Dev Patel was born in London's Harrow district to Anita, a caregiver, and Raj, who works in IT; hailing from Nairobi, Kenya, they are both of Gujarati-Indian descent. Patel secured his first professional acting gig playing Anwar on the cult hit television series
Skins (2007), where he starred for two seasons. His mainstream breakout came soon thereafter, when he was cast as Jamal in
Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning
Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.
Subsequent film projects have included
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011),
Chappie (2015),
Hotel Mumbai (2018), and
The Green Knight (2021). For his portrayal of real-life Australian businessman
Saroo Brierley in
Lion (2016), where he co-starred with
Nicole Kidman, Patel received glowing reviews and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His directorial debut was the critically lauded
Monkey Man (2024), in which he also starred.