10 Completely Insane Ways Film Actors Scored Famous Parts

9. Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle's modern classic Slumdog Millionaire is an against-all-odds story, in every sense of the meaning; even in its unlikely Oscar win. But the casting of Dev Patel in the lead role was also an underdog story.

Boyle had gone out to India in search of a leading pair for the film. Freida Pinto impressed early on, even from her audition tape there weren't many Bollywood stars that Boyle felt capable of handling such a huge role. He didn't want someone too muscly or handsome in the part: this needed to be an everyman, whose luck changes for the better.

Fortunately, the answer came from Boyle's daughter, a fan of Channel 4 drama Skins. She recommended Patel, who'd played sexually-frustrated teen Anwar, and a short while later, Boyle cast him as his protagonist.

Patel had no experience: just nineteen appearances in Skins, most of them fleeting. And to think, if Boyle's daugther hadn't been a fan of the show, maybe he wouldn't have made such a life-changing leap to the movies. Now that's a dark horse story as wonderful as the film itself.