The 'Lion' star
Dev Patel brought a very special date to Sunday's Academy Awards: his mother, Anita Patel.
"I'm so excited I'm here," the Lion star gushed to ET's Kevin Frazier on the red carpet at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. "I never thought I'd be here," Anita said, after gushing about being "very proud" of her 26-year-old son.
WATCH: Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel Give Roaring Performances in 'Lion' First Look
"This is a film about mothers and sons and their love," Dev explained of Lion. "So to bring [my mother] you know -- I didn't even think it was going to... fathom that this was going to happen and it has so, I'm very grateful."
The London native dished on sharing the night's festivities with his mother, as Anita joined in on the interview. It turns out, she’s not surprised by her son’s success, because he was “destined” to be an actor.
"He was a cartoon really," Anita recalled of Dev as a child. "A comic at home as well. He'd make fun of everyone. He could pretend to be anyone really, he'd copy everyone's accents -- he'd make us all laugh."
Dev credited his mom with helping him land his "first job" after she spotted an add for an audition in the newspaper.
"I went to his first audition and today I'm here," Anita said.
READ: 2017 Oscars: See Who Won!
Mother and son also shared a special moment when Dev's name was called in the Best Supporting Actor category (though Mahershala Ali ended up winning for Moonlight).
Aside from becoming an Oscar nominee this year, Dev is still getting used to his newfound heartthrob status.
"It's very overwhelming and strange because I've always been the dude that never got a girlfriend in school," Patel dished to ET's Cameron Mathison during the Screen Actor's Guild Awards red carpet last month. "I was kind of the awkward outsider. So not that it's changed much but I'm still the same. I feel the same."
See more of Dev's ET interview below.
