---
name: "Dev Patel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/dev-patel"
fi1m_id: "dev-patel"
imdb_id: "nm2353862"
tmdb_id: 76788
wikidata_id: "Q245075"
roles: ["Actor","Director"]
born: "23 April 1990"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 10
average_fi1m_score: 67
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-10-04T07:57:10.071186+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Dev Patel

## Identity

Dev Patel

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/dev-patel
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** dev-patel
- **IMDb ID:** nm2353862
- **TMDB ID:** 76788
- **Wikidata ID:** Q245075
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dev_Patel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q245075, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2353862/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/76788

Actor and director. Born 23 April 1990 in Harrow, Greater London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor, Director
- **Born:** 23 April 1990, Harrow, Greater London, England, UK
- **Active:** 2007–present
- **Also known as:** देव पटेल, دِو پَتِل
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 10: 9 acting, 1 directing
- **Frequently works with:** [Bill Nighy](https://film.one/person/bill-nighy.md), [Graham Broadbent](https://film.one/person/graham-broadbent.md), [John Madden](https://film.one/person/john-madden.md), [Judi Dench](https://film.one/person/judi-dench.md), [Maggie Smith](https://film.one/person/maggie-smith.md), [Ol Parker](https://film.one/person/ol-parker.md), [Peter Czernin](https://film.one/person/peter-czernin.md)
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 67, as actor, over 9 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 75 (2), 2010s 62 (6), 2020s 75 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 67 to 64 across 9 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 6 of 8 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Comedy 5, Adventure 2, Fantasy 2, Action 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 14 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,105m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dev_Patel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q245075, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2353862/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/76788

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Green Knight*](https://film.one/film/the-green-knight.md) (78)
- **Netflix:** [*Lion*](https://film.one/film/lion.md) (78)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Modern Love*](https://film.one/tv/modern-love.md) (61)
- **Apple TV:** [*The Last Airbender*](https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender.md) (24)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Dev Patel

> We value Dev Patel’s unshowy seriousness: he makes earnest men worth caring about, even when their scripts let them down. His move into action suits an actor who can tell us so much through his shoulders.

In the early bouts of *Monkey Man* (2024), Dev Patel hunches behind a gorilla mask and takes more blows than he delivers. As Kid, he barely speaks, leaving his eyes and shoulders to suggest someone practised at making himself small. We felt for him before we wanted him to win: Patel makes the habit of losing visible in the way Kid carries himself. The violence gives him a different sort of leading role, but the vulnerable man is still there.

In Danny Boyle’s *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008), his breakthrough lead, Patel’s older Jamal gives the romance someone believable to depend on. He plays the longing directly, without standing back from it or apologising for its earnestness. Boyle keeps the film moving, sometimes too quickly for its people, and Patel persuades us to care despite the helpful coincidences. That ability has limits: as Prince Zuko in M. Night Shyamalan’s *The Last Airbender* (2010), he brings urgency to dialogue that defeats much of the cast. He gives us a person worth watching in a film we cannot recommend.

With Garth Davis’s *Lion* (2016), that seriousness becomes an adult’s consuming preoccupation. Patel’s Saroo Brierley keeps searching through Google Earth, and the performance makes the repetition understandable even when it becomes tiring to watch. We believe he cannot put the past aside; we still wish the screenplay could find more for him to do. He keeps Saroo worth caring about through passages we would happily see shortened.

*Monkey Man* makes the uneven writing partly his responsibility: it is his first film as director, and he wrote the story. He shares the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, but its wandering, repetitive stretches suggest that another pass was needed. The fights land hard, and we welcome the move from decent, anxious young men to a lean fighter used to losing. There is real feeling here, alongside the need for a firmer edit. Start with *Slumdog Millionaire* for the warmth; choose *Monkey Man* if a scrappy revenge film appeals.

## Biography

Dev Patel is a British actor and filmmaker. Born on 23 April 1990 in Harrow, Greater London, he began his career in the E4 series *Skins* (2007) as Anwar Kharral.

His breakthrough came with the lead role of Jamal Malik in *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008). He later starred in *The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel* (2012), *Chappie* (2015), *Lion* (2016) as Saroo Brierley, *Hotel Mumbai* (2019) and *The Green Knight* (2021). For *Lion* he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and received an Academy Award nomination.

Patel made his directorial debut with the action film *Monkey Man* (2024), in which he also starred as Kid and co-wrote the screenplay and story.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (10)

### Performed in (9) — the average rests on these

- *The Green Knight* (2021), Fi1m 78, as Gawain — [page](https://film.one/film/the-green-knight.md)
- *Modern Love* (2019), Fi1m 61, as Joshua — [page](https://film.one/tv/modern-love.md)
- *The Personal History of David Copperfield* (2019), Fi1m 81, as David Copperfield — [page](https://film.one/film/the-personal-history-of-david-copperfield.md)
- *Lion* (2016), Fi1m 78, as Saroo Brierley — [page](https://film.one/film/lion.md)
- *The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel* (2015), Fi1m 58, as Sonny Kapoor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-second-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.md)
- *The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel* (2012), Fi1m 71, as Sonny Kapoor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.md)
- *The Last Airbender* (2010), Fi1m 24, as Prince Zuko — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender.md)
- *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008), Fi1m 78, as Older Jamal — [page](https://film.one/film/slumdog-millionaire.md)
- *Skins* (2007), Fi1m 72, as Anwar Kharral — [page](https://film.one/tv/skins.md)

### Directed (1)

- *Monkey Man* (2024), Fi1m 72, as Kid — [page](https://film.one/film/monkey-man.md)

## Complete filmography (31)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Rabbit Trap* (2025), as Darcy Davenport · Executive Producer
- *Companion* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Monkey Man* (2024), as Kid · Screenplay, Story, Director, Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/monkey-man.md)
- *The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More* (2024), as Dr. Chatterjee / John Winston / Woods (archive footage)
- *To Kill a Tiger* (2023), Executive Producer
- *Poison* (2023), as Supervisor Woods
- *The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar* (2023), as Dr. Chatterjee / John Winston
- *The Green Knight* (2021), as Gawain — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-green-knight.md)
- *Roborovski* (2020), Writer, Producer, Director
- *India from Above* (2020), series, as Narrator
- *The Personal History of David Copperfield* (2019), as David Copperfield — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/the-personal-history-of-david-copperfield.md)
- *Modern Love* (2019), series, as Joshua — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/modern-love.md)
- *Hotel Mumbai* (2019), as Arjun · Executive Producer
- *The Wedding Guest* (2019), as Jay · Producer
- *Home Shopper* (2018), Director
- *Lion* (2016), as Saroo Brierley — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/lion.md)
- *The Man Who Knew Infinity* (2016), as Srinivasa Ramanujan
- *Chappie* (2015), as Deon Wilson
- *The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel* (2015), as Sonny Kapoor — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/the-second-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.md)
- *The Road Within* (2014), as Alex
- *The Newsroom* (2012), series, as Neelamani Sampat
- *The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel* (2012), as Sonny Kapoor — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.md)
- *About Cherry* (2012), as Andrew
- *The Commuter* (2010), as The Commuter
- *The Last Airbender* (2010), as Prince Zuko — Fi1m 24, [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender.md)
- *Mister Eleven* (2009), series, as Hotel Waiter
- *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008), as Older Jamal — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/slumdog-millionaire.md)
- *Skins* (2007), series, as Anwar Kharral — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/skins.md)
- *The Journeyman*, Actor
- *The Peasant*, Director, Writer
- *It's All Going Very Well No Problems at All*, Producer

## Gallery

- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-3b6a8800c6ed.jpg) Dev Patel — Ariela Ortiz Barrantes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/SXSW_2024_-_Dev_Patel_4_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-SXSW_2024_-_Dev_Patel_4_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Cast and Director "Slumdog Millionaire" at 81st Annual Academy Awards. (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-323fa7f27f43.jpg) Cast and Director "Slumdog Millionaire" at 81st Annual Academy Awards. (2009) — Greg in Hollywood (Greg Hernandez), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Cast_%22Slumdog_Millionaire%22.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-5f0a0b69cf87.jpg) Dev Patel — Romina Espinosa at http://www.rominaespinosa.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/DevPatel08.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-ffb2d4fcb92f.jpg) Dev Patel — Romina Espinosa at http://www.rominaespinosa.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/DevPatel08_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-72f6e5fc9329.jpg) Dev Patel — Image via TMDB
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-c4bad74c65ca.jpg) Dev Patel — Image via TMDB
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-4da70cc26a5a.jpg) Dev Patel — Image via TMDB
- ![Star of Chappie, The Newsroom, Slumdog Millionaire, The Last Airbender, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Road Within, About Cherry, The Second Best Exotic Ma (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-9d4f8e9c0544.jpg) Star of Chappie, The Newsroom, Slumdog Millionaire, The Last Airbender, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Road Within, About Cherry, The Second Best Exotic Ma (2016) — Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Dev_Patel_%2831091427671%29.jpg/1280px-Dev_Patel_%2831091427671%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Dev Patel at the PaleyFest 2013 panel on the TV show "The Newsroom"](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-bc082c1cc8f6.jpg) Dev Patel at the PaleyFest 2013 panel on the TV show "The Newsroom" — iDominick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Dev_Patel_at_PaleyFest_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-ca396cc68b69.jpg) Dev Patel — Image via TMDB
- ![Dev Patel](https://film.one/media/person/11724/gallery-84fd6881f65d.jpg) Dev Patel — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2017: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Lion*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won

- 2017: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (won), for *Lion*

### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- European Film Award for Best Actor 2009: European Film Award for Best Actor (nominated), for *Slumdog Millionaire*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/dev-patel