Priyanka Chopra: I'm not for public consumption

Priyanka Chopra, Indian Bollywood actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, during an interview with The Associated Press in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, May 24, 2018. Picture: AP Photo/A.M. Ahad

Priyanka Chopra, Indian Bollywood actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, during an interview with The Associated Press in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, May 24, 2018. Picture: AP Photo/A.M. Ahad

Published Jun 29, 2021

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Priyanka Chopra has insisted there is "a lot" people don't know about her that she will never tell.

The 38-year-old actress has vowed to "always protect" the private aspects of her life that she does not wish to share with the world.

In an interview on Daily Telegraph's columnist Claire Cohen's 'Impostors' podcast, she said: “There’s a lot I keep to myself.

“People who have known me and my trajectory so far, may think that they know me, but [they] don’t. And I will always protect that side of me.

“I’m not for public consumption, just because my job is public. But it’s the part and parcel of making the deal with the devil, I guess.”

Priyanka - who is married to pop star Nick Jonas - received critical acclaim for her role as Pinky Madam in this year's Netflix crime drama “The White Tiger”, but she insisted the colour of her skin means she has to work twice as hard to land the kind of roles she wants to play.

The Indian star explained: “I never expected to rest on my laurels.

“Just because I have had a hit film doesn’t mean I should expect that next movie, and that the next movie will be loved by everyone.”

She continued: “I don’t think it’s in people’s consciousness to see a brown person being the lead of a mainstream TV show or a movie.

“I’m just about starting to do the kind of work that I was looking for when I came to America all those years ago.”

The 'Baywatch' star experienced racism from a young age when she moved to the US to live with her aunt.

She recalled being told to "go back to your country on the elephant you came on".

She said: “Bullying is an abuse of power. And racism is just basic stupidity. It’s medieval, almost ... it’s crazy to me.”

And if she had the chance to speak to those bullies now she is an international star, she would like to sit down with them and challenge them to a debate about their insensitive remarks.

Priyanka said: “In my 20s, I would have probably been like, 'Look how far I’ve come, b****'.

“But now, in my 30s, a more mature person, I would probably be like ‘let’s sit down for a cup of coffee’ ... Now I would get beneath the surface.”

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