Life of Pi - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "Life of Pi"
Life of Pi (2012)
Timing: 2:7 (127 min)
Life of Pi - TMDB rating
7.408/10
13689
Life of Pi - Kinopoisk rating
7.831/10
331607
Life of Pi - IMDB rating
7.9/10
698000

Actors and characters

Photo Suraj Sharma #87769Photo Suraj Sharma #87770Photo Suraj Sharma #87771

Suraj Sharma

Suraj Sharma
Character Pi Patel
Photo Irrfan Khan #22898Photo Irrfan Khan #22899Photo Irrfan Khan #22900Photo Irrfan Khan #22901

Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan
Character Adult Pi Patel
Photo Ayush Tandon #144500
Ayush Tandon
Character Pi Patel (11-12 Years)
Gautam Belur
Character Pi Patel (5 Years)
Photo Adil Hussain #120554Photo Adil Hussain #120555

Adil Hussain

Adil Hussain
Character Santosh Patel
Photo Tabu #115229Photo Tabu #115230Photo Tabu #115231Photo Tabu #115232

Tabu

Tabu
Character Gita Patel
Ayaan Khan
Character Ravi Patel (7 Years)
Mohd Abbas Khaleeli
Character Ravi Patel (13-14 Years)
Vibish Sivakumar
Character Ravi Patel (18-19 Years)
Photo Rafe Spall #22503Photo Rafe Spall #22504Photo Rafe Spall #22505

Rafe Spall

Rafe Spall
Character Writer
Photo James Saito #43192

James Saito

James Saito
Character Older Insurance Investigator
Photo Jun Naito #144501
Jun Naito
Character Younger Insurance Investigator
Photo Shravanthi Sainath #130352
Shravanthi Sainath
Character Anandi
Elie Alouf
Character Mamaji
Photo T.M. Karthik #144502Photo T.M. Karthik #144503Photo T.M. Karthik #144504Photo T.M. Karthik #144505

T.M. Karthik

T.M. Karthik
Character Science Teacher
Photo Amarendran Ramanan #144507
Amarendran Ramanan
Character Indian History Teacher
Hari Mina Bala
Character Librarian
Photo Wang Bo-chieh #110828

Wang Bo-chieh

Wang Bo-chieh
Character Buddhist Sailor
Photo Ko I-Chen #144508
Ko I-Chen
Character Tsimtsum Captain
Photo Jag Huang Chien-Wei #130910Photo Jag Huang Chien-Wei #130911
Jag Huang Chien-Wei
Character Sailor
Ravi Natesan
Character Selvam
Adyant Balaji
Character Bully
Chirag Agarwal
Character Bully
Ahan André Kamath
Character Bully
Om Kamath
Character Bully
Srilekh Katta
Character Bully
Swati Van Rijswijk
Character Anandi's Friend #1
M. Keerthana
Character Anandi's Friend #2
Indumohan Poornima
Character Dancer
Josephine Nithya B.
Character Dancer
Samyuktha S.
Character Dancer
A. Deiva Sundari
Character Dancer
G. Vasantakumary
Character Dancer
A. Vithya
Character Dancer
Mythili Prakash
Character Pi's Wife
Raj Patel
Character Pi's Son
Hadiqa Hamid
Character Pi's Daughter
Iswar Srikumar
Character Muslim Worshipper
Photo Frank Welker #8066Photo Frank Welker #8067Photo Frank Welker #8068

Frank Welker

Frank Welker
Character Richard Parker (voice) (uncredited)

What's left behind the scenes

  • The film is based on Yann Martel's novel 'Life of Pi' (2001).
  • At some point, M. Night Shyamalan was attached to the project as a screenwriter and director. Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet could also have become the film's directors.
  • Andrew Garfield was considered for the role that went to Tobey Maguire. But although all scenes with him were filmed, Maguire was replaced by Rafe Spall because the director felt Maguire was too well-known for such a small role.
  • As in the original novel, the name of the Japanese ship is “Tzimtzum.” This is actually a Jewish word that was used by Kabbalist Isaac Luria in the 16th century to denote the process of the contraction of the infinite God, resulting in empty space. In the novel, the adult Pi mentions a dissertation on Luria's ideas about creation. In the film, he simply mentions teaching a course on Kabbalah, without specifically referencing Luria.
  • The character Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) was named after the Piscine Molitor swimming pool in France. It is located near the Bois de Boulogne park, between the Roland Garros and Parc des Princes stadiums. This pool was classified as a French historical monument on March 27, 1990, after it closed in 1989.
  • Yann Martel, the author of the book, stated that the inspiration for writing the novel came to him supposedly after reading the book by Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar, “Max and the Cat Family” (1981), which tells the story of a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a ship with a jaguar.
  • The character Pi, played by actor Suraj Sharma, was never actually in a boat with a live tiger. In most scenes, the tiger was created using computer graphics technology, and only some scenes, such as those where the tiger swims in the water, were filmed for real.
  • Initially, actor Suraj Sharma wasn't even supposed to audition; he was simply accompanying his brother to the casting call. Ultimately, Ang Lee's team chose him from over 3,000 applicants for the lead role.
  • When adult Pi and the writer are conversing while sitting in front of the Montreal harbor, a ship named Mignonette can be noticed. This is the name of the yacht involved in the events of “R v Dudley and Stephens” (a famous English criminal case). Yann Martel took the name Richard Parker from this case.
  • On the set, Stephen Callahan, a yachtsman known for surviving a shipwreck in 1982 and drifting in the ocean on a small raft for 76 days, worked as a survival consultant. Stephen described his ordeal in his book “Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea.”
  • There are a number of strange coincidences with the name Richard Parker: in Edgar Allan Poe's book “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,” published in 1838, Parker was a sailor who survived the wreck of his ship along with three other crew members, but they ate him to avoid starvation. In 1884, a ship called Mignorette sank in the ocean, and only four people were rescued, among them a cabin boy named Richard Parker, who was later killed and eaten by the other three survivors. Yann Martel, the author of “Life of Pi,” named the Bengal tiger “Richard Parker” based on these events.
  • Pi named his son after his brother, Ravi.
  • As the camera pulls away, after the flying fish has gone, the raft is nowhere to be seen. However, in the next scene it is still attached to the boat.
  • In the trailer, during the storm scene, a modern 30,000-ton ocean freighter is visible. The ship's four cargo cranes are in working position. No ship ever goes to sea with cranes in the raised position, as this would be extremely dangerous. The cranes could break, compromising the seaworthiness of the vessel, and even lead to the death of the entire crew.
  • When the tiger jumps back into the lifeboat, leaving the island, the sail does not change position in response to the load from its weight. A moment later, the boy steps on the same spot, and the sail sags.
  • As soon as the lifeboat reaches the Mexican shore, the tiger jumps into the nearest thicket, but the sand it jumps onto does not scatter from its paws.
  • When the boat reaches the Mexican shore and Pi is lying unconscious, the boat gently rocks on the waves, even as the tiger walks around on it, climbs to the edge, and jumps off pushing with its paws. The boat continues to rock gently on the waves, not reacting to its weight.
  • The film is based on Yann Martel's novel 'Life of Pi' (2001).
  • As in the original novel, the name of the Japanese ship is 'Tsimtsum'. This is actually a Hebrew word that was used by the Kabbalist Isaac Luria in the 16th century to denote the process of compressing the infinite God, resulting in empty space. In the novel, adult Pi mentions a dissertation on Luria's ideas about creation. In the film, he simply mentions teaching a course on Kabbalah, without specifically referencing Luria.
  • The character Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) was named after the Piscine Molitor swimming pool in France. It is located near the Bois de Boulogne park, between the Roland Garros and Parc des Princes stadiums. This pool was classified as a French historical monument on March 27, 1990, after it was closed in 1989.
  • Yann Martel, the author of the book, stated that the inspiration for writing the novel came to him, allegedly, after reading the book by Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar, “Max and the Cat Family” (1981), which tells the story of a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the same ship as a jaguar.
  • When adult Pi and the writer are talking while sitting in front of the Montreal harbor, one can notice a ship called Mignonette. This is the name of the yacht involved in the events of “R v Dudley and Stephens” (a famous English criminal case). Yann Martel took the name Richard Parker from this case.
  • On the set, Stephen Callahan, a yachtsman known for surviving a shipwreck and drifting in the ocean on a small raft for 76 days in 1982, worked as a survival consultant. Stephen described his ordeal in his book “Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea.”
  • There are a number of strange coincidences with the name Richard Parker: in Edgar Allan Poe's book “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,” published in 1838, Parker was a sailor who survived the shipwreck with three other crew members, but they ate him to avoid starvation. In 1884, a ship called Mignorette sank in the ocean, and only four people were saved, including a cabin boy named Richard Parker, who was later killed and eaten by the other three survivors. Yann Martel, the author of “Life of Pi,” named the Bengal tiger “Richard Parker” based on these events.
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