Priyanka Chopra catapulted into international fame after landing the lead role on the hit TV show ‘Quantico’ last year. Along with bagging a People’s Choice award and presenting an Oscar, she has now made it to the TIME’s 100 honoree stars.
She never had it easy though. “I had the worst self-esteem when I was a kid. I was made fun of because of the way I talked, where I came from…made fun of at every level,” she reveals in a TIME interview.
She goes on to explain how she learned to take it positively and to set goals to better herself at every given opportunity.
“A person should try and be a better version of himself or herself. It is worth pursuing a goal with passion but it is also imperative that we have a plan B in case the initial plan does not work out,” she adds.
She also talks about how the movie ‘Fashion’ changed her as an actress and taught her about the power of female characters to move people: “That is a huge, huge power.”
Priyanka is quick to admit her nervousness at the ‘Quantico’ auditions. She describes how she walked into the bathroom before the audition, looked into the mirror and reassured herself that this was just another challenge that she would win.
“I’ve played a host of really difficult characters in some of the most complicated movies…so I tossed my hair a little bit and walked out confident. I don't aspire to be termed just an actor or a star…what I want to have is a legacy," she reveals.
As a young actress –Priyanka says- she was initially treated as a ‘replaceable’ element which later made her subconsciously choose strong roles that would go on to make her irreplaceable.
She told TIME, “When I was very young, I was 19 and I was doing the first few movies, I remember that my dates weren’t working out. My scheduling wasn’t working out for a movie with a very big actor. And the producer said, ‘Well, she can’t work it out, it’s fine, we’ll just cast someone else. Or, you know what? I’ll launch a new girl because girls are replaceable.’ I didn’t understand it then. But I think subconsciously it really worked on my mind, and I started picking up parts which were strong, which were not just the damsel in distress waiting for someone to rescue me.
She is currently starring in ABC network’s ‘Quantico’ and in the upcoming Hollywood movie reboot of ‘Baywatch’.