Dubai: Acclaimed director Danny Boyle's latest find Frieda Pinto has never attended an acting school.
But the actress who plays Latika, an abused girl, in a film that has swept dozens of awards since its release in November and is generating an Oscar buzz, has no regrets. She claims that she is one in a zillion who is fortunate enough to go to the "Danny Boyle Acting School".
Speaking animatedly about her mentor to Gulf News on Thursday, Pinto who has become an overnight sensation after her Hollywood debut in Slumdog Millionaire, feels she was led by the very best.
"Danny taught me many things. But the one thing I will always remember is what he told me during the first day of the shoot. He told me that acting is not just about blurting the lines out. It's all about internalising and feeling the character from within.
"Otherwise, they [the viewers] are going to know that I am faking it," says Pinto.
Game show
A year before, Pinto was navigating the Indian modeling circuit and hunting for that elusive Bollywood break. But what landed on her lap was a far more lucrative Hollywood venture.
The uplifting underdog tale of a teenager, who is poised to win millions in a game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" but is taken into police custody on cheating charges, has taken the cinema circuit by storm.
"I have always dreamed of becoming an actress but for some reason I could never crack the Bollywood circle. But luckily, the casting director of Slumdog Loveleen Tandon approached the agency that was representing me as a model. After several rounds of auditions that lasted for months, I finally got the role," says a jubilant Pinto.
But what gets her going again is the talk of the celebrated director. "But what I remember most was the sweet thing he [Danny Boyle] said after I was chosen. He told me that he had some instinct about me when he saw me for the first time and that he put me through the grind because he wanted to be fair to the ones who had already turned up for the audition," says Pinto.
But playing the role of Latika [the adult], who grows up in the slums of Mumbai and is pushed into being a moll, was far more challenging.
"I remember my first scene. I just had three lines to speak in front of the camera but I was so nervous. But after that first shot, things became relatively easy. But being a girl from Mumbai really helped. I know the City in and out. And let me tell you something about Mumbai. It's the one city in the world where skyscrapers and slums can co-exist in complete harmony," she adds.
Pinto, who has made it all on her own, is also in the process of digesting her whirlwind courtship with tinseltown.
"I never expected to receive all this attention. When we were in Toronto International Film Festival, the adulation was simply mind blowing. I am yet to get used to this crazy pace of life, with all the travel and publicity shows. But I think I am the luckiest girl on this planet."
