Dev Patel Bio: In His Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos, Age

Dev Patel is an Indian-British actor. He is best known for his work in the teen drama Skins and his debut film appearance in Slumdog Millionaire. This Dev Patel bio will tell the actor’s story in his own words through his exclusive video interview with uInterview.com.

Dev Patel Bio: Age, Early Life

Dev Patel was born on April 23, 1990 (Dev Patel Age: 26) in London, England. He is the son of Kenyan-born Gujarati Hindu Indians who had relocated to London in their respective teen years (mother: Anit Patel; father: Raj Patel). He got his start acting in school productions. He attended Whitmore High School, where he continued his study of drama and was encouraged by his theater teachers. He also practiced martial arts in his childhood and teenage, training and competing in Taekwon-do. His experience would go on to help him in later roles, such as his part as Zuko in the live-action adaption The Last Airbender. 

Dev Patel Bio: Early Career

Patel’s first professional acting job was as rebellious British-Pakastani teenager Anwar Kharral in the teen drama Skins, which went on to be nominated for various awards during his time on the show.

Dev Patel Bio: Film Work, Slumdog Millionaire Fame

Dev Patel’s role as Jamal Malik Slumdog Millionaire blew him to the level of international fame and recognition. In his debut film appearance, Patel played an Indian boy from the Juhu Slums who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on a game show when police drag him away, believing that he, whom they refer to as the derogatory term “slumdog,”  has cheated. From there the film employs a frame story structure and the audience, along with the boy’s assailants, learns how Jamal received the informal education that led him to the final round of the game show.

After the success of his debut film, Patel commented on how grateful he was for his newfound recognition. “I can walk around, I’m not mobbed… It’s fine, everyone’s really nice… most of the time, and people just want a picture and autograph, and I can deal with that. It’s quite a pleasure and a privilege to do that,” he told uInterview exclusively. “My dad always says, it takes a lot more for someone to come up to you, than for you to just quickly scribble your name on a piece of paper. You work hard to be recognized in this industry, and stand out, and there’s millions of young actors that would love to be shooting films, and are talented, but don’t get a shot, so I really try to relish the moment when I can.”

For this part, Patel was nominated for numerous awards. Among these, he won the Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and for Best Actor, British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Newcomer. With the cast he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Patel gained the role of Zuko in M. Night Shyamalan‘s live-action remake of the popular and critically acclaimed Avatar: The Last Air-bender animated series, after sending in an audition tape.

His experience with Tae Kwon Do help him capture the character’s fire-bending powers, which are inspired by various martial arts and Asian cinema. Filming the intense fighting scenes was challenging but rewarding for the actor. “I did this fight scene on the deck of my ship. Where I sparred with the members of my own nation, and I’m just sparring, and I’m venting anger, which my character does a lot, and M. Night loves doing these one-take scenes, so… you know normally when you shoot a fight sequence, you do four moves, then cut, four moves, then cut, but this we did in a whole take. And if you slipped then we’d start again, and do it all over again, and there are people throwing punches all over, and it was tiring doing that for at least four hours. It took it out of me, that’s for sure,” he told uInterview. “And there was live rigs of fire; we had these wires going across which would send little flaming fireballs across, and if you’re off your mark, it can be really dangerous, so the adrenaline was pumping, that’s for sure. That was amazing, I was probably one of the last to be cast, within the main characters, and that experience in Tae Kwon Do, really helped me catch up to the rest of the guys, and I also got to add a few of my own kicks and things into the film, so it was really cool to be able to do a lot of my own stunts.” While the film was a critical disappointment, Patel received generally positive reviews for his supporting role. 

He has also starred in the films The Commuter and The Road Within, Chappie, About Cherry, and in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Sonny Kapor and its sequel.  

In 2016, Patel starred in the biographical film Lion, an adaption of the autobiographical book by Saroo Brierley.

Lion tells the story of an adoptee, Saroo, who tries to connect to his fading past by seeking the family he was traumatically separated from long ago. One of the few memories he recalls is falling asleep on a train as a boy, while his brother foraged for food and loose change in a train yard, and ending up tens of thousands of miles away on the other side of the country as the train traveled for three consecutive days. Patel has garnered much attention for his moving performance in the drama. For his part, he was awarded the BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor. He is also currently nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 89th Academy Awards.

The real-life Saroo Brierley seemed content about Dev Patel’s portrayal of his self-journey. “Well, Dev has done an amazing job,” Brieriey 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. And you can see that evidently when you watch the movie.”

Dev Patel Bio: Further Television Work

Patel played Neal Sampat in HBO original The Newsroom.

Dev Patel Bio: Personal Life, Dating

Dev Patel was involved in a long-term relationship with actress Freida Pinto from 2009 to 2014. The former couple met on the set of Slumdog Millionaire when he was 17 and she 24. She was allegedly engaged at the time to an Indian marketing executive who claims her relationship with Patel broke up their engagement.