Okay, hold on to your popcorn, because this is the epic tale of how Dylan O’Brien almost became the voice of an animated snowman… or a singing reindeer… or maybe a high-pitched talking tree stump. We may never know which role he was auditioning for in Frozen 2, but what we do know is that the universe said a big, fat “NOPE” to Dylan’s dreams of Disney stardom, and boy, did he know it.
Picture this: the Saturday Night Live star, fresh-faced and brimming with hope, strutted into the audition room for one of the biggest animated musicals of the decade, fully aware that his singing voice probably sounded like a cat that’s just been introduced to a vacuum cleaner. But hey, when opportunity knocks, sometimes you just have to fling the door open, right?
Wrong.
As Dylan recalled to Seth Meyers on Late Night, his expectations were about as high as a puddle in summer. “Did I think I was going to get the part?” he said, with all the enthusiasm of someone who just realized they forgot to take the pizza out of the oven. “No. I mean, come on, the movie’s a musical. They’re looking for people who can act and sing. I’m not sure I can do either.”
But did that stop him? Of course not! Dylan, in a moment of sheer delusion or bravery (we’re not sure which), thought, “I can’t sing, but you know what? Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?” (Spoiler: the worst that could happen did, in fact, happen.)
The audition was going… let’s say… “meh” at best. He was “swimming” in the first verse like a kid doing the doggy paddle for the first time—just trying to stay afloat. Then, the casting director did the thing. You know, that thing people do when they’re silently begging for mercy but trying to be polite about it. She asked, with what we can only assume was a wince of pure regret, if he could just, please, get to the chorus—because she needed to know if his vocal range extended beyond “squeaky door.”
“I went higher,” Dylan recalled, like a brave but confused falsetto warrior. “And it was… bad. Really bad. I knew. She knew. Heck, the janitor in the next building probably knew.”
Then came the moment of mercy. The casting director gave him not just one, but TWO okays—because one simply wasn’t enough to convey the level of disappointment in the room. “Okay, okay,” she said, gently, like she was talking a toddler out of eating glue. “Thanks for coming in, but, uh, we’re probably going to need someone who can… how do I say this… sing.”
And Dylan, ever the humble realist, nodded along, basically saying, “Yeah, I can’t blame you. Thanks for not throwing me out of the window.”
Despite the soul-crushing realization that he wouldn’t be lending his vocal prowess to the world of Disney, Dylan looks back on the whole experience with a fondness that can only be described as “a bit concerning.” He’s at peace with it. “I honestly only remember it fondly,” he told Seth, before quipping that he’s “glad” they chose this story to ask him about—because, apparently, nothing says “career highlight” like butchering a song in front of a casting director.
Dylan O’Brien: a man brave enough to face his fears, audition for a musical, and then laugh about it on national television. Bless him.
