'Lion' Actor Dev Patel Broke Up A Knife Fight In Australia & He Just Acted On 'Instinct'
"There are no heroes in this situation."
Dev Patel.
It turns out Dev Patel isn’t just a hero on screen — although he'd rather not be called that.
The Slumdog Millionaire actor helped break up a knife fight in Australia earlier this week, his representatives confirmed in a statement to Variety.
“We can confirm that last night, in Adelaide, Dev Patel and his friends witnessed a violent altercation that was already in progress outside of a convenience store,” said his representative. “Dev acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight.”
Police echoed the same story in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it involved a man and a woman who were "known to each other."
The woman allegedly stabbed the man in the chest and witnesses stepped in to stop the melee.
“The group was thankfully successful in doing so, and they remained on-site to ensure that the police and eventually the ambulance arrived,” said Patel's team.
Patel, who lives in Australia with his girlfriend, was with a group of friends when it happened, reported the local Australian news channel 7 News.
Although the actor put himself at risk to break up the fight, his spokesperson deflected the praise and pointed to larger societal issues.
"There are no heroes in this situation," they said, per Variety.
"Sadly, this specific incident highlights a larger systemic issue of marginalized members of society not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."
They added that the situation shouldn't be making major headlines "solely because Dev, as a famous person, was involved."
The 32-year-old victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries at the scene and later taken to the hospital, police said.
A 34-year-old woman was arrested on charges of aggravated assault causing harm. She was denied bail and due to appear in court on Tuesday.