Slumdog director Boyle says Mumbai child actors have been paid ‘very well’
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has defended the way child actors in his film were treated, saying they were being well looked-after.
Claims had been made that some of the young performers from the Mumbai slums had not been paid fairly for their work.
But at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards last night at the Grosvenor House hotel where Slumdog won three prizes, Boyle said the facts had been misreported. "The figures that were released were not true at all," he said. "The actors were paid very well. We have not released any figures — either what they were paid or what they will receive when they complete their education — because it would make them vulnerable to certain elements, because they are quite large sums of money."
The stars are understood to be entitled to a trust fund if they have remained in education for a certain length of time. The production company wanted to make sure the child actors would benefit from a decent education as well as the money, he said.
"We are very proud of the way we have dealt with everybody, and it's sad that it's been misreported by some people." Boyle scooped British Director of the Year for the film, which also won British Film of the Year and Screenwriter of the Year for Simon Beaufoy. Slumdog also has 10 Oscar and 11 Bafta nominations. Boyle said: "It's been an extraordinary journey, but in a way I should have expected something extraordinary because the city we made it in does nothing by half."
Slumdog's 18-year-old star Dev Patel was beaten to the Best Actor award by Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler, which also took the film of the year award. The new NSPCC Young British Performance award went to 16-year-old Thomas Turgoose, who starred in Somers Town and Eden Lake.
Kate Winslet was named actress of the year for The Reader and Revolutionary Road. She has already won two Golden Globes for these roles, and been nominated for an Oscar for The Reader.
Kristin Scott-Thomas won British Actress of the Year for her bilingual performance in I've Loved You So Long, and Dame Judi Dench was given The Dilys Powell Award for outstanding contribution to cinema.
