Summary
- Dev Patel addresses the possibility of a sequel to his hit film
Monkey Man. - Patel also spoke about third gender representation in the new action thriller, which he directed and co-wrote.
- Patel suffered some painful injuries while filming
Monkey Man,
including a broken hand and toes.
Fans can expect Dev Patel and Jordan Peele to team up again in the future. The duo’s big-screen collaboration on Monkey Man is now playing in theaters, and Peele served as a producer on the action thriller. Meanwhile, Patel’s plate was loaded as he not only directed and co-wrote the project, but the actor portrayed the titular protagonist, aka the Kid. During an interview at Monkey Man’s LA premiere, Patel addressed the possibility of a sequel, and he also spoke about the story’s trans representation: Patel told Variety:
I’m trying not to get ahead of myself. I know this sounds like a cliché, but just to birth this little thing, it’s been a huge undertaking. This is all a dream come true.
Monkey Man
2.5/5
- Release Date
- April 5, 2024
- Runtime
- 1hr 53min
- Studio
- BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Lost Winds Entertainment
Patel said of trans representation in the same interview:
“For me, this is an anthem for the underdogs, the voiceless and the marginalized. Together they wage this war for the good and the just, and for me, I really wanted to include the hijra community, the third gender in India. We should be fighting for each other, not against each other.”
Vipin Sharma portrays a trans woman named Alpha in Monkey Man, and Sharma was “almost in tears” while attending a screening of the film, thanks to the wonderful reception the movie received from those watching.
Sharma told Variety:
I was almost in tears when they said they loved it, they loved the representation, and they were very happy about it. That just touched my heart.
Dev Patel Suffers Injuries for the Art of Monkey Man
Whether it’s his brilliant acting in Slumdog Millionaire or Lion or the charm he brought to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Dev Patel’s stellar performances continue to resonate with audiences and his colleagues. Renowned filmmaker Jordan Peele got involved as a producer on Monkey Man late in the game, but he’d wanted to work with Patel for some time. Peele said in a brand-new interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“I came into the process when the film was already shot. He [Patel] had a version of it, and he was feeling defeated for several reasons. I saw the film and immediately just wanted to jump through the Zoom and give him a hug. As a director, I know how hard it is to do what this man did and how hard it is to do it in one’s first time as well.”
And while Patel’s stunt work might not be recognized like The Fall Guy’s record-breaking cannon rolls, the Monkey Man star suffered some injuries while filming the action thriller. What began with merely some broken toes, which is plenty painful, turned into a litany of consequences, because of his on-hand approach to portraying the Kid, aka Monkey Man. Patel said in the same interview with EW:
“And then, on the first action scene, it was in this bathroom where the M.O. was, ‘Use me as a ragdoll and break every piece of porcelain and cubicle in this bathroom with Dev.’ [Laughs] We were going for it on a slippery floor, and there was water everywhere, and I got an eye infection. You can imagine the stagnant water there, with the crew walking through it. It was mad.”
Patel continued:
“But I broke my hand. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t say anything. But it started ballooning up, and when we finished the day of the shoot, I got an X-ray. The whole film was going to collapse. I was like, ‘How are we going to have a cast and be able to afford to paint that out on this budget?’
We went online and found this doctor in Jakarta that puts screws in the bone, and we got on a private medical jet that could keep our COVID bubble secure. He put the screw in, and he was like, ‘You cannot put any weight on this. No more than a couple pounds of pressure.’”
Monkey Man Review: Dev Patel’s Brutal Quest for Vengeance Is Slowed Down by Sentimentality
An anonymous man (Dev Patel) targets a crime syndicate and religious leader (Makarand Deshpande) for the death of his mother (Adithi Kalkunte).
Patel added:
“And I was like, ‘You got it, doc!’ He was like, ‘If this thing bends, and I have to take it out, it’s going to be like taking a bent nail out of wood. Your bone is just gone.’ I was like, ‘I got you, doc. Copy that!’ And I just went straight back into the scene. [Laughs] That was the film! We just carried on going.”
All the pain and suffering Patel endured turned his John Wick-ish film into something special that the critics are genuinely excited about, at the time of this writing. Monkey Man currently registers an 87% on the Tomatometer with a comparable audience score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. With a “B+” CinemaScore, too, Patel’s latest big-screen adventure opened Friday, April 5 to a domestic daily take of $4.3 million (per The Numbers).
Monkey Man
is now playing in theaters.
