Template:Actor infoboxDev Patel (Gujarati: દેવ પટેલ) is an award-winning British actor. He is known for his performances as Anwar Kharral in the teen drama series Skins and as Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he won a number of awards, including a Critics' Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He was also bronze medalist at the 2004 AIMAA Taekwando World Championship in Dublin. He also played Zuko in the film The Last Airbender.
Selected other credits
Television work
Filmography
- About Cherry (2012)
- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
- Slumdog Millionare (2008)
Other credits
- The Last Airbender (video game)
Biographical information
Patel was born in Harrow, England, to Gujarati Indian parents, both of whom were born in Nairobi, Kenya, where there is a significant Indian community. His parents each emigrated from Kenya in their teens, and only met in London. His mother, Anita, is a carer and his father, Raj, an IT consultant. He has one sibling, an older sister named Komal. He is a Hindu by birth.
Patel grew up in Rayners Lane, Harrow, and attended Longfield Middle School. He had his first acting role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production of Twelfth Night. Patel was given the Best Actor award for his performance and says that was the day he knew he wanted to become an actor. He later went to Whitmore High School, receiving an A* in GCSE Drama, for his "self-penned portrayal of a child in the Beslan school siege". 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 of a child in the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia." He eventually completed his AS Levels in PE, Biology, History and Drama in 2007, while he was working on Skins.
Patel as Zuko.
In 2008, Patel auditioned for a role in M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, a feature film adaptation of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. In February 2009, it was announced that Patel had replaced Jesse McCartney for the role of Zuko, after McCartney's tour dates conflicted with a boot camp scheduled for the cast to train in martial arts. Shyamalan stated that Patel was "already one of the guys I was interested in. Then I saw Slumdog Millionaire, and the kid just grew in my eyes". Filming began in March 2009.
Trivia
- Dev Patel commented to Starlog magazine that
- "Zuko is a boy, and he's struggling to impress his father and trying to get his honor and love back. And then there's Shaun Toub, who plays my uncle, and who treats Zuko like a son. Like in life, you take your anger out on the people you love the most, and Zuko sort of neglects his uncle because he's on this one-track mission to find this boy. It makes it really interesting. They have a good dynamic: This naïve boy who acts on aggression all of the time, and then you have this wise, older uncle who is like the calm within the storm. It's a good dynamic."[1]
Awards
- 2009: Won a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Best Young Actor/Actress (Under 21))
- 2009: Won a Screen Actors' Guild Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture)
- 2008: Won a Black Reel for Slumdog Millionaire (Best Actor)
- 2008: Won a Black Reel for Slumdog Millionaire (Best Breakthrough Performance)
- 2008: Won a British Independent Film Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Most Promising Newcomer)
- 2008: Won a CFCA Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Most Promising Performer)
- 2008: Won an NBR Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Breakthrough Performance by an Actor)
- 2008: Won a PFCS Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Breakout on Camera)
- 2008: Won a WAFCA Award for Slumdog Millionaire (Best Breakthrough Performance)
References
- ↑ Allan Dart (2009-06-24). First LAST AIRBENDER News & Trailer. Starlog (via Wayback Machine). Retrieved on June 27, 2009.
See also
- Dante Basco, Zuko's voice actor in the animated series.