Dev Patel finds his new heartthrob status `overwhelming`.

Los Angeles: "Lion" star Dev Patel is still getting used to his new-found heartthrob status but says it is "overwhelming".

The 26-year-old actor finds it "strange" when people say that they fancy him because he thinks he has always been an introvert all his life, who did not even have a girlfriend in his school days, reported Entertainment Tonight.

"It's very overwhelming and strange because I've always been the dude that never got a girlfriend in school. I was kind of the awkward outsider. So not that it's changed much but I'm still the same. I feel the same," Patel said.

Patel has recently been nominated for the best actor in a supporting role category at the Academy Awards.

When asked about it, he said, "Isn't that insane! I feel so overwhelmingly grateful. I don't know why I'm the recipient of so much luck and love. But it's beautiful. It's amazing. I'm just grateful."

Meanwhile, Dev said a lot has changed since he starred in his breakout role in "Slumdog Millionaire" nearly ten years ago and quipped he would like to "go back to that place of innocence".

"I was beautifully unaware of everything back then and now I've come through it a couple times. It's more complex. It's more emotions in my head. I actually would like to go back to that place of innocence."