Dev Patel: Mario Testino said I wasnt attractive enough to date Freida Pinto
I’ve always thought that Dev Patel was an attractive guy. Not really “hot” or “sexy” but that’s mainly because he reminds me strongly of one of my Indian cousins. I especially like the beard that Dev has been rocking lately – it makes him look more like a wild man/poet and less like a goofy sweetheart, you know? Well, Dev is promoting The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and he ended up chatting with The Guardian – go here to read the full piece. Dev talks about his now ex-girlfriend Freida Pinto, staying grounded, and how much it hurt when Mario Testino questioned (to Dev’s face) how he could actually be dating a beautiful girl like Freida. Some highlights:
Whether he still feels like an outsider: “All the time. I’m never happier and more alive than when I’m on set. I love it, it consumes me and I feel more confident. But I was never cool.”
Dev’s Mario Testino story: “I remember going to this one Burberry show, and it was exciting. They’ve always been very kind to me and, even as a gangly guy, I felt I was rocking their suits. So when I was invited to one of the fashion shows in London, I went. Even though I had this preconceived notion – ‘I’m not going to fit in with this crowd, it’s going to be intimidating’. I was sitting there, and this fellow says, ‘Are you the one dating Freida Pinto?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I guess.’” He gives an embarrassed shrug. “And then he says: ‘Why? How? Why is she dating you? She’s so beautiful.’ And I say, ‘Yeah. She is!’ And then he says: ‘But you’re so, ugh, so normal-looking.’” Patel looks upset even now. It turns out it was the photographer Mario Testino.
His relationship with ex-GF Freida Pinto: “We are incredibly close. She’s just a really generous, patient human being who has been one of the most impactful people on my life. A lot of my motivation has come from her, from being with her and knowing her.”
Why did they break up? “No. I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t say.”
He doesn’t Google himself: “It’s a very dangerous thing and confidence is very fragile – mine is. I wouldn’t dare play with it now because it’s so essential to what I do. I made the mistake of reading the papers early on, when we did Slumdog.”
The make up of his school: “It was very mixed, 50-50, maybe even more coloured people.”
When asked about his use of “coloured”: “Any slip of the tongue in this job is huge,” he says, a reference to Benedict Cumberbatch, who attracted criticism for discussing the difficulties facing “coloured actors” in a television interview – presumably having meant to say “people of colour”. “His intentions are good,” Patel argues. “He shouldn’t have been burned for it.”
The rest of the interview is pretty good too – he talks about being anti-social media, buying his first house in Hollywood and how he can’t even go to family weddings anymore because of the internal politics of Indian families (I feel you, bro). I honestly never realized that Dev was so sensitive and slightly neurotic – I like him even more now! As for his use of the word “colored,” again, I have to think that people in the UK use it differently. They don’t have the same linguistic history with “colored” that we have in America. Still, let’s just use “people of color.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
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