Dev Patel has opened up about the “insane” Skins parties where teens were “drugged off their faces”.
Speaking exclusively to NME about his new film Monkey Man, in which he stars and makes his directorial debut, the actor reminisced about his time on the British teen series and some of the more memorable shoots.
After being shown a picture of himself at a party scene with fellow cast members, Patel said: “I’m wearing a corset with the Rocawear belt, and basically my arse is hanging out. That was a crazy day.
“They did these commercials where they’d rent out these mansions of whatever and then just a bunch of kids, our age and older, would come and half of them were drugged off their faces, and [the crew] are like, ‘just… have fun.’ It was insane. It was really, really insane.”
He continued: “I remember one of the best days of shooting they played Shy FX ‘Original Nuttah’ and they had this club scene and everyone was just going mental. I remember that because they played like 60 times and I was like a Kenyan dude in the Maasai Mara jumping up and down.”
Asked if his time on Skins raised his awareness of other bands and music, Patel replied: “I think filmmaking is just a very musical process. The guy driving you will be playing some music, then you go into the make-up trailer and if you’ve got a big transformation or they’re putting a wig on you, there’s music playing.
“For me, because I’m quite hyperactive, the only way I can focus is by physically blocking out the exciting people on set and listening to music.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Patel opened up about the various injuries he sustained while shooting Monkey Man, including a broken hand, a couple of broken toes, and a torn shoulder.
The film, which is now showing in cinemas, sees Patel play a young man who earns a living by competing in underground fight clubs, while wearing a monkey mask. After years of suppressed rage, he discovers a way to infiltrate the city’s sinister elite, seeking revenge against the people responsible for his mother’s death.
Elsewhere, the actor recently said that directing, producing and acting in the film was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life”, per Variety.