Shocking! Priyanka Chopra Was Once Rejected For a Role Because She Is 'Brown'

Back-to-back hit films, and being the first South-Asian face to play the lead in a successful TV show in America, Priyanka Chopra is definitely pursuing her quest of global domination. An actor in two film markets, a producer, an active philanthropist—and yet PeeCee has faced discrimination in the West, just like any other woman. She has widely spoken about the gender pay-gap that is equally prevalent there as it is in India, and has revealed scarring instances from her childhood of being racially bullied.

Recalling the intense trauma that she had to endure during her schooling days, Chopra once confessed that she was heavily subjected to racist remarks and bullying in the States, in this conversation with Complex magazine.

"I was bullied by a freshman named Jeanine. She was black, and supremely racist. Jeanine used to say, 'Brownie, go back to your country, you smell of curry,' or 'Do you smell curry coming?' You know when you're a kid, and you're made to feel bad about where your roots are, or what you look like? You don't understand it, you just feel bad about who you are. I told my mom, 'I don't want to do this anymore.'"

Today in her Instagram story, Priyanka Chopra shared a post where InStyle magazine has interviewed her and talked about the time when she lost a movie role because of her skin colour, besides other pressing issues. 

It has been pointed out many times that women of colour are not given equal representation in America, be it for award nominations, or even for a film's casting. PeeCee recalled an incident to the magazine when she lost out on opportunities solely because she was not a white. 

"It happened last year,” she says. “I was out for a movie, and somebody [from the studio] called one of my agents and said, ‘She’s the wrong—what word did they used?—‘physicality.’ So in my defence as an actor, I’m like, ‘Do I need to be skinnier? Do I need to get in shape? Do I need to have abs?’ Like, what does ‘wrong physicality’ mean? And then my agent broke it down for me. Like, ‘I think, Priy, they meant that they wanted someone who’s not brown.’ It affected me."

Another statement by this powerful woman, that makes a strong case for the need of women empowerment, not just in our country but in fact, all over the world. More power to you PeeCee!