Nailing an Aussie accent was tough for Dev Patel

NAILING an Aussie accent was a tough role for Dev Patel. But don’t ask him to say G’Day.

THE Aussie accent can be notoriously difficult to nail even for the most talented actors.

Who can forget Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain and we can only hope Robert Downey Jr was playing it for laughs in Tropic Thunder.

British-born actor Dev Patel, 26, understands the challenge after nailing an Aussie accent in his latest film Lion.

“A lot of effort is what it took,’’ Dev Patel tells news.com.au

“Eight months of effort in fact with the genius of a dialect coach from Sydney, Jenny Kent.

“I was really lucky that the production gave me that comfortable lead up to take that time to do that.”

Dev is one of the more respectful, fun and real young men you could come across, but says a playing a ‘real’ and ‘living’ person is daunting.

In Lion, Dev plays Saroo Brierley, a young Indian boy who is adopted by an Australian couple from Tasmania, Sue and John Brierley. Lion is a great example of a true story of birth and adoptive families that is told with empathy and as opposed to being cheese and hammy. And yes, there are tears.

“You really want to capture the essence of the person and knowing that you are playing them gives you so much inspiration,” he adds.

“The words we are saying in that script were words that have actually been said so they are sacred.”

Working with Nicole Kidman, who plays Saroo’s mother, Sue, (in real life, Ms Kidman has two adopted children) has been a career highlight.

Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham at the Australian premiere of Lion at the State Theatre. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“I feel Nicole just really opened up her sound for this one,” adds Patel.

“She is such an icon and to have her in this movie takes it to another level.

“I have a mum who I am very close to and when I read this script I knew my mum would be really proud of it and she was a couple mess when she saw it.

Panel has the same respect for renowned Australian actor David Wenham, who plays Saroo’s father, John, in the film.

“David is an absolute legend and he is so much fun to hang out with off set,’’ laughs Patel.

“People are really responding to the film and I think in a time of Brexit and Trump and everything else, it is proving a great anecdote.”

Breakthrough role: British actor Dev Patel, at a party of Slumdog Millionaire in back in 2009. The film put Dev on the international map. Pic: AP Photo/ Mustafa Quraishi)

With the awards season just weeks away, Dev is circumspect about them but does smile about the amount of nominations the film has already received.

“It is really flattering to be recognised by my peers,’’ he says. “I look at the film and I think ‘that guy is unreal and just love the fact I got the chance to play Saroo.”

As for any more Aussie accents, Dev says it’s all over. For the moment.

“It’s so gone now and I don’t want to make it sound hammy,” he tells news.com.au when asked to give us some of his best ‘strayan.

“This film made me a more conscious person and to be involved so wholly in a persons extraordinary life has been amazing.”

Lion opens in Australia on January 19

Originally published as Nailing an Aussie accent was tough for Dev Patel