Priyanka Chopra says she ‘was a scared girl’ at the start of her Bollywood career: I used to get hurt emotionally

Priyanka Chopra is often praised for her bold choices. However, the actor, who was crowned Miss World 2000 at the age of 18, said there was a time during the early years of her Bollywood career when she would ‘take the smallest things very seriously’. Priyanka said she was once a ‘scared girl’. Also read: Priyanka Chopra recalls how a Bollywood filmmaker ‘needed to see her underwear’, calls it ‘dehumanising’

After Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss World, she joined films and made her acting debut in the Tamil movie Thamizhan (2002), followed by her first Bollywood film, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003). She reflected on her early years in the film industry in a new interview.

Priyanka’s advice to her younger self

When asked if she could ‘give one note to her past self, what would it be’, Priyanka told Filmfare, “I would say chill out. It’s not that bad. I used to take the smallest things very seriously. I’m a Cancerian and I’m sensitive so I would go into my shell. I used to get hurt emotionally. It made it hard for me to get up and go to work because I used to feel such a burden after any failure or any lost opportunity.”

The actor added she was a ‘scared girl’ during her initial years in the film industry as she ‘didn’t know anyone’ when she started out. Priyanka said, “Especially, in my early 20s when I was first starting out in the film industry. I didn’t know anyone. I was a scared girl who came in and worked with some of the biggest stars, who I grew up watching on TV. But I think that the one note I would give that girl is that you’re going to be okay. Smile a little more and enjoy the process.”

Priyanka Chopra’s bitter experience in Bollywood

In an interview earlier this year that grabbed attention, Priyanka had said she was not the happiest with the work she was getting in Bollywood. She also revealed how she had ‘beef’ with some people in the industry, and why she chose to move to Hollywood.

Speaking with Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert in March, Priyanka had said, “I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break.”

After trying her luck in the US music scene, Priyanka featured in her first American show Quantico in 2015. Since then, Priyanka has worked in Hollywood films such as Baywatch, Matrix: Revolutions, and Love Again, among others. Her eagerly-awaited Prime Video series Citadel came out in April.