British actor of Indian descent
Dev Patel identified with '
Gawain
', his character in 'The
Green Knight
', because he thinks the tale of King Arthur's nephew is similar to his own journey as an actor, including having many moments of self-doubt.
Dev said: "Even though it's a medieval film, there are a lot of parallels for me with a young actor's journey through their careers. The idea of being known and having ambition, but at what cost?
"And the idea that Gawain is surrounded at the roundtable by all these legends and not feeling worthy himself. I very often found myself in that situation where I have this impostor syndrome, just like him."
Dev identified with his character, the former 'Skins' actor enjoyed playing someone so different to many of his other roles.
He said: "For this film I got stripped of all that wide-eyed and open vulnerability stuff that I normally lean into. I got to play someone who becomes cold and callous and broken and jaded along the way."
He also reflected on the "crazy" time in his life when he was propelled to global fame thanks to his role in 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
"That really was like being a lobster thrown into a boiling pot. It was ridiculous in every sense. I was plucked from my box room in
Rayners Lane
(in
north west London
)," he told the media source.
Dev added: "I was travelling everywhere by train and then suddenly I'm on the front page of the paper, and there's that moment in the carriage where every head, one by one, like meerkats, begins to turn and stare. It was a crazy experience. And I still feel like that today, in some ways. You can't take that Rayners Lane kid out of me."
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