Dev Patel
Dev Patel (/ˈdɛv pəˈtɛl/;[1] born 23 April 1990) is a British actor and filmmaker. He has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Patel was included in Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024.
Dev Patel
Patel began his career playing Anwar Kharral in the E4 teen drama Skins (2007). His breakthrough role in Danny Boyle's drama Slumdog Millionaire (2008)[2] earned Patel a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.[3] His career expanded with leading roles in the comedy-dramas The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), the science fiction thriller Chappie (2015), and a supporting role in the HBO series The Newsroom (2012–2014).
For his performance as Saroo Brierley in the drama Lion (2016), Patel won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He subsequently starred in the independent films Hotel Mumbai (2018), The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) and The Green Knight (2021), and made his directorial debut with the action film Monkey Man (2024).
Early life and education[edit]
Dev Patel was born on 23 April 1990 in Harrow,[4][5] the son of Anita, a care worker, and Raju, an IT consultant.[6][7] His parents are Indian Gujarati Hindus,[8] though they were both born in Nairobi, Kenya, where there is a significant Indian community; they immigrated to England, separately in their teens, and first met in London.[6][9] Patel was raised in the Hindu faith.[10] He speaks some Gujarati.[11] His ancestors came from Jamnagar and Unjha in Gujarat, India.[12] He grew up in the Rayners Lane district of Harrow and attended Longfield Primary School and Whitmore High School. Patel had his first acting role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production of Twelfth Night.[6]
At Whitmore High School, he received an A* in GCSE Drama for his "self-penned portrayal of a child in the Beslan school siege." His drama teacher Niamh Wright said, "Dev was a gifted student, who quickly impressed me with his innate ability to communicate a wide variety of characters imaginatively and creatively. He was awarded full marks for his GCSE performance to a live audience, and the visiting examiner was moved to tears by his honest portrayal."[13] He completed his A Levels in PE, Biology, History, and Drama in 2007 at Whitmore High School while working on Skins.
Patel said that he was "bloody energetic" as a child, and used to get in trouble because of it. He started training at the Rayners Lane Academy of Taekwondo in 2000.[14] He competed regularly in both national and international championships, including the 2004 AIMAA (Action International Martial Arts Association) World Championships in Dublin, where he won a bronze medal.[9][15][16] The World Championships took place in October 2004, when he competed as a red belt in the junior division against other red and black belts. He made it to the semi-finals, where he lost to an Irish black belt, named Niall Fitzmaurice, in "a very close and tough fight" and ended up winning a bronze medal.[15] Later, in March 2006, he earned a 1st dan black belt.[17]
Career[edit]
2006–2007: Early work[edit]
In 2006, Patel's professional acting career began when he auditioned for the E4 teen drama television series Skins. His mother saw the casting advertisement in Metro and took him to the audition, even though he had a science exam the next day.[6][18] After two auditions, he was cast in the role of Anwar Kharral, a British Pakistani Muslim teenager.[6] The characterization of Anwar was partly based on Patel's own personality, as the role was developed specifically for him once he was cast in Skins.[19] With no prior professional acting experience, recalled that, on "the first day of shooting, I didn't really know what to do."[6]
The first series of the show aired in January 2007 and went on to win the Rose d'Or for Drama in 2008 and receive a nomination for Best Drama Series at the 2008 BAFTA Television Awards.[20][21] Patel reprised his role as Anwar for the second series of Skins, which aired in February 2008. The second series of Skins won the Philips Audience Award at the 2009 BAFTA Television Awards.[22]
Personal life[edit]
Patel began dating his Slumdog Millionaire co-star Freida Pinto in 2009.[79] On 10 December 2014, the couple announced that they had split after nearly six years of dating.[80]
In March 2017, Patel's relationship with Australian actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey became public. They met nine months earlier on the set of Hotel Mumbai.[81] In April 2022 they moved to Cobham-Hervey's home town, Adelaide, in South Australia.[82] In August 2022, Patel featured in the local news after he broke up a fight in Gouger Street in Adelaide city centre.[83] The couple posed for photographs together for the first time on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of Patel's debut feature as a director, Monkey Man, on 2 April 2024.[84]