Priyanka Chopra Reveals She Had To Fight ‘Stereotype Of Casting’ Before Making It Big In Hollywood; Says, “It Took Many ‘No’s For Me To…”

Priyanka Chopra needs no introduction. After winning the Miss World title in 2000, the actress made her Hindi film debut with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), there’s been no stopping her. After delivering impeccable performances in Fashion, Barfi, Aitraaz, 7 Khoon Maaf, Don, Bajirao Mastani and more, she moved to the West and in a couple of years managed to captivates hearts there too.

With titles like Quantico, Baywatch, Love Again, Heads of State and more to her name, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, has made a name for herself in Hollywood too. But this journey wasn’t easy. During a recent interaction, PeeCee opened up about her struggles and also offered words of encouragement to aspiring talents.

Priyanka Chopra: I Really Had To Fight Until I Got Quantico

Priyanka Chopra recently attended the Bridge Summit in the UAE. While there, she got candid about the stereotypes that actors from Eastern countries have to fight in the West, saying, “So when I started looking for or seeking work in America, I cannot tell you how many times I said no to being, you know, the Indian girl who is supposed to speak with the exaggerated accent, be just pretty and, you know, sort of ornamental, that girl. And I was so surprised by how many, like, characters were written with that stereotype. And I really had to fight that for a couple of years until I got Quantico, which is a TV show of mine, where I played an FBI agent.”

Priyanka emphasized how it was Quantico that proved to be transformative, precisely because it wasn’t written with ethnicity as a defining characteristic. She said, “I could have been from anywhere. I could have been… My background could have been anything. It was written for an American person. And I just had to, you know, play an American girl. And I’m an actor. I could do that. But it took that many no’s for me to get my first break, which changed everything for me, because now I was seen just as a commercial actor, not as the Indian actor. But I had to fight that stereotype.”

Priyanka: It Was Really Tough

She acknowledged that this struggle isn’t unique to her experience, noting that, “And I know so many… So much talent who goes from Eastern countries have to fight the stereotype of casting in Hollywood. But, you know, like, we’re out there. There’s so many of us now making and doing so much incredible work. But that was really tough.”

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Offering words of encouragement and advice to aspiring actors and professionals, Priyanka shared her philosophy on taking tough calls that could make or break one’s career. The global icon shared, “So I think you have to decide. What’s the cohort you want to live with? What’s the cohort you want to work with? What kind of room do you want to be in? What are the kind of people you want to be surrounded by? And then your decisions become basis that. The no and the yes become basis that.”

Her journey from saying no to stereotypical roles, to becoming a global icon in the true sense, only serves as a powerful reminder that staying true to one’s vision, even when it’s difficult, indeed opens doors to opportunities that align with one’s authentic goals and values.

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Also Read: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jacqueline Fernandez To Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bollywood Actresses Who Dominated International Catwalks And Red Carpet

Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.