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"   Patel with girlfriend Freida Pinto. Photo: Getty Images  Dev Patel&amp;#039;s career is poised to enter a new stage this spring, thanks first to his role in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel alongside a renowned British cast (opening May 4) and then to Aaron Sorkin&amp;#039;s buzzed about new HBO series, The Newsroom (debuting June 24). Of course, you already know Patel from his first movie: Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Oscars in 2008, including Best Picture. The actor returns to India for Marigold Hotel, the sweet, soulful story of a group of British retirees who move to what they believe is a luxury retirement property in Mumbai (but is actually a shabby-chic hotel owned by Patel&amp;#039;s character, Sonny). Culture shock ensues as the Brits ultimately embrace Indian culture and the film, a wonderful exploration of adapting to change at any age, starring Academy Award winners Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, as well as Bill Nighy and Tom Wikinson, has already been a huge hit in the UK. So we spoke to Patel, who&amp;#039;s currently in LA working with Sorkin, about what comes next. Provenance: Los Angeles &amp;amp;amp; London Relationship Status: In a relationship (with Millionaire co-star Freida Pinto). Biggest misconception:  that Patel was discovered in Mumbai. Actually, he was born in London and grew up in a traditional Hindu home, won best actor for his school production of Shakespeare&amp;#039;s Twelfth Night and was discovered by Millionaire director Danny Boyle&amp;#039;s daughter on Skins. In real life, Patel speaks with an English accent not unlike Prince William&amp;#039;s. On outsourcing retirement:  &amp;quot;The reason I really wanted to do the movie was because my mother works in a daycare center for the elderly; she&amp;#039;s been doing it almost 20 years. Growing up and visiting her when she working, I realized that what the main thing older citizens want is company, someone to share a game of chess with. Yet we&amp;#039;re writing these people in our society off as redundant or fossils. It&amp;#039;s really sad because they have so much experience and wisdom and I always enjoyed myself spending time with them.&amp;quot;       A passage to India: &amp;quot;The movie is about experiencing new things; in this case, immersing themselves in this crazy, weird, alien land, which is India. They were up for anything: mentally they had a very youthful attitude. India can be terrifying; the first time I went there to do a movie, I was engulfed by kids, the heat mixed with the smells and tons of people can be overwhelming.&amp;quot; Team all-stars:  &amp;quot;Judi and Bill were so fun to work with, the energy on the set was so fantastic because everyone was so open and giving. Everyone said `you must have learned so much,&amp;#039; but it wasn&amp;#039;t anything so in-your-face as all that; they were all so respectful. Literally just watching them I learned so much. Just standing in a scene I get so immersed in how natural and charismatic they were. Most of them had worked together before so it was like they were coming together as one big family again.&amp;quot; On his relationship with Pinto going public:  &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a funny story, I was doing a movie in Philadelphia [The Last Airbender] and she was doing a film in Israel [Miral]. I called my Mom and was like, `next week&amp;#039;s going to be a really tough week, I&amp;#039;ve got big scenes so I&amp;#039;m not going to be able to talk to you.&amp;#039; I&amp;#039;m like 17 or 18 so my mother is calling me everyday. I&amp;#039;m in America and she&amp;#039;s worried about what I&amp;#039;m eating and all that kind of stuff. I requested the whole production\u2014which I&amp;#039;d never done before\u2014to allow me to fly to Tel Aviv because [Freida] had a week off. And I flew out there, all dressed up to the nines, and met her. It was amazing; we got to spend time together. Then there was paparazzi at this restaurant. The next day, I got a call from my mother, asking me how work is, with this tone in her voice. Caught red-handed.&amp;quot; Is marriage in the cards? &amp;quot;I haven&amp;#039;t a clue; I just turned 22 so I&amp;#039;m a long way off there.&amp;quot; Working with Aaron Sorkin:  &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know how he does it. His scripts\u2014every week and a half he produces this work of art. His work is a challenge and demands a lot. It&amp;#039;s just a beautiful feeling to have someone that respected entrust you with his work. It&amp;#039;s going to be a really strong show. I&amp;#039;m on the news team and write Jeff Daniels&amp;#039; blog. It&amp;#039;s a kind of high-tension, chaotic, fast-paced environment as they broadcast news to the world and shape public perception.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a16164/hot-topic-dev-patel-41815/>