Dev Patel (/ˈdɛv pəˈtɛl/; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor.
Patel made his screen debut as Anwar Kharral in the first two series
of the British television teen drama Skins (2007â€"2008), landing the
role with no prior professional acting experience. His breakthrough
came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's
drama Slumdog Millionaire, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA
Award for Best Actor.Patel starred in the commercially successful
romantic comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) and its 2015
sequel, the science fiction film Chappie (2015), and the HBO drama
series The Newsroom (2012â€"2014). In 2015, Patel starred as the
mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in the biopic The Man Who Knew
Infinity, and the following year he played Saroo Brierley in the drama
Lion (2016). For the latter, he won the BAFTA Award for Best
Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor. He is the third actor of Indian descent to receive
an Oscar nomination and is one of only a small group of actors of
Asian descent ever to receive an Oscar nomination.Dev Patel was born
on 23 April 1990 in Harrow, the son of Anita, a care worker, and Raju,
an IT consultant. His parents are Gujarati Indian Hindus, though they
were both born in Nairobi, Kenya, where there is a significant Indian
community; they emigrated to England separately in their teens, and
first met in London. Patel was raised in the Hindu faith. He speaks
some Gujarati. His ancestors hail from Jamnagar and Unjha in Gujarat.
He grew up in the Rayners Lane district of Harrow and attended
Longfield Primary School and then Whitmore High School. Patel had his
first acting role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production
of Twelfth Night.
Patel made his screen debut as Anwar Kharral in the first two series
of the British television teen drama Skins (2007â€"2008), landing the
role with no prior professional acting experience. His breakthrough
came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's
drama Slumdog Millionaire, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA
Award for Best Actor.Patel starred in the commercially successful
romantic comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) and its 2015
sequel, the science fiction film Chappie (2015), and the HBO drama
series The Newsroom (2012â€"2014). In 2015, Patel starred as the
mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in the biopic The Man Who Knew
Infinity, and the following year he played Saroo Brierley in the drama
Lion (2016). For the latter, he won the BAFTA Award for Best
Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor. He is the third actor of Indian descent to receive
an Oscar nomination and is one of only a small group of actors of
Asian descent ever to receive an Oscar nomination.Dev Patel was born
on 23 April 1990 in Harrow, the son of Anita, a care worker, and Raju,
an IT consultant. His parents are Gujarati Indian Hindus, though they
were both born in Nairobi, Kenya, where there is a significant Indian
community; they emigrated to England separately in their teens, and
first met in London. Patel was raised in the Hindu faith. He speaks
some Gujarati. His ancestors hail from Jamnagar and Unjha in Gujarat.
He grew up in the Rayners Lane district of Harrow and attended
Longfield Primary School and then Whitmore High School. Patel had his
first acting role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production
of Twelfth Night.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.