Dev Patel revealed that the comments he received about his Skins' character were brutal, as he was dubbed the "ugliest" character. Patel is an English actor who kicked off his acting career with his role in the teen drama Skins where he portrayed British Pakistani teen, Anwar. Shortly after Skins, Patel made his feature film debut in the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire for which he earned several awards and nominations for his breakthrough performance.
In the years since Skins and Slumdog Millionaire, Patel has had his ups and downs in the acting industry. Following his success in Slumdog Millionaire, Patel was miscast in The Last Airbender as Zuko. The film received scathing reviews and brutal criticism for its live-action rendering of the popular Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Despite the backlash, Patel continued growing as an actor and has since given further impressive performances in Lion, The Personal History of David Copperfield, and The Green Knight. He will also be making his directorial debut with Netflix's upcoming Monkey Man. However, he has also been honest about the struggles that plague him as an actor.
In an interview with The New York Times, Patel opened up about the brutal comments he received for his Skins' character. As a teenager, Patel would browse chat rooms about the show and learned that Anwar was often dubbed the "ugliest" Skins' character. Patel admitted that the criticism took a toll on him, especially considering he was merely a teenager when he was hit with such criticism. Check out his statement below:
"I was a young kid going on these chat rooms and it was quite brutal. There were all these lists of who’s the favorite character on the show or who was the best-looking character, and I was always the ugliest, the least attractive. No one liked Anwar. It really took a toll on me personally."
Patel went on to talk about the praise he received for his films Slumdog Millionaire and Lion years later, stating that he "felt unworthy." The Green Knight actor said that he has "natural low self-esteem" and felt out of place among the talented ensembles he worked with on certain projects. Granted, Patel did have a bit of an unusual start to acting, as he had never acted before Skins, besides in drama class. Meanwhile, the criticism he received for Skins and for The Last Airbender would be difficult for any actor to recover from. However, it is still surprising to learn that he could not accept praise that he rightfully earned for other projects.
The backlash that Patel received for his performance in Skins is disheartening to hear. Rather than receive constructive criticism on his performance, he was judged for his appearance and for his character's personality. The brutal criticism he was exposed to as a child reveals the side of acting that many don't see. The internet and social media are especially dangerous for celebrities who find themselves at the mercy of bored and attention-seeking users. Some performers such as Star Wars' Daisy Ridley quit social media entirely due to the constant, intense harassment and criticism they experienced. Patel's story on the brutal criticism he received for Skins and the lasting effects he suffered from it serves as an important reminder that celebrities are also human and deserving of kindness.
Source: New York Times
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