Dylan O'Brien Plays Both Queer and Straight with the Help of a 'Gay Scale'

Straight actor Dylan O'Brien opened up about how out director James Sweeney helped him calibrate his performance as the queer half of a pair of twin brothers using a "gay scale."

The method helped O'Brien pull back on the hetero vibe when his performance got to be "too straight" in the new film "Twinless," the actor told Variety.

The entertainment news outlet took note of the plethora of roles O'Brien has played in the past year, a filmography that includes titles as diverse as "Caddo Lake," "Ponyboi," "Saturday Night," and Julio Torres' surreal Max comedy "Fantasmas."

O'Brien also appeared on "The Other Two" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on the small screen.

"After launching his career more than a decade ago as a heartthrob on MTV's 'Teen Wolf' and in the 'Maze Runner' films, each of those recent projects earned the actor praise for his versatility," Variety explained, adding that "no two roles are the same."

That's true, too, of his double casting in "Twinless," in which he plays identical twins Roman and Rocky, with Rocky being the gay brother.

The "gay scale" was helpful, but O'Brien said he had a sense for both characters from the start, telling Variety, "from the second I picked up the script, I was just like, 'Roman is in me.' I know this guy. And then when I get to Rocky, I had an instinct for him too."

The goal, Variety relayed, was to "play Rocky... authentically, but never stereotypically," with the director's notes consistently instructing O'Brien that he was playing Rocky a bit too far on the hetero side.

"Most of the time, he'd be like, 'You were too straight on that,'" O'Brien recounted. Together, leading man and director developed the "gay scale" that helped O'Brien orient himself accordingly.

It was a fulfilling undertaking for the thesp.

"These choices that I've been making, that you've seen in this past year, identify with what I want to be doing," O'Brien told Variety.

"It's not like I don't identify with my role on 'Teen Wolf' or the 'Maze Runner' movies," the 33-year-old emphasized. "Those were my building blocks. But it doesn't tell the whole story of who I am as a creative person."

Something else O'Brien found useful for the task was the sense of safety he got from Sweeney in a working partnership he's keen to repeat.

"James and I are definitely going to partner up again on something," O'Brien told the magazine.

"Twinless" will play at the Sundance Film Festival.