Priyanka Chopra Opens Up About Being Rejected in Hollywood Due to Ethnicity
Priyanka Chopra Jonas has always been a supporter of diversity and representation in the entertainment sector. Despite of her international success, the actress has not escaped her fair share of problems, such as the rejection due to her ethnicity. The viral clip of Priyanka Chopra Jonas at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017 candidly recounts a situation in which she was turned down for a role in Hollywood because she was considered “too ethnic”.
The actress revealed during an interview that ,” I was asked to not be a part of a movie because I was too ethnic,’ She even recalled how even her agent found it difficult to convey the reason. ” First of all, everyone has an ethnicity. Even Caucasian is an ethnicity. But I was too ethnic for the part, and it was a mainstream American role. I remember my agent struggling to tell me the reason. He was skirting around the issue, and I asked him to just be honest with me. He finally said,” Priyanka, I don’t know how to say this in 2017, but that was actually the reason”.
The actress was shocked to know this open nature of the rejection. She remembered contemplating that, at least, they could have gotten creative with another excuse. Instead, the decision-makers insisted that casting an Indian woman in role would require unnecessary explanations about her character’s background. ” They said they would have to explain where her parents come from and why she was in America, as if that wasn’t already a reality in a diverse country like the U.S.”.
Priyanka has achieved a successful career in Hollywood, starring in films and series like Baywatch, The Matrix Resurrections and Citadel. The actress is said to been in Heads of State and The Bluff.