Dev Patel Recalls Journey As ‘Monkey Man’ Director; Called Himself “A Reluctant Director”

Monkey Man writer-director Dev Patel reminisced on his path to becoming a first-time director since he pitched his film to Neill Blomkamp. Looking back at his journey, Patel half-jokingly called himself “a reluctant writer and then a sort of reluctant director.”

When he first pitched it to Blomkamp, the District 9 director recommended that Patel direct the film himself since he felt the he had a better connection to the material. With this, Patel propelled himself to become the film’s director. Though uneasy, he wanted “to birth this dream” by any means necessary.

Eventually, Patel realized his dream thanks to funding from Jordan Peele’s company Monkeypaw Productions. Originally set for a Netflix release, Peele stepped in to help produce the film since he felt Monkey Man deserved to be shown to a wider audience. Patel gushed about Peele’s help, applauding him for “using genre to talk about more interesting, deeper things.” To Patel, Peele’s company helped keep Monkey Man from being “brushed under the carpet…so [he owes] him a great deal.”

Many actors have come forward with praise for Patel, further validating Blomkamp and Peele’s support. According to co-star Sikandar Kher, it was nigh impossible to notice that Patel was a first-time director. “He lets you fly, lets you spread your wings, and that’s when the magic happens,” she explained, “when you can really get something that might be special, and he gives you that liberty and that freedom and he loves you, he loves his actors.” She further noted, “He’s going to direct so much more, I hope he does.” With the film now out, Patel admitted that he would love to direct another film “if [he] was so lucky.”