This Article is From Sep 07, 2017

Priyanka Chopra, 'Too Ethnic' For The West? She Was Once Told

Priyanka Chopra said: "Opportunity to break the ceiling for actors that look like me"

Priyanka Chopra, 'Too Ethnic' For The West? She Was Once Told

Priyanka Chopra at the Toronto International Film Festival. (Image courtesy: AFP)

Highlights

  • Priyanka says her Quantico role wasn't written of an Indian woman
  • Didn't realize how hard it was until I came to North America: Priyanka
  • Priyanka was speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival
New Delhi: Priyanka Chopra attended the Toronto International Film Festival soiree on Wednesday, where she talked about her journey in showbiz so far. Priyanka Chopra started her Bollywood career soon after she was crowned Miss World in 2000. As for the West, she took a small step vis-a-vis her single In My City featuring will.i.am and later a giant leap in the form of American television show Quantico, which has been renewed for season 3. At TIFF, Priyanka said that she was once asked not to join a project because of her "ethnic looks," so when Quantico came her way, she "saw it as an opportunity to break the ceiling for actors that look like me." Speaking to TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey Priyanka said: "Once I was asked not to be a part of a cast because I was too ethnic. I didn't realize how hard it was until I came to North America."

"My role in Quantico was not written for an Indian girl," she said and added: "I've had people take away films from me because I might not have agreed with them."
 

Priyanka Chopra told the audience at TIFF that opportunities will never be handed out, reported news agency IANS. "No one's going to hand it out to you, whether it's credit, whether it's parts, whether it is the ability to make movies," Priyanka said, pointing to Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, the first female director for a studio superhero movie. "You can understand how hard and few and far between these opportunities are. But it's got to take people like us to stand out there, dig our heels in and say we're not going to stand for it anymore," she added.

Priyanka Chopra won Best Actress National Award for the Madhur Bhandarkar-directed Fashion. Her first production venture Marathi film Ventilator won two National Awards. In the West, Priyanka has twice won the People's Choice Award for her portrayal of Alex Parrish in Quantico.

Priyanka Chopra will also screen her Sikkimese film Pahuna at the Toronto International Festival.

(With Inputs from IANS)

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