As a child, Patel was a fan of action movies after he snuck downstairs and saw scenes from aBruce Lee film on his parents' TV set.[13] Patel grew up in theRayners Lane district of Harrow and attended Longfield Primary School andWhitmore High School. Patel had his first acting role asSir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production ofTwelfth Night.[6] At Whitmore High, he received an A* inGCSE Drama for his "self-penned portrayal of a child in theBeslan 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."[14] He completed hisA Levels in PE, Biology, History, and Drama in 2007 at Whitmore High School while working onSkins.
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 ofTaekwondo in 2000.[15] He competed regularly in both national and international championships, including the 2004AIMAA (Action International Martial Arts Association) World Championships inDublin, where he won abronze medal.[9][16][17] The World Championships took place in October 2004, when he competed as ared belt in the junior division against other red andblack belts. He made it to thesemi-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.[16] Later, in March 2006, he earned a 1stdan black belt.[18]
In 2006, Patel's professional acting career began when he auditioned for theE4teen drama television seriesSkins. His mother saw the casting advertisement inMetro and took him to the audition, even though he had a science exam the next day.[6][19] After two auditions, he was cast in the role ofAnwar Kharral, aBritish PakistaniMuslim teenager.[6] The characterisation of Anwar was partly based on Patel's own personality, as the role was developed specifically for him once he was cast inSkins.[20] 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 theRose d'Or for Drama in 2008 and receive a nomination forBest Drama Series at the2008 BAFTA Television Awards.[21][22] Patel reprised his role as Anwar for the second series ofSkins, which aired in February 2008. The second series ofSkins won the Philips Audience Award at the2009 BAFTA Television Awards.[23]
Patel made his feature film debut when he was cast in the role of Jamal Malik, the central character inDanny Boyle's filmSlumdog Millionaire.[24] The Jamal Malik character is an Indian Muslim boy born and brought up in thepoverty ofBombay, India.[25] Boyle considered hundreds of young male actors, but found thatBollywood leads were generally "strong, handsome hero-types", not the personality he was looking for.[26] Boyle's 17-year-old daughter Caitlin pointed him toSkins.[26][27]
After five auditions for the role,[28] Patel was eventually cast in August 2007.[29] The film's producer found the original choice for the lead role,Ruslaan Mumtaz, too good-looking for the role.[30] Boyle said, "I wanted a guy who didn't look like a potential hero; I wanted him to earn that in the film."[6] To prepare for the role, Patel went along with Boyle while scouting for filming locations, where he was able to observe theDharavi slums for himself. He also worked at acall-center for a day and in a hotel, where he washed dishes.[31][32]
Patel playedZuko inM. Night Shyamalan'sThe Last Airbender, a feature film adaptation of the animated seriesAvatar: The Last Airbender,[45][46][47] which was released on 1 July 2010 to extremely negative reviews. Despite being a commercial success, the film was a critical failure and Patel even received aRazzie Award nomination asWorst Supporting Actor that year, although his role was well received, and was considered by many to be one of the film's positive aspects.[48]
Patel later starred in the short filmThe Commuter,[49] which was directed byMcHenry Brothers to promote theNokia N8 smartphone in the UK[50] Fans who won a Nokia UK run competition starred alongside Dev Patel in the short film.[51][52]
From 2012 to 2014, Patel had a supporting role in the 2012HBO television seriesThe Newsroom as Neal Sampat, blogger for news anchor Will McAvoy.[56] He also appeared alongsideJames Franco andHeather Graham inAbout Cherry, which premiered at the2012 Berlin International Film Festival. In 2014, Patel starred alongsideRobert Sheehan andZoë Kravitz in the film,The Road Within, about three unlikely friends with various disabilities who go on a road trip. The film received generally mixed reviews.Variety had positive words for the "bristling and committed performances by Robert Sheehan, Dev Patel and Zoe Kravitz" while noting that "there remains a nagging tidiness to the whole endeavor that leaves a strained, cloying aftertaste" that kept the movie from truly succeeding.[57]
Patel made his directorial debut with the 2024 action thriller filmMonkey Man, as announced in 2018. In addition to directing, Patel stars in the film, and is credited as a co-writer and producer.[72][73] The film was initially set to be distributed byNetflix,[74] butJordan Peele, having seen the film, felt that it deserved a theatrical release instead, so he acquired it from Netflix under hisMonkeypaw Productions banner.[75]Monkey Man had its world premiere atSouth by Southwest on 11 March 2024.[76] It had itsSydney premiere on 2 April 2024,[77] and was released in Australian cinemas on 4 April 2024.[78] It was released byUniversal Pictures in the US on 5 April 2024.[76]
Patel will executive produce and star in theMiramax miniseriesThe Key Man as disgraced businessmanArif Naqvi,[79] and was initially set to joinOlivia Colman inWicker before dropping out.[80]
Patel began dating hisSlumdog Millionaire co-starFreida Pinto in 2009.[81] On 10 December 2014, the couple announced that they had split after nearly six years of dating.[82] In March 2017, Patel's relationship withAustralian actressTilda Cobham-Hervey became public. They met nine months earlier on the set ofHotel Mumbai.[83] In April 2022 they moved to Cobham-Hervey's home town,Adelaide.[84] The couple posed for photographs together for the first time on thered carpet at theLos Angeles premiere of Patel's debut feature as a director,Monkey Man, on 2 April 2024.[85]
.jpg)
.jpg)
