Saroo & Sue Brierley On ‘Lion,’ Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Saroo Brierley, an Indian-born businessman who was separated at age 5 from his birth mother, was later adopted by an Australian couple, Sue Brierley and her husband. He wasn’t reunited with his birth mother until 25 years later. The tale of his arduous journey to search for his birth mother sparked significant media attention, and spurred an autobiographical account of his experiences, titled A Long Way Home. In 2016, his story was adapted to film, in the Oscar-nominated film Lion.

Saroo and Sue Brierley Exclusive Interview

In an exclusive interview, Saroo and Sue Brierley reveal to us their thoughts of the film, and how it relates to the current refugee crisis.

In Lion, Saroo Brierley’s character is played by Dev Patel, and Sue Brierley is portrayed by Nicole Kidman. Saroo gave a glowing review of Patel’s performance.

“Dev has done an amazing job,” Saroo told uInterview. “He spent eight months without wanting any other word from his managers. He just wanted to concentrate on number one, just nailing the Australian accent, and then just portraying myself. It’s hard work, and he certainly has put in all the effort and miles into portraying and embodying myself.”

Similarly, Sue only had words of praise to say about Kidman.

“It was just amazing. She went into a lot of effort to learn about me, she had her colleague come and tape and record me for days so she could practice my accent and get to know my thoughts on particular issues,” Sue said approvingly.

“We met a few times, and just went on one, and she certainly went in with every fiber of her being. And we did certainly have a real soul connection. Because her adopting his will, and so every time she was portraying me, she really I think was being me. And she’s an incredible actress, and I love her dearly, she’s just the most amazing woman,” continued Sue.

The themes in Lion resonate with current events today, especially the refugee crisis.

“I’m hoping and trusting that this movie takes people to a very deep place, and they think a lot more about issues like adoption,” Sue said. “There’s millions of children sitting, unaccompanied, in camps all across the middle east, because of war, with no hope of a future. And to me, they are the first choice refugees.”