Nominated for 10 Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire is this year’s breakout hit. The film’s star, Dev Patel, talks about the life-changing movie.
How has your life changed since the release of Slumdog Millionaire?
It’s weird because I was a normal boy from Harrow [in London]. Like every other kid, my mum was telling me to make my bed and clean my room. Then I went to this film set where I had the lead role, and work with adults who are passionate about, and everything changed. We didn’t really realize how big the film was going to be. On the set there was blood, sweat and tears, and trying to deal with the chaos of Mumbai. The reception it’s getting is unbelievable. I mean, I feel blessed. I’m a lucky kid, but I’m taking each day as it comes.
Director Danny Boyle said that one of the hardest things he had to do was to tell your mum that she couldn’t come to Mumbai for the shoot. Has she had a big influence on your career?
Yes, that was one of the worst things. During the auditions, I had to do this love scene with [costar Freida Pinto] and obviously I didn’t want to do it in front of my mum. The first audition I went for, there were all these good-looking guys and their girlfriends, and then there was me – a 17-year-old me with my mum! I got into acting because my mum saw an advert in the newspaper and it was a new teen drama [called Skins]. The night before the audition my mum said, “Dev, I’m taking you to this open casting call.” My face literally hit the floor, but she said: “I believe in you and I’m going to take you.” I got the role after two auditions, so she’s been my driving force on the set.
Were you interested in acting before your mum saw this advert?
Well, I used to get into trouble with my teachers all the time. I’d be bouncing off the walls, playing the classroom joker. My parents wanted to find a way for me to channel all this energy. At first, they tried musical instruments, but that didn’t work. Then I tried karate and that worked. There were also teachers who’d say, “Why don’t you put him in the school play?” I was 10 at the time and they were doing Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. It was a musical for little kids and I loved it.
In the London community I come from, acting is not really an option. I mean, you’re encouraged to be a doctor, a dentist, an accountant or an engineer. Then there’s me, a kid who wanted to be an actor. It’s been great, though, because my parents have stood by me, been there for me and pushed me into something that’s not really an orthodox career choice.
How hard was it to adjust to the Mumbai life and try to look like a local?
That was the hardest thing. [Before I arrived in Mumbai] I was going to play this character in a very different way. The way I saw it, this game-show host was ripping him to shreds in front of the whole of India and he was tortured both mentally and physically. I thought he’d feel sorry for himself. Then I went to India and saw the slums. That was an eye-opening experience and I needed to get out of that foreign mindset. I needed to get myself into this character who had grown up in the slums all his life
