A Wall Street Journal review for Lion mixed up star Dev Patel with actor Kal Penn, a swap that did not go unnoticed on social media.
In his Friday review for the upcoming drama, film critic Joe Morgenstern referenced a past performance by Designated Survivor‘s Penn when describing Slumdog Millionaire star Patel.
“Saroo is played dazzlingly by Dev Patel, who gives his richest performance since The Namesake,” Morganstern wrote. Lion — which The Hollywood Reporter‘s awards analyst Scott Feinberg predicts will be a major Oscar player — tells the true story of Saroo Brierley and his quest to find the family from whom he was separated 25 years earlier. It was Penn, however, who starred in the referenced 2006 film.
On Friday, Penn shared a tweet pointing out the error. The tweet read: “Dev Patel wasn’t in the Namesake. Did you mean the other brown actor (@kalpenn) or other brown film?”
@JoeMorgenstern Dev Patel wasn’t in the Namesake. Did you mean the other brown actor (@kalpenn) or other brown film? 🙁 #wsj #lionmovie pic.twitter.com/UhPtVKmJ5B
— Kelvin (@kelvindchen) November 25, 2016
Both New Jersey-born Penn and British actor Patel are of Indian descent.
The Journal later issued a correction and Morgenstern acknowledged his “dumb error” on Twitter.
@EzraCubero @WSJ I do. What a dumb error.
— Joe Morgenstern (@JoeMorgenstern) November 24, 2016
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