Dev Patel reflects on his unsuccessful Star Wars audition

(Image credit: A24)

Dev Patel has had a varied career, starting out in UK teen drama Skins and going on to star in movies like Slumdog Millionaire, Chappie, The Personal History of David Copperfield, and, now, medieval epic The Green Knight. However, one thing he's never done is get involved with any of the big franchises. In the latest issue of Total Film, the actor reflects on the time he auditioned for Star Wars (spoiler: he didn't get the part).

"I don’t know if you’re allowed to talk about it, because you sign an NDA. But yeah, I think everyone did. Everyone auditioned for Star Wars," he says. "I remember, I think I was doing Marigold 2, and I sent them an iPhone video from my trailer in India. The next minute, I got a call-back, and I was there, and that was fascinating."

Would he be interested in being part of a comic book franchise? "I mean, look, I’m not opposed to it. Those movies are a real spectacle when done right," Patel says. "I guess if I fit in these worlds... I don’t know. The alchemy hasn’t been right for me, personally yet. These journeys with people like David [Lowery, director of The Green Knight], and stuff like that, have really been the most nourishing."

He adds: "I don’t want to shit on those movies, because there are some incredible performers that manage to go off and win Oscars, and then go and do a big Marvel movie. And there are films like Black Panther that culturally changed the paradigm in massive ways. I liked the first Captain America. I thought that was amazing, the action in that. And so it’s just finding the right one. It’s being invited along, and also finding the right one. The ones that I have been offered, which I can’t talk about, haven’t quite worked for me."

When we mention that his name is often thrown around in relation to James Bond, he says: "I don’t know why that is. I guess that I should take it as a compliment. But I feel like hasn’t every young British actor been associated with Bond at some point, I’m sure?"

For the rest of our interview with Green, pick up a copy of the new issue of Total Film magazine when it hits newsstands in stores and on digital retailers from Friday, July 23.

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Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.