“In the industry it’s hard to get past the way I look,” Patel says, without any rancor. “I’m not saying those roles are bad, but I wish that I could have access to a wider range.” Trying to expand those career parameters is, he says, his primary ambition in the years ahead. His greatest concern is that Slumdog may prove to be not just his debut but also his “swan song.”
“I always worry, every day, whether there is going to be something else like that,” he says. “When I go out on the streets, people are like, ‘Hey, Jamal’ [the name of Slumdog’s hero], or ‘Hey, Slumdog.’ I get that. But one day I want to be known as Dev Patel.”
In the meantime, though he remains romantically involved with his Slumdog costar Freida Pinto, who is five years his senior, he continues to live in London with his parents. The decision is in part a practical one; Patel received no back-end participation on Slumdog, which has earned more than $377 million worldwide, so despite the perks of fame, he still has to watch his pennies. But he stays close to home for more personal reasons as well. “I know this sounds really weird for a 20-year-old to say, but it has kept my head together,” Patel explains. “Coming home from a film set and having your mum shout at you to clean up your room and do the dishes is the most grounding thing ever.”
