Dev Patel watched numerous episodes of ‘Australian MasterChef’ before starring in ‘Lion’.
The 26-year-old actor played the Indian-born Australian businessman Saroo Brierley in the Garth Davis-directed drama movie and has revealed the unusual method he used to master his on-screen accent.
Dev – who won the Best Supporting Actor gong at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) in London on Sunday night (12.02.17) – said: "To change the way I sound, that took a good eight months.
"It was eight months of solid repetition [and] I watched a lot of ‘Australian Masterchef’!"
But the award-winning star admitted to feeling relieved when he was finally able to drop his Australian accent.
He said, according to The Sun newspaper: "It went from my brain as soon as it was done…
"After eight solid months of repetition I was glad to say goodbye to it. It was torture, it’s a very hard accent to grapple with."
Meanwhile, Dev – who stars alongside the likes of Rooney Mara, David Wenham and Nicole Kidman in the critically-acclaimed movie – admitted after the awards bash to being surprised by his BAFTA success.
He said: "It’s a lot to take in. I really did not expect to win.
"We have been going to all these awards and this one is where everything changed, on home turf with my family here.
"I used to watch this at home with my family and now for us all to be here, it’s kind of an out of body experience."
Following his triumph in London, Dev’s attention will now turn towards the Academy Awards in Los Angeles later this month after he was recently nominated for the Best Supporting Actor gong.
Dev Patel reveals his unusual preparation for Lion
