Priyanka Chopra is one of those celebrities who can’t step out of her apartment to get a coffee without being recognized. On her trip to visit us at Teen Vogue, she was paparazzied in the stunning red outfit we would meet her in later that day. The images look like a photoshoot, but in actuality, she was in a rush on a rainy day.
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Boasting over 22 million followers on Instagram and over 38 million on Facebook, Priyanka is far beyond an “influencer” — she’s a global superstar. She sings, she dances, she acts, she produces, and she writes. While the star might still be working on becoming a household name in the states, as we brought her into the Teen Vogue offices, we happened to walk past a pod full of South Asian employees that clearly couldn’t contain their excitement at the sight of her. (Later they asked if they could take a picture with her and she graciously did it.)
As much as it feels like it when you are around her, Priyanka isn’t “just like one of us.” She’s a former Miss Universe, she’s show-stoppingly gorgeous, and she’s one of the most recognizable women in the world. But she’s also extremely thoughtful, opinionated, laughs with her whole body, and cares deeply about many things from ending violence to fighting for better representation and diversity in American television.
We sat down with her to talk about the Season 3 premiere of Quantico, representation in media, being sexy and Indian, the #MeToo movement, and what she actually meant by that comment about “women of color.”
This interview has been condensed for clarity.
Samhita: First I just want to say before we get into the questions, it's such an honor to talk to you. I told my mom and she immediately started sending me all these links saying “did you know she's a singer? Tell her I love her song Baba." So, I needed you to know that.
Priyanka: Ah, thank you that was a special song to me too. I wanted to send that message. Please tell her I said hello.
S: Let me start by saying congratulations on Quantico’s third season. That is so exciting. How does it feel? What are you excited about? What are you dreading?
P: I'm really excited about the season for many reasons. One, because it's 13 episodes so you know it's really super tight. The storyline, your favorite characters are back, we shot internationally, we shot in Tuscany in Italy, we shot in Dublin, Ireland, and New York City.
The show travels internationally a lot and that's what I'm super excited about. What I am dreading, I don't know, I'm not really dreading much. I'm dreading people not liking it I guess, which is something that I dread with everything. It’s a sexy FBI show. The prerequisite of the show is everyone's got to be sexy.
S: I have to ask you about that. I have been writing about sex and sexuality for a long time and it was hard for my parents, who are from India, to accept that. Are there people in your community or your family that are like, "Priyanka, that's a little steamy, I don't know"?
P: I've not because Hindi movies and what we do in Indian movies is pretty much what I'm doing on Quantico. There are a few lines that I've drawn for myself which obviously include nudity but the fact that I'm an actor and if sensuality or sexuality presented by the story, people work within my comfort. I'm totally fine and my parents were fine with that. From the beginning of my career I've just been a modern Indian girl and I am not afraid. I've been raised in a fearless environment, whether that was in India or in America. My family is very progressive, very opinionated. I was never made to feel guilty or ashamed by my family and my loved ones because I don't think anything I did I deserved that. I don't have too many ... What's the word? Chocolate fudges to give.
S: That's what I told my parents. I was like, "You're more strict than actual parents in India are."
P: I think that when you leave your own country you really want to hold on to those values, because my aunts are like that with me and my cousins too.
S: Quantico is about the FBI, but you're tackling a lot of real world issues including an episode about the Muslim registry. How have people responded to that? I think it really struck me how politically relevant that is considering some of the conversations in America right now around an actual Muslim registry.
P: What I love about Quantico is that we literally tear headlines from the news and incorporate it into a very relevant show. We tell really real life stories and how it affects people’s lives. You [can] use entertainment to talk about relevant topics. That's my favorite part of the show.
S: Have you found that working on this show within our current political market has made you more involved with American politics? I know you are not shy about your opinions.
P: I find it very interesting. I find global politics very interesting if you look at the world in general. It's like a reality TV show right now, politics.
As much as I want to laugh about it, it's scary as hell that this is the world. I'm very concerned. I live in America, I am of course affected by what happens here, even if I'm on a visa. Being a part of this show definitely exposes me to different aspects of global politics which is really interesting.
S: It's a really exciting time I think for television right now. I recently read that you had an experience with someone suggested that you were “too brown” for role. What was that about?
P: Those weren't the words. The words were I was the wrong physicality, but I was up for it so why should I have been up for it anyway if I was the wrong physicality? I was like, "Do you want me skinnier? Do you want me to put on weight? What's up?
S: Do you think that television is giving more opportunities to women?
P: Absolutely. Even my [Quantico] character, Alex, she's a flawed woman of the world, she's an American girl who loves her country, is extremely patriotic, but is of South Asian descent. There was no explanation of the fact that I was Indian, it was just me as Alex Parrish.
That I feel is such a new perspective because my ethnicity doesn't define that happens in the show, I just happen to be South Asian. That's such a win I feel. Even with Scandal or How to Get Away With Murder or Grey's Anatomy in it's 14th season or whatever, these are my colleagues on ABC that I'm talking about. To see that is really awesome. Big Little Lies… there are so many amazing shows that have been female driven that TV is doing. I think movies need to catch up.
S: People do struggle with that form of diversity. I've had my own experience with that working in publishing and people always wanting me to write about South Asian experience which I am happy to talk about and write about but there's so much more that makes my career.
P: That's not the only thing I am, exactly.
S: Speaking of South Asian representation I do think the last few years we've seen more and more South Asians in media, and I know you've spoken about that being important. Where do you think South Asian representation is really lacking in the United States still?
P: Everywhere. Hollywood and American entertainment is a predominant player in global entertainment by the fact that it is English spoken. Within global entertainment there needs to be a lot more opportunities that are created for a diverse cast, and that includes South Asians in a big way. I tell this to young people all the time and I told this to myself when I was 17 when I started working, no one's gonna make an opportunity for you.
You have to create your opportunity, you have to fight for it, you have to demand it. Yes there will be times you will be let down, you will be disappointed and people will tell you you're ahead of your time or that's not how it is. At some point you will find some success. At some point you'll be able to find a crack in the door. Even that's enough. I keep telling people don't get rejected by failure. I hate failure, but you take it and you sulk and you have ice cream and you cry and then you get up and say, "You know what, I'm not gonna let it break me." When you have big dreams you can work your way backwards. Make plans. There's nothing wrong. Create your own opportunities.
When there's more opportunity there will be less of these things that we're fighting against. People need to find your confidence. I look into the mirror sometimes and I tell myself, "You know what? You can do it." I talk to myself. Whatever it takes. People have vision boards and whatever it takes. Don't let anyone tell you your dreams are too small.
S: Wait, so I have you on the record saying that even Priyanka Chopra has days where she need to look in the mirror and talk herself up?
P: Abso-freaking-lutely, yes! Especially when I was in high school I'd do it all the time. I took an hour and a half every morning to get dressed because that was a part of my whole getting dressed thing, what was my mood for the day, what's the vibe gonna be? How am I gonna feel? How am I gonna tackle this day? It's simple logic, if you try for excellence every single day your life is bound to be excellent by the end of it, right?
S: Yeah. Absolutely. You had an interview in 2016 with Refinery29 where you talked about the term “woman of color”. I remember reading that and thinking about something I had read once about how calling yourself a “woman of color” is an American experience and it's something that I identify as do many of my friends. Do you still feel that way now that you've been navigating the entertainment industry here? Do you see a value in us calling each other women of color?
P: I absolutely see that. I see that yes it is a very culturally different thing with America and outside of America. I take tremendous pride in being a woman of color. I just don't want to be limited. I want, as a woman of color, to have my choice of opportunities. I don't want to be limited because of it, and that happens so often. I'm a proud woman of color, but that's not the only thing that defines me.
S: Obviously there's a huge conversation happening in the entertainment industry about me too. You have said some really powerful things about it. How do you feel this conversation is going right now? Has it gone too far? Is it not going far enough?
P: I like to focus on the good things. The incredible thing that has come out of this movement is women having each others back and women saying that, "I stand in support of you." Men standing up and saying, "I stand in support of you." I hope with all of these conversations powerful men in every industry will know that women will not settle anymore. We will not stay silent anymore. We've always had voices but our voices have been silenced. People don't want to listen to us. It's not like we need to find out voice, we've always had them. Now we just have the support hopefully in society by people to say, "You have been wronged, and there's nothing wrong with you."
S: Have you found that it was as pervasive in the South Asian entertainment industry in the way that it is in the United States, or different, worse, or better in India?
P: I think there's no point in comparing who is better or who is worse—it's a global epidemic. We shouldn't be proud of one country because it has less sexual violence in it. Sexual violence is sexual violence. Even one is bad enough. I see that it is a global problem because women have always been treated like they've been second class citizens. Now we're just standing up and we're saying that we're not, we want rights, especially you see the youth of the country and what they're doing after Parkland, Florida. I had the amazing opportunity of meeting four kids from that school and how they've taken their lives in their own hands. That's the power of the millennial generation, the next generation after that. They're not going to wait, and they shouldn't. We shouldn't wait for change. We have to be the change we want to see.
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