"Slumdog Millionaire" actor Dev Patel says he accidentally elbowed actress Tilda Swinton in the face while working on the film "The Personal History of David Copperfield".

"I accidentally elbowed Tilda in the mouth," people.com quoted Patel as saying.

"I was so nervous. It was my first scene with her. There's a whole thing where he is almost about to pass out and he's trying to find a couch to land on and I was spinning around and flailing and I kind of did like a UFC elbow. And Tilda just stopped and I thought, ‘I just broke Tilda's teeth in the first scene'. And she was very gracious about it. All of her teeth are intact," he added.

Patel, whose roots trace back to India, recalled the incident when he sat down to talk about the film on the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film had its world premiere at the fest.

"The Personal History of David Copperfield" is based on one of Charles Dickens' novels. Set in 19th-century in England, the film follows the journey of David Copperfield, essayed by Patel.