Priyanka: I Was Subjected To Racism In The US

The actress explains why Quantico is a 'personal victory' for her



Dil Dhadakne Do, Bajirao Mastani and the international project Quantico Priyanka Chopra has an enviable line-up of projects and is only looking to up her game in the coming months. But it hasn’t been an easy ride for her. The actress talks to SpotboyE.com about the highs and lows of her career. Excerpts:

Dil Dhadakne Do sees you romantically paired with Farhan Akhtar for the first time. Apparently, you were nervous to share screen space with him..
When Zoya (Akhtar, director of DDD) told me that Farhan is playing Sunny, I was like, ‘What! I cant do this film! I had forgotten that Farhan is an actor because he is so different as a director. I have done two big films with him and I see him as an authority figure. So when I heard that he was playing Sunny, I wanted out. Zoya fell off her chair laughing. She quickly called Farhan, got him to her house and we sat down, ordered dinner and broke the ice.

How was the experience of working in an ensemble cast?
Its so much fun to work on a multi-starrer because all the pressure is not on you. We had 26 actors besides the 6 lead actors. There is Rahul Bose, Parmeet Sethi, Zarina Wahab, Divya Seth and many more. It was fun because we used to shoot for four hours and then, we used to party (laughs).

You mentioned how actors have less pressure in a multi-starrer. But now, more and more actresses seem to be taking the responsibility of carrying a film on their own shoulders
I think the perception towards actresses has changed. It has taken a lot of courage on the part of female actors to achieve this whether it is Vidya (Balan), Kangana (Ranaut), Deepika (Padukone), Anushka (Sharma) or me. We have stepped up and said, “Its ok, dont pay us as much. Dont give us a big budget for our film. Let less number of people watch it but we want to make a good film.” I think this battle will go on for a long time now.

From Mary Kom to GangaaJal 2, has it been a conscious decision to do more women-oriented films?
Not really. When I joined films, I remember one producer had told me, If you dont have dates, well take some other actress. If she is also not available, well cast a third actress. Actresses toh interchangeable hoti hai na. So that was how producers perceived actresses. Since then, with every film, I have only tried to make the actress more relevant to the film.

Unlike many other Indian actors who did small roles in international projects, your American debut series Quantico sees you as the central character. Had you imagined making such an impact on the global scene?
My tryst with the international world has been very personal. When I went to school in America, I was bullied a lot. I was subjected to a lot of racism. I was called brownie for my skin tone, I was told, Go back on the boat you came from and things like that. I was only 16. This affected me a lot and I came back to India.So when this opportunity of international work came to me, it was important for me that Indian talent should be recognized for its talent and not get stereotyped. We all dont smell of curry, we are all not nerds who hide behind computers. In global pop culture, we are always represented like that. I wanted to break that (pauses).

Go on
So when ABC came to me with the deal, I said the only way I am doing it is if you cast me as an ethnically ambiguous part. And they did that. 

Describe your role in Quantico...
I play a half-Indian, half-Caucasian FBI agent. It has nothing to do with the big Indian family or me wearing henna or any of those stereotypes. 

Do you feel a sense of vindication doing Quantico?
The fact that Quantico happened is a big win for me. I just hope it will make a dent in Indian actors being taken seriously. 


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