How Bruce Lee led ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ star Dev Patel to fame
Patel recalls sneaking out from his bedroom when he was a child to watch Bruce Lee’s 1973 action film Enter the Dragon on TV
Dev Patel might have stumbled onto acting – he joined the drama club at school to avoid trouble and channel his energy elsewhere – but he was destined to become huge on the silver screen.
The London-born Patel, of Indian descent, meets me in Geneva during Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, where he is IWC’s celebrity guest. He shows up for our interview in a casual grey T-shirt and khaki pants.
Charming and down to earth, a smiling Patel offers me a glass of water. However, when he is asked how he got into acting, the 27-year-old star looks serious.
“I’m drawn to films that are like fables,” says Patel, soft-spoken yet firm. “I think that’s what we go into cinemas for. In a way, it’s catharsis.”
His love for films started at an early age. Will Smith’s heart-warming drama Pursuit of Happyness (2006) inspired him to pursue acting professionally.
“As a child and a British Indian, I could really relate to Asian actors who were strong leading men [in cinema].”
Young Patel fell in love with acting when he was cast by his school’s drama club to play the lead in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. “From that day on, everyone knew me as the drama guy in school,” he says.
Patel’s acting talent shone through when his mother spotted a casting ad in the newspaper and landed him the role of Anwar in teen television drama series Skins in 2006.
The first series was nominated for best drama series at the 2008 BAFTA Television Awards and the second series won the Philips Audience Award at BAFTA the year after. Apart from Skins, Patel returned to TV in the 2012 HBO television series The Newsroom.