(Cover) - EN Movies - Dev Patel says appearing in “c**p” movie The Last Airbender made him realise he wants to be “free”.
The actor portrayed Prince Zuko in the 2010 sci-fi movie, which was largely panned by critics. Dev has hinted he didn’t always enjoy the experience of shooting the blockbuster as he wasn’t as involved as he would have liked.
The star is currently promoting his new movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in which he plays an enthusiastic man who welcomes some elderly UK guests to stay at his hotel in India. It stars big names such as Bill Nighy and Dame Judi Dench and was directed by John Madden. Dev found the experience far more rewarding.
“The great thing is I did a really big budget once and it was absolutely c**p, it was called The Last Airbender. And it was not very good at all. That, you very so small in the process, you feel so diluted because… and I can’t really put it down to any one person in particular apart from that when you’re on these big budget movies it becomes this machine and it’s hard, especially not being a big name in a movie like that you don’t really have a lot of weight,” he explained to Cover Media.
“[But] in one of these movies you get to really have a say, make a change and be free which is good.”
Although he isn’t proud of The Last Airbender, working on the movie was valuable for Dev. The 21-year-old learned what he wants from his career and how he can achieve his goals.
“[The Last Airbender] didn’t change my perspective on the industry but it changed my perspective on what I aim to do,” he explained. “I wanna do the lower budget stuff if I can. I mean I’m not going to have my door closed if [director Steven] Spielberg comes and says, ‘Hey I want you to play blah, blah, blah.’ I’m not going to say, ‘No,’ but it made me realise a few things, and realise I needed to be cautious,” he revealed.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is out in the UK on February 24.
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