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Dev Patel Video Interview On ‘The Last Airbender,’ M. Night Shyamalan, Freida Pinto
He’s was the Slumdog Millionaire. Now, Dev Patel is starring in M. Night Shyamalan‘s smash hit The Last Airbender.
Q: The effects in The Last Airbender are incredible. What was the most challenging scene for you to shoot? I read that you had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, were you able to use that training in the film?
A: The most challenging scene for me to shoot would probably be… there’re so many, I can’t think of it. 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’s 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. 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.
Q: My follow up questions, are what was your most memorable experience working with M. Night Shyamalan? And what did he teach you?
A: I think more than anything he’s just such a family man. You know he shot a lot in Philadelphia, and we’d always see his wife and kids come on set, and this is a film sort of based at a family audience, it’s a family-friendly film. It’s a film about friendship and relationships, and it’s nice to have someone like him on board because his kids are such massive fans of the film, and in turn, he got enrolled in it, so he’s got a lot to live up to, but it’s nice to have a fan of the cartoon, doing the film.
Q: How has your life changed since Slumdog Millionaire? Are you able to walk the streets of London?
A: I can walk around, I’m not mobbed. It’s nothing like the poor guys from Twilight. 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. 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.
Q: My follow-up question deals with Slumdog co-star and real-life girlfriend Freida Pinto. I understand you took her with you to the premier of The Last Airbender. How was that? What did she think of the film?
A: It was great. It was brilliant. She was looking very pretty, and we just had a great time. It was nice to have her there to support me. Yeah, it was a great time. We had the 3-D glasses on, and I looked really goofy in them. It was good fun.
The most challenging scene for me to shoot would probably be... there're so many, I can't think of it. 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's 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. 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.
I think more than anything he's just such a family man. You know he shot a lot in Philadelphia, and we'd always see his wife and kids come on set, and this is a film sort of based at a family audience, it's a family friendly film. It's a film about friendship and relationships, and it's nice to have someone like him on board, because his kids are such massive fans of the film, and in turn he got enrolled into it, so he's got a lot to live up to, but it's nice to have a fan of the cartoon, doing the film.
I can walk around, I'm not mobbed. It's nothing like the poor guys from Twilight. 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. 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.
It was great. It was brilliant. She was looking very pretty, and we just had a great time. It was nice to have her there to support me. Yeah, it was a great time. We had the 3-D glasses on, and I looked really goofy in them. It was good fun.
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