When did Dev Patel first steal your heart? Was it as the horny, sex-crazed Anwar Kharral in Skins? Or as the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed David Copperfield in The Personal History of David Copperfield? Was it when he played the kindhearted and singularly obsessed Jamal Malik in the Oscar award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), or in Lion (2016), The Green Knight (2021) or in his directorial debut Monkey Man (2024)? For me, it’s hard to pick. If Patel is in a movie or TV show, there’s a good chance I’ll tune in, and I am almost certainly not alone. 

Nothing has exemplified the craze for Patel more than the Dev Patel look-alike contest that occurred in London this past weekend. After the popularity of the Timothée Chalamet and JFK Jr. lookalike competition, it just makes sense that Patel would be the next honouree. Brown men from all over London came to London Fields (some were even tricked into attending by their girlfriends) to be crowned the Oscar-nominated actors’ official look-alike. If you weren’t able to attend, swipe through the gallery above to see all the Patel-adjacent shenanigans you missed.