Priyanka Chopra covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair. She’s promoting a variety of projects – her memoir, Unfinished, is a NYT bestseller. She’s raised millions for charity for India during the pandemic. She opened an Indian restaurant in New York. She was in The Matrix sequel. This year, she’ll be in Text for You and a new Amazon Prime series called Citadel. She stayed in LA with her husband Nick Jonas for the first six months of the pandemic, but ever since then, she’s been working non-stop. The vibe from the interview is that her marriage is fine, btw. Nick is around for the interview and she makes some references to finally slowing down and starting a family (the news about Pri and Nick welcoming a baby via surrogacy came out after this interview). You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
She & Nick spent a lot of time apart during the pandemic: “I want to be at home. I’ve been away for almost a year now.” At the moment, her husband is occupied upstairs. “We both have a shoot today. So that’s the thing about this house—both him and I have had 20-year careers, and I think we finally built a home that accommodates our individual lives.”
She wants South Asian leads to be accepted in Hollywood: “It’s taken a lot of pavement pounding to be able to get people’s attention, and to be able to get an acceptance of the fact that someone like me can be the lead of a Hollywood feature. There’s very few of us from South Asia who get to do that. I hope that the part that I play in it will sort of push the envelope a little bit. Quantico for me was a really big win. Not just because of being the first time an Indian or South Asian actor was lead of a network show, but, more than that, because I was not put in the box, like the show wasn’t My Big Fat Indian Wedding.”
What she needed to do to get ahead: “I’m scared to say this…When I first came here, to get the attention, I had to sort of shed my ethnicity a lot more so that it was not alien. I had to play parts which were more American to get a seat at the table. Now that I’ve got a seat at the table, I’ve reverted back to playing parts that embrace my ethnicity.”
She’s tired of her Bollywood work being ignored or dismissed: “I’ll be mad, I’ll be angry, I’ll be annoyed. I’ll speak about it to my family. I might cry a little bit, but it doesn’t change my relationship with my work and what my actual quest is. My quest is not people’s opinions. My quest is my job. My quest is making sure that when someone watches something that I have done, it moves them or they enjoy it. My personal life, who I am, all of that is not my job.”
On social media: “It’s a very vulnerable feeling, actually, that if I post a picture, everything that’s behind me in that picture is going to be zoomed in on, and people are going to speculate. It’s just a professional hazard…. Because of the noise of social media, because of the prevalence that it has in our lives, I think it seems a lot larger than it is. I think that we give it a lot more credence in real life, and I don’t think it needs that.”
On wanting kids: “They’re a big part of our desire for the future. By God’s grace, when it happens, it happens… No, we’re not too busy to practice.”
She’s ready to take a real break: “I’ve always been such a worker bee. My priority has always been the next job. I’m a very, very ambitious person. But I think the woman in me is craving balance. I’m craving my family life. I’m craving being able to do things for the soul that I didn’t do because I was just ‘blinders on’ and working.”
Becoming introverted: “I think maybe that’s why I’m becoming a lot more introverted as I go along on this journey in the entertainment business now. I’m starting to protect myself a lot more because I realize how much it takes out of you. It takes a part of your soul, constantly trying to make sure that you say the right thing, do the right thing, dress the right way, not make a mistake, not trip because the whole world is going to watch. Or not fall when you’re walking up on a red carpet or say something wrong or have a bad f–king day.”
She also says that when the time comes to slow down and have a kid, they’ll both be fine with it. Which I believe – she sounds burnt out on work and traveling in a pandemic. As for the work she’s done… her journey has been different than, say, Mindy Kaling or Kal Penn or any Indian-American actor. Priyanka came to Hollywood as a fully-formed and huge Bollywood star, who had the lead in dozens of Indian productions, and she sought to build that kind of career for herself in Hollywood. I do think she was let down by all of the racist roadblocks put in her path, the lack of imagination from producers and the gatekeeping of “who gets to be a star.” It f–king sucks.
Cover courtesy of Vanity Fair.
“I think the woman in me is craving balance” ummm ok yes because woman = home and man = job I guess?? I wish we could be done with this binary!!!
Uhm why are you immediately assuming that balance means that she’ll play the stay at home mom while nick works? Maybe balance means that they’ll both be at home more. She’s been all over the place and i don’t blame her for wanting to take a bit of time for herself and her marriage. Not to mention the baby they have now.
Even if she does want to stay home while her husband works, so what? Plus she’s lucky to be in a position to be able to make that choice.
I think it’s because the next sentence is “I’m craving my family life” and the sentences together read a little like “the woman in me is craving my family life.”
She emphasizes how ambitious and career driven so it’s probably not what she meant, but I can see how it could be read that way. And as a broader point I do agree with the sentiment that wanting a balance/more of a family life is not a woman-only thing and shouldn’t be thought of that way!
I thought she just meant balancing her personal life with her professional life, which makes sense. Most people want that sense of balance regardless of what type of relationship and career they’re in at the same time.
I don’t even like her but I understood what she meant on the idea of “balance.” Even if you’re in a career your time is still beholden to someone else (i.e boss and company) within a capitalist society. Having a separation from that can be nice.
“The global star shaking up Hollywood”😂
Hoo boy, that’s just embarrassing.
Priyanka has actually had it easier than most Indian actors trying to make it in Hollywood. She was handed Quantico despite it completely sucking.
Quantico was so bad, so bad… I liked some actors but the plot was even worse than Scandal, it made no sense at all after a season…
She’s so entitled and arrogant. I can’t with her. I’ve been working non-stop since I was 19 and I’m in my 30s now. Last year was the first time I had two weeks off from work ever and I’m also chronically ill. And she’s complaining for working 1.5 years without a 6 months break in between? This lady needs a reality check. I’m not surprised people question if the marriage is fine. She seems unbearable.
JC you sound so bitter and envious. Why tho? What makes you believe she’s entitled….its not as if you say: “she SOUNDS entitled…” Youre saying, without knowing her or anything abt her life, that she IS entitled. And arrogant.
Phew! These code words…..
I admire Priyanka’s drive and work ethic. She is a force of nature and has so much talent. I always shake my head when I see her and Nick Jonas together. The age difference is so obvious, but they are an interesting couple. The last time I read anything about the Jonas brothers until his marriage to Priyanka was the story of the band, accompanied by their mother, entertained the Obama daughters and friends on inauguration night. To an outsider, it seems there is so much to bring together as a couple for them because of what appears to be such huge differences as individuals. The birth of their child is such good news, although I thought the announcement was a bit “cold” to refer to the event as the birth of “a baby” as though it was a box they could check off. It just struck me that way, not criticizing them. I thought the pr to establish themselves as a couple was a bit relentless that first year, but one can just ignore it. I wish them much happiness and fulfillment as they start their family.
@tams: Apparently, Priyanka and Nick didn’t want to make an announcement about the baby but TMZ was threatening to print a story about the baby including the identity of the surrogate. That may account for your perceived “coldness” of the announcement.
I feel like I should like her, but it’s hard for me to.
I watched Quantico (well the first season). I was bored with her acting. That was enough to put me off — well, maybe her interviews don’t help either ha ha.
Me too I find her acting a bit boring
Is that red outfit semi see through or is it just me?
Ok never mind. On closer inspection yes, yes it’s VERY see through
Either way she looks amazing in it.
Why do I find her utterly exhausting? Like she thinks she’s so much more important than she actually is? I don’t know why but everything about her grates on me.
Sometimes i get that sense too.
There are other South Asian actors who are talented, like Archie Panjabi and Parminder Nagra. They are more low-key but have had to navigate the same territory as her, and perhaps have even paved the way for her a bit.
Maybe she’s more intent on being in the super-star category? Perhaps that’s why she sounds kind of annoying to me — maybe one is required to talk about themselves in a way that makes themselves sound bigger than they actually are in terms of stardom to get better roles. I assume there’s an explanation for it.
Honestly? This may not apply to you personally but our society looks down on women who are openly ambitious. Your comments are the same “I don’t know why, I just can’t stand her.”, that HRC, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, etc., get.
I think when the person is talented like Taylor Swift and Beyonce or smart like HRC, the person is likable enough to me. Or maybe they don’t even need to be likable for me to appreciate their efforts. The “bigger” they get the more I probably even admire their hustle, savvy and ambition. They’ve proven themselves, so I don’t feel the need to argue against their success.
But when I have no idea why the person is famous like Kim Kardashian, then…it’s likely I won’t like the person much. I don’t know if I even dislike her — I just have no idea why there is so much more content on her compared to other celebrities.
I get why Priyanka is famous (she was huge in Bollywood — and maybe her stardom there has prepared her to feel that level of success is what she should get in the USA) but I’m not entirely sure if she’s actually talented enough to get me to like her or not actively want to skip over her Quantico episodes.
The excerpts from the interview makes me like her. I was indifferent before.
I thought this comment was a little funny: “When it happens, it happens… No, we’re not too busy to practice.”
When they responded to some reports about the birth of the baby, they sort of unintentionally did make it sound like they were too busy to practice. (I have no idea if that actually was the case. I’m just saying their press around the explanation of the surrogacy did make it sound that way).
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Weird about her not really having a firm handle on what her public name is.
Looks like she is trying to become a Cher or Madonna just using her first name, which tbh I think she could do simply because her name is so unique and there’s no disambiguation that needs to happen.
But then why does her insta say Chopra? I’m so confused.
On The View, they announced her as Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
This woman is full of lies.