After being ridiculed for #OscarsSoWhite two years in a row, Hollywood has finally done the obvious and voted in a bunch of non-white nominees for its most prestigious awards. And joining a record number of six black actors who’ve been nominated for their work, is Dev Patel. In recent times, the Slumdog Millionaire star, a London native with Gujarati parents who were themselves born in Kenya, has emerged as a poster boy for racial inclusiveness in a notoriously white-dominated industry.
The sweet cherry atop this feel-good cake is the role that won him this nomination.
Dev plays the lead in Lion, a film about a young Indian boy who is separated from his parents, is adopted by an Australian couple, but ultimately finds his way back to his birth parents 25 years later. We don’t know if Meryl Streep’s powerful Golden Globes speech about inclusiveness and diversity in the face of Donald Trump’s jingoism had anything to do with Dev’s nomination, but we wouldn’t be surprised.
Reacting to the news, Dev released a statement, saying, “What makes this moment so much more poignant is that I’ve just wrapped shooting another film in India. This enthralling country holds such a deep place in my heart, and it is where Saroo’s journey was born.”
He added, “Lion reaffirms the message that love is not dictated by the colour of your skin, not by race, gender, sexuality, social status, or origin. It is a message I am proud to be spreading during these uncertain times.”
