Video: Life Lessons with Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Many celebrities now have portfolio careers – launching drinks brands, beauty empires or clothing lines alongside their lucrative day jobs – but Priyanka Chopra Jonas has always been a trailblazer when it comes to juggling multiple lines of work. Having been crowned Miss World in 2000 when she was just 18, Chopra Jonas’ first foray into fame was through Bollywood, before she tried her hand at a music career. Now based in California, the 42-year-old is an established action TV actress, having starred in series including Quantico and Citadel (and that’s not including her work as a producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur).
However, while she’s an established star of both the big and small screen, Chopra Jonas hadn't originally planned to act. “I didn’t always know [that I wanted to perform],” the Harper’s Bazaar March cover star explains in the latest episode of our Life Lessons video franchise. “My parents should have known! I couldn’t pass a reflective surface without looking at it. I always wanted to be the centre of attention. But I wanted to be something different each year.”
That’s not to say Chopra Jonas doesn’t love her day job; she describes herself as a “greedy actor” who takes on as many roles as possible.
“I’m very, very blessed,” she says, reflecting on her career. “I feel incredible being able to take words that are written on a piece of paper and create them with some sort of life between action and cut. I get a few seconds to do it and there’s a race to make it right. That’s just so much fun. I love it.
“I also love to be able to take care of my family. It’s a big aspect of my job and I feel very proud to be able to do that.”
Chopra Jonas’ acting persona has even bled into her sartorial choices, where she uses her wardrobe as a way to express a character or give herself confidence. “Without words being able to express who you are, how you’re feeling, how you want the world to perceive you, I think [clothes are] an extra layer of power, almost,” she says. “When I wake up in the morning and pick what I’m going to wear, I think about who this girl is today.
“We change every single day and we’re different people, and clothes help me express that.”
With Chopra Jonas so dedicated to her craft, it’s of little surprise that other actors look to her for advice in an effort to emulate her success. “The one piece of advice I would give to someone starting out in my industry is that there are a lot of people who come at you,” she says. “You have to cut out the noise. I tell young actors this all the time: don’t speak, listen.
“When you go to a movie set, or you go to an audition, know your part, know your lines. But listen to what is expected of you, because that’s our job.
“[As actors] we are conduits, we are vessels. That’s the character, and that’s your job. You just have to forget all the noise. You are not trying to please everyone, but to have allegiance to your character. It sounds so complicated but after you do it for a while, it’s not. It just takes a little practice.”
Of course, it’s Chopra Jonas’ extensive experience in a cutthroat industry that allows her to share gems of wisdom with new talent. As someone who has spent more than two decades in the spotlight, she is more than aware that your mistakes are broadcast just as widely as your successes.
“Most of my mistakes have been public,” she says. “I’ve said the wrong things, I’ve done the wrong things. Everyone’s done it. When you don’t know enough, you try to be confident and people make mistakes all the time.
While we all make errors in judgement, the actress explains that it’s how we deal with our wrongs that signal our strength of character.
“I’ve made peace with the fact I grew up in front of people,” she says. “It’s okay for me to have public mistakes. You have to look back and learn from them and not make the same mistake twice. It’s important to have the courage of conviction to admit it and say: ‘It’s my mistake and I own it.’”
However, when it comes to criticism, harsh words and outright trolling, the star no longer lets opinions dominate her thought process. “Art is subjective,” she says. “If it hurts me, I ignore it, if it doesn’t hurt me, I’ll think about it. Other people’s opinions, especially about my job, cannot become fact. It’s an opinion. I live my life on that.”
But there is one thing Chopra Jonas won’t apologise for, or shy away from. Running her own charitable foundation, as well as serving as a patron for numerous other good causes, she urges other women to have certainty in their own strength. “Never be apologetic for taking up space,” she tells us. “ You deserve the space you’re in. I’ve seen a lot of women apologise, backtrack, but it’s okay to stand strong and it’s okay to walk into a room and take up space. I think that’s really powerful.”
Watch the full Life Lessons video with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, above.
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