Dev Patel (born 23 April 1990 in Harrow, London) is an English actor of Indian descent.
Patel is perhaps best known for his role as Jamal Malik in the film Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2009. Prior to Slumdog Millionaire, he also starred as Anwar Kharral on the teen drama Skins, alongside Nicholas Hoult and Hannah Murray in the series' first generation of characters.
His other notable credits include a supporting role in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, the live-action adaption of The Last Airbender, and the HBO original series The Newsroom.
In 2017, he received an Academy Award nomination (in the Best Supporting Actor category) for his role in Lion, making him the third-ever actor of Indian origin to be given an Oscar nod.
Selected filmography:
- Skins (2007 — 2008) as Anwar Kharral
- Slumdog Millionaire (2008) as Jamal Malik
- The Last Airbender (2010) as Zuko
- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) as Sonny Kapoor
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
- The Newsroom (2012 — 2014) as Neal Sampat
- The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) as Srinivasa Ramanujan
- Chappie (2015) as Deon Wilson
- Only Yesterday (2016 English dub) as Toshio (voice)
- Lion (2016) as Saroo Brierley note
- Hotel Mumbai (2019) as Arjun
- Modern Love (2019) as Joshua (episode: "When Cupid is a Prying Journalist").
- The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020) as David Copperfield
- The Green Knight (2021) as Sir Gawain
- Roald Dahl short film adaptations by Wes Anderson (2023):
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar as Dr. Z.Z. Chatterjee / John Winston
- Poison (2023) as Timber Woods
- Monkey Man as Kid (also writer and director)
He provides examples of:
- Black Vikings:
- In The Personal History of David Copperfield, he's just one of many actors of colour appearing in the adaptation of a novel about Victorian England. Partially justified by the movie's overall theatrical style - in theatre, colorblind casting is par for the course.
- Then there's The Green Knight, which again looks highly experimental and not actually set in medieval England, or even a Standard Fantasy Setting.
- Creator Backlash: Patel has gone on record apologizing to fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender for how the live-action film turned out. He has also expressed how the experience in the movie turned him off work on mainstream Hollywood productions.
