What The Cast Of The Maze Runner Is Up To Now
Stop me if you've heard this premise before; an unknown disease ravages the entire world, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction and leaving all hopes for survival pinned on a cure. Although The Maze Runner novels, and later movies, were based on that idea, they reinvented the genre by instead focusing on the efforts of a group of teenagers' efforts to survive against a variety of obstacles, most notably the maze from the first film and the organization known as W.C.K.D.
Part of what helped the movies stand out was a large ensemble cast which included either well-known or up-and-coming actors who had appeared in high profile series such as Game of Thrones or movies like the Fast & Furious franchise. Although the last Maze Runner film, The Death Cure, was released three years ago, 2018 already feels like a lifetime ago — so let's check out what the cast of The Maze Runner series is up to today.
Dylan O'Brien -- Thomas
Playing the main character Thomas, Dylan O'Brien delivered a heartfelt performance throughout the trilogy as he led the Gladers out of the maze and eventually in battle against the shadowy agency W.C.K.D. For his work in the first Maze Runner film, he took home MTV Movie Awards for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Hero. Although the later Maze Runner sequels had mixed reviews, O'Brien helped make Thomas into a recognizable leader fighting for the good of his people.
After wrapping up work on The Death Cure, O'Brien was cast as the voice of the title Autobot in the movie Bumblebee. However, since Bumblebee lost his voice in the early stages of the film, we unfortunately only got a small taste of O'Brien's voice acting skills. O'Brien's latest role was the romantic Joel in Love and Monsters, where he attempts to track down his girlfriend in the midst of a monster apocalypse (with a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's definitely worth a watch). Although the pandemic has undoubtedly slowed things down, O'Brien has recently wrapped production on the film Infinite, where he is set to star opposite Mark Wahlberg. The film is expected to be released in late May 2021. Dylan O'Brien did a fantastic job portraying Thomas in The Maze Runner series, and given his recent successes in films like Love and Monsters, we definitely haven't seen the last of him.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster -- Newt
Prior to joining the cast of the Maze Runner series, Thomas Brodie-Sangster racked up an impressive resume with roles such as the voice of the oft-silent Ferb in Phineas and Ferb, Simon in the original Nanny McPhee, and, perhaps most famously, as Jojen Reed in Game of Thrones, where he helped Brandon Stark reach the Three Eyed Raven and realize his power as a warg. As he did with each of the prior roles, Brodie-Sangster delivered a memorable performance as Newt in The Maze Runner series, acting as a close friend and confidant of O'Brien's Thomas. Brodie-Sangster arguably stole the show in the last film when Newt killed himself in order to prevent his infected body from killing Thomas.
After wrapping up production on The Maze Runner series, Brodie-Sangster played a small role as a First Order officer in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He next portrayed John Tracy in the children's television show Thunderbirds Are Go, and more recently took the role of former U.S. chess champion Benny Watts in The Queen's Gambit, acting as Beth Harmon's teacher and later lover in the critically acclaimed Netflix series. Brodie-Sangster's next onscreen appearance is set to be the series Unsinkable, where he will act alongside the legendary John Malkovich. At the young age of 30, it seems Thomas Brodie-Sangster's best years are yet to come.
Kaya Scodelario -- Teresa
An up-and-coming actress before joining The Maze Runner, Kaya Scodelario was first known for playing the rebellious teenager Effy Stonem in the comedy series Skins, which is currently available to stream on Hulu. Soon afterwards, Scodelario was cast as Teresa in The Maze Runner, serving as Thomas's love interest and the only woman inserted into the maze. Although Scodelario's Teresa would eventually betray Thomas to W.C.K.D. in The Scorch Trials, she eventually came to realize that W.C.K.D. was not good, and was able to redeem herself in The Death Cure.
Prior to wrapping up work on The Death Cure, Scodelario played the adventurous orphan Carina Smyth in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, fighting against the undead Captain Salazar while attempting to learn who her parents were. Afterwards, Scodelario took the lead role of Haley in the 2019 thriller Crawl, where she and her father must survive a pack of wild alligators in the midst of a Category 5 hurricane. Although Scodelario didn't act in any large-scale movies in 2020, she has two major projects on tap for release in 2021, playing Claire Redfield in an upcoming Resident Evil reboot and landing a role in The King's Daughter, where she will act alongside her husband Benjamin Walker. After last year's break, it looks like Kaya Scodelario is about to come back strong.
Will Poulter -- Gally
Prior to The Maze Runner series, the young Will Poulter already had a solid resume, first playing aspiring child filmmaker Lee Carter in Son of Rambow and Eustace Scrubbs in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. While Poulter played a hero of sorts in the aforementioned films, The Maze Runner forced him to explore his dark side as he played Gally, a Glader who vehemently disliked Thomas and fought him on multiple occasions, with the fight scene in the pit winning MTV's Best Fight award. While Gally was apparently killed at the end of The Maze Runner, he did get an opportunity to play the role of a hero again when he helped Thomas fight against W.C.K.D. in The Death Cure. The Maze Runner series highlighted Poulter's ability to transition seamlessly between villain and hero.
After wrapping up work on The Maze Runner, Poulter landed a role as the young frontiersman Bridger in the well received Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Revenant. Poulter later acted in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Midsommar, with Poulter's Mark suffering a fairly gruesome death in the latter film. Although the pandemic has slowed down film production, Poulter is currently working on an interesting series called Dopesick, which deals with the growing opioid crisis in America. We'll hopefully see more of Poulter when things start to get back to normal.
Ki Hong Lee -- Minho
Ki Hong Lee was a relative newcomer to the acting scene when he got the role of Minho in The Maze Runner. Although he had been acting for just four years at the time, he had the resume of a seasoned veteran, having played small parts in Victorious, Modern Family, and New Girl. The Maze Runner proved to be Lee's breakthrough, as he impressed audiences as one of the maze runners and played a important role in getting the Gladers out of the maze.
After the release of the first Maze Runner film, Lee landed roles in The Stanford Prison Experiment and The Whispers before getting another huge part in the critically acclaimed The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where he played Dong Nguyen, the boyfriend of the titular character. Nowadays, Lee is mostly playing smaller parts, with some of his most recent projects including The Public, The Asian Bachelorette 1 & 2, and, perhaps the most intriguing film mentioned, Looks that Kill, which is about a boy whose attractiveness can literally kill people.
Dexter Darden -- Frypan
Playing the role of Frypan, one of Thomas's first and closest friends in the maze, Dexter Darden filled the role of that dude who was always there for his friend regardless of the odds. Appearing in all three Maze Runner films, Darden's Frypan helped bring down W.C.K.D and rescue the captured Gladers, giving them a new chance at life.
After wrapping up work on the Maze Runner films, Darden went on to participate in a couple of small projects, including Burden and Son of the South. Darden would then land the role of Hags in the 2020 movie Binge, which is set in a future where all drugs and alcohol are illegal save for one day of the year (it's on Hulu right now). Most recently, he played high schooler Devante Young in the reboot of Saved by the Bell, which follows Devante and several other students' struggles and successes in fitting into a new high school. Although we haven't seen Darden yet in any film or television series in 2021, it likely won't be long before we see him back in front of the camera.
Aidan Gillen -- Janson
Best-known for his portrayal of the manipulative, deceptive Petyr Baelish in Game of Thrones, Aidan Gillen channeled that same energy into his performance of Janson. Gillen's Janson initially appeared friendly towards the Gladers, rescuing them from the maze after they escaped. However, he was secretly working for W.C.K.D the entire time, planning on delivering the Gladers to them for research purposes. Gillen's proven track record of playing selfish, scheming characters made him arguably the perfect fit for Janson.
After finishing his role in The Maze Runner series, Gillen took up parts in smaller projects such as Dave Allen at Peace and We Ourselves, before acting as Aberama Gold in the popular British drama Peaky Blinders. Gillen most recently played main character Dr. J. Allen Hynek in the History Channel's Project Blue Book, a show based around the U.S. government investigating claims of alien visitation during the Cold War. Gillen has a couple interesting series in development, including The Ulysses Project, where he is one of many actors set to portray Leopold Bloom. Although The Ulysses Project currently has no release date, you'll still get a chance to see Gillen perform this year in the upcoming film Those Who Wish Me Dead, which is set to arrive in May.
Rosa Salazar -- Brenda
Although Rosa Salazar wasn't in the first Maze Runner film, she played a major role in the second entry, The Scorch Trials. The up-and-coming Salazar had previously put her talents on display in American Horror Story, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and some CollegeHumor shorts. The Scorch Trials served as Salazar's coming out party as she played the role of Brenda, a woman whom Thomas saved after she became infected with a deadly virus known as the Flare. While the disease normally kills the infected host, Brenda was able to slow the effects long enough for a cure to be found.
Salazar's performance in the latter two Maze Runner films did not go unnoticed, as she started attracting several roles in blockbuster movies, including Lucy in Bird Box and, perhaps most notably, the title role in Alita: Battle Angel. Salazar also picked up a recurring voice acting part as Ms. Benitez in the hit animated Netflix series Big Mouth. Although Salazar has yet to make an onscreen appearance in 2021, she recently completed work on the horror series Brand New Cherry Flavor, where she'll play the main character Lisa Nova. Although Brand New Cherry Flavor currently doesn't have a release date, hopefully we'll get to see Salazar in it before the end of 2021.
Patricia Clarkson -- Ava Paige
Acting since the mid-1980s, Patricia Clarkson is no stranger to films based on novels, having played Alan Parrish's mom in the original Jumanji and Amy Adams' oppressive socialite mother in 2018's Sharp Objects. Clarkson also appeared in 1987's crime epic The Untouchables opposite Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood's 1988 Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool, while also landing multiple-episode runs on Frasier and Six Feet Under. In all three Maze Runner films Clarkson plays Ava Paige, the leader of W.C.K.D and one of the scientists responsible for releasing the Flare to the general public. Her goal throughout the films is to find a cure for the disease, and she sacrifices many lives in order to discover it. Although she does find the cure, she's killed shortly thereafter by Aidan Gillen's Janson.
Since the end of The Maze Runner series, Clarkson has showed up in smaller films such as Out of Blue and Almost Love, along with a recurring role as Jane Davis on House of Cards. Clarkson is currently working on a pair of projects entitled Monica and Light on Broken Glass. Although her only onscreen appearance so far in 2021 is scheduled to be a small role in The State of the Union, she is by no means done with her career just yet.
Giancarlo Esposito -- Jorge
A world class actor, Giancarlo Esposito's role in the latter two Maze Runner films added to an impressive resume that includes roles in Breaking Bad, Homicide: Life on the Street, and The $treet. Playing the role of the scavenger turned rebel Jorge, Esposito initially plans to turn the Gladers over to W.C.K.D for a reward, but is persuaded by Thomas to fight with the Gladers instead. Towards the end of The Scorch Trials, Jorge is able to save some of the Gladers from capture by W.C.K.D with some vehicular carnage, and later helps them rescue everyone else in The Death Cure.
Esposito's career was sterling before The Maze Runner. Along with portraying Lex Luthor in Harley Quinn and reprising his role as Gus Fring in the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, Esposito recently landed two of the biggest parts of his career. The first is cunning CEO Stan Edgar of Vought International in The Boys, who is in the midst of developing superhumans for use in combat. The second is Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, a leader of the Imperial remnant who has been chasing after Grogu's blood for an unknown purpose. With The Boys and The Mandalorian set to return for third seasons, Esposito looks ready to continue killing each of the villainous roles he currently plays.
Nathalie Emmanuel -- Harriet
Best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen's close friend and advisor Missandei in Game of Thrones, as well as Megan Ramsey in the last two Fast & Furious movies, Nathalie Emmanuel took the role of Harriet in the latter two Maze Runner efforts. Harriet was only a minor character in the films, which disappointed diehard Maze Runner fans because she played a much larger role in the books. Regardless, Nathalie Emmanuel did an excellent portraying the hardened freedom fighter.
After wrapping up work for The Death Cure, Emmanuel reprised her role as Missandei for the controversial final season of Game of Thrones, meeting an untimely death at the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane. Emmanuel then landed a voice acting job as Deet in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the Netflix series which acted as a prequel to the original 1982 film. Emmanuel also got a role as Jordan King in Die Hart, which featured Kevin Hart and premiered on the recently shut down streaming platform Quibi. Nathalie Emmanuel is set to return to the big screen on May 28th of this year when she reprises her role as Ramsey in F9.