Dev Patel was born in London to Anita, a caregiver, and Raj Patel, who works in IT. His parents, originally from Kenya, are both from Gujarati Indian descent. Patel would first appear in front of the camera in the UK TV series Skins. But, his breakout role was in the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire. IN May 2012, he played Sonny Kapoor in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In 2015, he had a leading role in two major feature films Chappie and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
In his new feature film Lion, Patel plays a child in India who is seperated from his mother and later adopted by Tasmanian parents. Decades later, he decided to find his childhood village with just the early memories he has and Google Earth.
Patel spoke with The Guardian about playing the role in the movie and what he has learned from working with great actors. He explains, “I’m 26 and, like most actors my age, hungry to show emotional range. This role enabled me to play a character suffering real pain, a change from the scripts that want you as a funny sidekick. It took eight months to prepare. I wanted to commit every fibre of my being to getting it right. I had to bulk up, grow my hair, learn the accent. At my last audition, where I met the director Garth Davis, I’d been in The Man Who Knew Infinity and was skinny, with a buzzcut. I had to get myself a personal trainer and started eating like a glutton – downing the protein shakes.”
When asked about what he learned about the great actors he has worked with in the past such as Judi Dench, Patel reveals, “They have a curiosity about life, a sense of humour and emotional reserve. I never went to acting school. Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from great directors and my co-stars. Acting is about honesty. When I began, I was trying to squeeze as much emotion out of roles as I could and get big laughs. Now it’s about doing less, cutting away the fat.”
