Dev Patel

Dev Patel, born 23 April 1990, is a British actor and filmmaker. He has won a British Academy Film Award and earned nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2024, he was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Patel was born in the London Borough of Harrow to Indian Gujarati parents born in Kenya and was raised in the Hindu faith in Rayners Lane. He attended Longfield Primary School and Whitmore High School, where he excelled in drama. In 2000, he began training at the Rayners Lane Academy of Taekwondo, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 AIMAA World Championships in Dublin and earning a first dan black belt in 2006.

In 2006, Patel secured his first professional role as Anwar Kharral in the E4 teen drama Skins, appearing in its first two series. His international breakthrough came when Danny Boyle cast him as Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire (2008). His performance earned him widespread recognition, winning a British Independent Film Award, a Critics' Choice Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast, alongside a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Patel subsequently portrayed Zuko in The Last Airbender (2010) and featured in the comedy-drama The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and its 2015 sequel. From 2012 to 2014, he played blogger Neal Sampat in the HBO television series The Newsroom. His film work during this era included roles in About Cherry (2012), The Road Within (2014), the science-fiction movie Chappie (2015), and as mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015).

For his performance as Saroo Brierley in Lion (2016), Patel won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He followed this with starring roles in Hotel Mumbai (2018), The Wedding Guest (2018), and The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019), the latter earning him a Golden Globe nomination. He also received an Emmy nomination for his performance in an episode of the anthology series Modern Love.

Patel starred in the medieval film The Green Knight (2021) and Wes Anderson's short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023). Moving into producing and directing, he launched the production company Minor Realm in 2021. Patel made his directorial debut with the 2024 action film Monkey Man, which he co-wrote, produced, and starred in, premiered at South by Southwest, and was released theatrically worldwide.