Freida Pinto: India’s crossover star

Freida Pinto is still astonished to be a Western film star, said Georgia Dehn in the London Telegraph. Growing up in a middle-class home in Mumbai, she first got the idea to be a model at age 11, when an Indian woman won the Miss Universe pageant. “An Indian had not won a title as international as that,’’ says the actress. “My mom says I stood in front of a mirror and said ‘thank you’ and pretended to put my crown on my head. I was dramatic already.’’

Two years ago, director Danny Boyle cast the unknown model and actress in the film Slumdog Millionaire, warning her it was unlikely to be a success. “When your director tells you only 50 people are going to watch the film, and actually 50 gazillion people watch the film, it’s just too much to understand. So the best thing is not to understand it, and just enjoy it.” The film has changed the 26-year-old’s life in every way. She’s now dating her co-star, Dev Patel, and recently completed a film with Woody Allen. “I guess that’s what happens when your first film is as big as Slumdog Millionaire. A lot of people take note and say, ‘Okay, we could give this girl a chance.’”

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