Dev Patel's Gross Monkey Man Injury Made One Body Part Look 'Like An Elephant's Foot'
After taking the big screen by storm as an actor through such efforts as "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Personal History of David Copperfield," and "The Green Knight," Dev Patel has elected to take on directing. "The Monkey Man" will serve as his directorial debut, which he also stars in. The film follows Kid (Patel), who goes from a man seeking revenge for the murder of his mother to a hero of the downtrodden. Based on its inaugural trailer, producer Jordan Peele was right to save it from Netflix, as it appears to be a dramatic, action-packed, and visually stunning piece tailor-made for theaters.
Unfortunately, the film did extract a heavy physical toll on Patel, who shared that an on-set injury left his hand appearing "like an elephant's foot." "My co-star is using my face to break every piece of porcelain in this bathroom, and my hand, I heard it snap. I was like 'This is not good,'" he told Jimmy Fallon during a "Tonight Show" appearance. He elected to tough it out for the sake of the entire 450-person production, only for his hand to worsen. His misshapen, elephant foot-like hand couldn't even be digitally removed with VFX and a cast due to budgetary restraints.
Despite this injury, "Monkey Man" was eventually completed with no shortage of raw, gritty action to boot — something Patel was eager to get right while crafting the film.
The action in Monkey Man is on another level
Every year, countless action movies make it to the silver screen to entertain the masses. From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the occasionally questionable "John Wick" movies, there are all kinds of action films and action stars for audiences to get behind. Sadly, this means that it can be difficult for newcomers on the scene to make a lasting impression, so Dev Patel made it a priority to make "Monkey Man" stand out. To do so, he put extra time and consideration into the film's action, amounting to something that feels more gritty and real than the bulk of its contemporaries.
"It doesn't flow and feel so balletic. It's odd and raw, and this guy's truly an underdog that doesn't have all the tools. He's not really prepared. So he's teeth gnarling, sweating, drooling, biting, whatever you can to survive," Patel explained to Screen Rant. To make the action unique, he got ahold of martial artist Rahim Job, whom he found on YouTube, and got to work learning everything he could in preparation for the shoot. Over time, Patel and Job built a rapport, constantly trying to best one another and build on each of their ideas. "The idea was just trying to create this really primal, animalistic kind of very jagged kind of action because real violence is not like choreo," Patel added.
Evidently, Dev Patel went above and beyond for "Monkey Man," even putting his own health on the line. One can only hope that he doesn't join the many actors whose bodies were permanently damaged while working on movies and that the feature will perform well on its April 5 premiere and beyond.