Priyanka Chopra says she never ‘expected’ to see South Indian representation in Hollywood

Priyanka Chopra Jonas talked about the South Indian representation in Hollywood movies and how she never expected someone that “looked like her” to be cast in a foreign film.

Speaking on The Radio Times, the Citadel star also dished on feeling unstable in her career as an actor despite doing four movies a year.

The global icon said she “never” imagined that she would ever be able to star in Hollywood when she started her career in Bollywood at age 18.

“I never expected to see someone that looked like me on TV. The bar was so low,” Chopra Jonas said. “We had Hindi movies in India, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s ours and this is theirs.’”

“Even as a child that distinction was clear. When I came to America, I started looking for my identity in English language entertainment because I saw a lot of people that looked like me in the country consuming it.

“There are so many Indians, so many people from other countries, so many immigrants that come from all over the world. American entertainment was devoid of representing the melting pot of its population,” Nick Jonas’ wife added.

“With the explosion of the internet and streaming services, people from different countries can watch entertainment made from different parts of the world. I couldn’t have imagined that when I first joined the industry.”

She then got candid about her doubts that she would never succeed as an actor despite being a global icon who has worked in numerous Bollywood films as well as Hollywood projects.

“My filmography is almost 70 movies; I used to do four movies a year because I didn’t want to lose an opportunity,” the former Miss World winner said.

“I thought I’d wake up one morning and it would be taken away from me. For actors, your job is always unstable,” she continued.

“To have stability you need to be able to create credibility with your work and to consistently deliver. That takes time!”