy. And I mean that truthfully, like, in a way that I don\u2019t know necessarily happens that much. I\u2019m not somebody who engages with my craft in a way that comes from training or technique. There\u2019s so many different ways you can approach this. And I\u2019ve learned in such a raw way because I didn\u2019t go to school, I didn\u2019t train, and I didn\u2019t learn all of those things. I wasn\u2019t put in classes as a kid. It\u2019s not how I found my way to this. The only thing I can rely on is my authentic connection to a thing. And this was the most I\u2019ve ever deeply felt like my [character] ever. It\u2019s just something that I became really close to. It just struck me.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>
Roadside Attractions\/Lionsgate Films<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nUs:<\/strong> How did you and James find your onscreen chemistry as insta-friends?<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> James and I have all kinds of life conversations. Whenever you\u2019re trying to measure whether you want to collaborate with somebody, it can be tough. You have lunch, and you\u2019re just like, \u201cOh, are we going to do a movie?\u201d You\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, they seemed OK, but I didn\u2019t really get to know them.\u201d Something that James and I do really effortlessly and always have, is talk about life. And we\u2019re both very sensitive people. There\u2019s a lot of similarities that we\u2019ve gone through and I think we appreciate similar things, like intimacy in a relationship, and what needs to kind of be there for that to exist for us.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> Roman goes through so much in this film. Is there a scene you\u2019re most proud of?<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> [There\u2019s a] hotel room scene [where Roman breaks down] that even shocked me in the moment. I couldn\u2019t believe what transpired, because it was just so real. It was like so much pain inside myself, that we all have in our own way, was uplifted, but it was on behalf of [Roman] and this concept, this story, this someone. People have experienced [actual twin loss] in this world, and it\u2019s just something that I became really close to.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> That scene is so guttural. How do you prepare for such an emotionally heavy scene like that?<\/p>\nDOB:\u00a0<\/strong> [The hotel scene] in the movie is the first take. It\u2019s the first time I performed the scene. It\u2019s funny, because so much of this is learning on the fly. And in this business, even if you train or go to school, being on set and making things is a whole new ball game. But I have been doing it long enough to at least have learned things about myself. If I had a really emotional or vulnerable scene [in the past], I\u2019d come into the day tight because I\u2019d be nervous and I\u2019d be really sensitive about my space. I would be like, \u201cOh, I need to go inward,\u201d when usually I\u2019m very loose while I work. I take the work hyper-seriously, but I think part of what makes me feel comfortable is that I love to laugh, I love to joke and I love the community of making things. So in the past, I\u2019ve come in then and all of a sudden been like, \u201cNo, today I can\u2019t talk to anybody, and I need to focus.\u201d Because, what if I\u2019m goofing around and then I can\u2019t execute the emotion? And I think that used to hold me back. Because on [this film] I behaved as I always did. You would have never known that I had this tragically heavy thing to be executing. I wasn\u2019t approaching it flippantly. I prepared it like nothing I prepared before. I wanted to honor it word for word, which is also something that, as an actor, I\u2019ve never really done ever. So I memorized only the words but I never practiced performing it. I knew that I wanted to keep that as fresh as possible. You can\u2019t rehearse that. So I approached it the way I approached every day: loose, comfortable, but definitely communicating the space that we were going to need. And our crew was tremendous in respecting that and providing that for us and James was tremendous in providing the support of listening to everything that I needed. I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ll ever be prouder of a scene in my life.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>
Roadside Attractions\/Lionsgate<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nUs:<\/strong> Your scenes with Lauren Graham<\/strong>, who plays your estranged mom, feel very raw and alive. Were they improvised?<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> The [second scene we have together] is entirely improvised. That was one of the only improvised things in the movie, because James is a really talented writer and the dialogue is specific and it\u2019s fantastic and has intention in terms of planting seeds and paying off. But when we are arguing in the kitchen, we were trying different things [for that scene] each time. Ultimately, we\u2019re really trying to make it an authentic portrayal of a mother and son in grief, yelling over each other and having all these feelings. They still have such a long way to go in how to communicate with each other. One of the things I love about the story is there\u2019s not a bow tied on me and Lauren in the movie. And I think that\u2019s so human. I love that you don\u2019t see us in some montage beat hugging. I really love [Lauren]. I remember she was so emotional the day that we were yelling at each other.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> You\u2019ve said you don\u2019t enjoy doing sex scenes unless there\u2019s intention behind them, and Twinless<\/em> has multiple intimate scenes. Why did they feel needed?<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> On the one hand, [with] Rocky, in such a short amount of time we need to know so much about who this guy was. He [has] such a sexual energy. And I think that that was such a piece of him. He\u2019s the kind of guy who can walk up to you at a shady diner and immediately let you know with his little sip and eyes that he wants to bang you. And that\u2019s fun! I love people like that, who own their sexuality and are sexual beings and they love it.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> Roman also gets close to his girlfriend, Marcie, played by Aisling Franciosi<\/strong>.<\/p>\nDOB:<\/strong> Yeah. He\u2019s such an inward character who I think struggles across the board, especially with what he\u2019s currently going through, to be open. He\u2019s really never been to that many other cities before, let alone traveled the world or met that many other people, so I love seeing Roman with Marcie, and what that brings out in him. From the moment she comes into his life, he gets so cute. He has these cute moments, these little silly, cute sides of him and, yeah, an intimate side to him in terms of his sexuality as well, which I think is really warming to see.<\/p>\nUs:<\/strong> Last, you\u2019ve been vocal about wanting to see rom-coms make a comeback. Why?<\/p>\n
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