Actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Chappie“) has been getting a lot of attention after his Oscar-nomination for the drama “Lion,” and he’s returning to theaters with David Lowery‘s much-buzzed-about R-rated fantasy film “The Green Knight.” You might be shocked to learn that Dev Patel has been purposefully avoiding tentpole films despite the actor’s growing fanbase, as he revealed during a chat with The New York Times. This has led to the actor frustrating his agents by turning down multiple major blockbusters.
That reason seems to be the horrible experience he endured during the last big film he did based on a large property and his own fears about returning to that world again.
“Maybe it’s a fear of how I would fit into that world…One of the worst movies I’ve ever done, and I shouldn’t even bring it up but do a quick IMDb search, and you’ll know what it is,” Patel alluding to his experience making M. Night Shyamalan’s disastrous “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” If you think this is too much conjecture on our part, he was more explicit in a separate interview with GamesRadar, saying he was “miscast” in the role.
“I could see that the studio was worried that I wasn’t really performing well,” he admitted. “It was quite a torturous experience in that sense where you know you’ve maybe possibly been miscast in something, and you’re not right for it, and I didn’t have any confidence, and I didn’t know how to apply what I now know are my good tools as a performer, and the truth I can bring to a part. And it kind of showed.”
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The British actor adding his admiration for Marvel actors being able to deal with that environment, “I didn’t really flourish in that position. I take my hat off to all those incredible actors that do Marvel movies where it’s, like, big, noisy fans and green screen and tennis balls and whatnot.”
Patel mentioning of Marvel is certainly interesting because he’s landed on fan wishlists (See below for a good example) to play Namor Mackenzie, aka, The Sub-Mariner in over the years. However, from these comments, it doesn’t sound like he’s terribly enthused with the idea of doing another big tentpole anytime soon, even if he’s impressed with those willing to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Not every actor is built for the grueling production of massive studio blockbusters. There are plenty of examples of people who have focused on other types of films for most of their acting careers. There’s nothing wrong with folks like Dev Patel focusing on their craft. His “Green Knight” co-star Alicia Vikander has been able to juggle blockbusters like “Tomb Raider” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” while also doing awards caliber projects like “The Danish Girl” and “Ex Machina.”