{"id":78473,"date":"2023-06-13T18:34:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T18:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=78473"},"modified":"2023-06-13T20:52:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T20:52:57","slug":"priyanka-chopra-jonas-summer-2023-cover-story","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/priyanka-chopra-jonas-summer-2023-cover-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Priyanka Chopra Jonas Is Finally Getting Her Dream Roles \u2014 and She\u2019s Not Slowing Down Anytime Soon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Valentino blazer, skirt, valentino.com; Priyanka\u2019s own ring worn throughout. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Priyanka Chopra Jonas<\/a> and I have been playing a game of cat and mouse for two weeks, trying to find a window of time to talk during her non-stop world press tour for blockbuster TV series Citadel<\/em>.<\/a> When she finally appears on my laptop screen, from her sofa in Los Angeles, she tells me she\u2019s exhausted from all the traveling, but you would never know it \u2014 the former Miss World looks positively radiant (if only jet lag was so kind to us all).<\/p>\n

Five years in the making, the action- packed thriller Citadel<\/em> \u2014 Chopra Jonas stars alongside Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci as a spy on a mission to save the world \u2014 is an ambitious experiment in what a global TV franchise can be. \u201cA show of this kind has never been done before,\u201d she says. \u201cThe concept was to create multiple shows around the world that are interconnected but created by different filmmakers and writers. You can watch them individually or together, as there are threads that connect them all.\u201d Three Citadel<\/em> spin-offs produced in Italy, India and Mexico are in the works.<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Giorgio Armani dress, armani.com; Bulgari necklace. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a fresh new way to make TV but what\u2019s even more exciting is that a South Asian actress is at the forefront of such a ground-breaking project. \u201cRoles like this are predominantly enjoyed by white men,\u201d says Chopra Jonas. \u201cSo I really took it is as a large responsibility not just for females but for women of color. It feels great to be in a place as an immigrant actor where filmmakers give me the agency and respect to ask for my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Di Petsa dress, dipetsa.com. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Chopra Jonas, this moment is the culmination of more than two decades\u2019 work in the industry (and a filmography that spans 80-plus roles), first as one of Bollywood\u2019s biggest stars, then making the jump to Hollywood with parts in TV hit Quantico<\/em>, The Matrix Resurrections<\/em>, the 2017 Baywatch<\/em> movie and Netflix comedy Isn\u2019t It Romantic<\/em>. Her international star power cannot be underestimated: She is the most followed Indian actor on Instagram (90 million followers) and has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Forbes<\/em>, Time<\/em> and the BBC.<\/p>\n

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Despite all this, Chopra Jonas is astute enough at 40 to understand that celebrity can be a fickle thing. \u201cMy job is extremely inconsistent, I could get canceled tomorrow, people could decide I\u2019m not the flavor of the month, anything could happen,\u201d she explains. \u201cI have never been the kind of person who thinks that they have made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Christopher Esber dress, christopheresber.com.au. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s this ingrained, stop-at-nothing work ethic (familiar to anyone who is also from a South Asian background) that drives her. You work hard for everything you want in life and then, when you\u2019ve achieved it, you work even harder.<\/p>\n

Which might explain why the day after we talk, she is back on a plane, flying to New York to begin the first leg of another press tour for her next project, the rom-com Love Again<\/em>. Chopra Jonas plays heroine Mira, who is grieving her fiance\u0301\u2019s death by sending texts to his old phone, which are serendipitously received by a handsome stranger (Outlander\u2019s Sam Heughan) who in turn employs the help of Celine Dion \u2014 playing herself \u2014 to bring them together.<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in an Alberta Ferretti dress, albertaferretti.com; Priyanka\u2019s own bracelet. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCan you believe this is Celine Dion\u2019s first film?\u201d asks Chopra Jonas, who confirms that the singer is every bit as much fun as you would hope for. \u201cThis film is such a departure from Citadel<\/em> but it makes you feel good, feel warm and sometimes that\u2019s just what you need, a dollop of comfort and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aside from acting, Chopra Jonas has many job titles. She\u2019s a producer, philanthropist, activist, author, investor (in skiwear brand Perfect Moment) and mother. To be a multi-hyphenate to this degree takes talent, ambition, determination and an often- overlooked ingredient: support.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionally, I know that I\u2019m in an amazing place, after 23 years I\u2019m getting the roles I always wanted. Personally, there is nowhere else I want to be but home.\u201d In 2022 Chopra Jonas and her husband of four years, pop star Nick Jonas<\/a>, welcomed their first child, Maltie Marie<\/a>, who made a guest appearance at GRAZIA<\/em>\u2019s photo shoot. \u201cEverything I do, I do for her. She\u2019s the greatest gift that has ever happened to us, she is our homing signal and our beacon of light. But neither Nick nor I could do what we do without the support of our families,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in an Alberta Ferretti dress, albertaferretti.com; Priyanka\u2019s own bracelet. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI grew up with working parents, so I know the importance of grandparents and the vital role they play. That ethos of shared responsibility was really apparent in my life. My cousins and I all went to each other homes when parents were working \u2014 it\u2019s a very Indian thing, and Nick\u2019s parents are so hands on too. Right now, my daughter\u2019s in New York with my mom, probably eating ice cream for dinner and having the time of her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Chopra Jonas\u2019 current status as an A-lister is as golden as the sunsets over the Hollywood Hills, the transition into the Western market from Bollywood is notoriously difficult. \u201cDid you know I actually came to Hollywood to do music?\u201d she asks, then quickly adds, \u201cDon\u2019t Google it!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was my life\u2019s dream to make Indian music mainstream. I had a few songs out with Will.i.Am, Pharrell and Pitbull [in the early 2010s], but I quickly realized that everything just sounded manufactured and that wasn\u2019t my dream.\u201d (I ask if she ever duets with Nick and she admits they sometimes have dates in the studio when he is recording and sing together, but these songs only make it out to close friends and family.)<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a David Koma dress, boot covers, davidkoma.com; Christian Louboutin shoes, us.christianlouboutin.com. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her huge success in Bollywood did not immediately translate to success in Hollywood. \u201cThere were so many times I wanted to quit. I was tired of rejection. I felt dismissed and patronized on set, like people didn\u2019t believe I could do my job even when Bollywood is as huge as it is. I had taken such a big risk leaving my career in India and that really was a concern for me. I felt like I had bitten off more than I can chew,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerseverance was my only way out. I kept going one step at a time, one day at a time and here I am today with the most monumental show I\u2019ve ever done and I\u2019m on the cover of GRAZIA<\/em> as a Brown girl,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Givenchy dress, boots, givenchy.com. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I tell Chopra Jonas what I\u2019ve been wanting to tell her all the way through the interview \u2014 that she is entering her \u201cPCJ era.\u201d In the same way Jennifer Lopez became JLo and Sarah Jessica Parker became SJP, the internet is starting to know Chopra Jonas by those three letters, and it feels like a pivotal signifier of her stratospheric success.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle Yeoh said don\u2019t ever let anyone tell you you\u2019re over your prime when she won her Oscar this year, and I really appreciate you saying that because I was made to feel like my prime had peaked in my 20s. And here you are telling me I\u2019m in my PCJ era in my 40s,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Giorgio Armani dress, armani.com; Bulgari necklace. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Chopra Jonas, of course, is charmingly humble about it all, I can\u2019t help but tell her how much her success means to me, how proud I am to share the same skin color as her, proud to have come from the same heritage, proud that so many women like me will get see themselves as the main character.<\/p>\n

My outpouring prompts her to finally admit that, yes, she does feel proud of herself, too. \u201cI want to raise my daughter in a world where culture is normalized. It\u2019s not about ethnicity or skin tone it\u2019s about differences and celebrating how cool they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a Valentino blazer, skirt, valentino.com; Priyanka\u2019s own ring worn throughout. Photographs by Danny Kasirye. Styled by Kingsley Tao. Hair by Stefan Bertin. Makeup by Liz Martins. Nails by Michelle Humphrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We end our conversation on what she has coming up next \u2014 a comedy with Idris Elba and John Cena, a project with Mindy Kaling and a Hindi movie with two of Bollywood\u2019s biggest female stars are just some of the projects Chopra Jonas rattles off from the top of her head. So the work ethic isn\u2019t waning any time soon? \u201cWell,\u201d she says, with a smile, \u201cI\u2019m in my PCJ era now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stream Citadel<\/em> on Prime Video; Love Again<\/em> is in theaters now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Words by Billie Bhatia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA USA<\/em>\u2019s Summer issue featuring cover star Priyanka Chopra Jonas:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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