Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra Jonas makes the move from Bollywood to Hollywood with a goal of creating opportunities in film, TV for South Asian women.

I’m sure all of us are thinking right now, you know, you take one turn and see the world going to destruction, you take another turn and you see the world going to destruction all over again. And I’m trying to create diversity, not by just talking about it but by actually letting my work and the work that comes out of my production company stand for it. But now with streaming coming in, the opportunities are endless, and we just have to make sure that we give these amazing endless opportunities to the people who deserve it. When you have a platform, you have the ability to amplify things that mean something to you, and I learned that very early because of a pageant. And now, when I watch Bridgerton, and I see the nuances of Indian culture and the complexity of the origin of these characters… When I started feeling comfortable, I started working with people I respect, that respect me, respect the fact that I bring something to the table and there are many of those out there. I can say that in India and in my work in America, it just takes perseverance and really sticking to it—consistency, determination. So, I would get in the room and then I would be cast as the jack-in-the-box for that audience, which felt too transactional. That’s the kind of pivot you see in India as well and I think this generation of female actors has been very pivotal to be able to make that happen. I like having a sense of control and I think math and physics give you that because you always have to find the right answer… And female actresses of my generation that have had the courage to say, “OK, I’m gonna get to work with the big actors but also have agency in my own career and have films that I will produce.” You see so many female producers and that’s something that happened in Hollywood as well. We were all pitted against each other, and our casting was very dependent on the lead actor of the movie, and it depends on who is the flavor at that time and that was a very unsettling feeling.