Dev Patel is busy promoting his latest project ‘Monkey Man’, which also happens to be his directorial debut. To make his debut a piece of perfection, Dev faced many hardships while he was filming on a remote Indonesian island amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. From navigating strict quarantine protocols to dealing with broken cameras and scarce funding, the 33-year-old actor faced many obstacles.
Opening up about these many hurdles, Patel revealed that he successfully emerged with a completed film and a memorable keepsake—a T-shirt that’s now become a symbol of his epic journey. Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Patel narrated how a single screw, that was the only makeshift solution he could find amid the pandemic for his injury, saved the film.
Patel recalled how he broke his hand on set, and how it could have been a setback that threatened to derail the entire project. “Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong. Actually, I went straight back to set the next day, and was throwing myself and bouncing off a window,” Patel recalled. “And the crew, they made a T-shirt.”
Dev then pulled out a bright blue tee with the X-ray image of his injured hand printed on the sleeve. “They call it ‘the one screw that kept this production alive.'” The shirt also had some other prints about the challenges faced during filming, including a bubble symbolizing the COVID quarantine and a cartoon monkey.
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Dev Patel Went Against The Doctor’s Advice While Filming For Monkey Man
Dev recalled his first thoughts after his hand was injured. “I was like, ‘This is not good,’” the ‘Slumdog Millionaire‘ star recalled. “‘If I go down, the film goes down.’” With strict COVID protocols in place and limited access to medical treatment, Patel decided to continue filming.
Patel said he paid a secret visit to a doctor in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where Patel received a stabilizing screw for his hand. Though the doctor had warned him against putting pressure on his injured hand, Patel returned to the island to resume filming.
Directed by Patel, ‘Monkey Man‘ is inspired by the legend of the Hindu deity Hanuman, known for his strength and courage. In the film, Patel portrays Kid, a character driven by a quest for vengeance for his mother’s death and a desire to confront corruption.
With the support of producer Jordan Peele, ‘Monkey Man‘is poised to make its theatrical debut on April 5.
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