Priyanka Chopra Jonas Didn’t Just Cross Over to Hollywood—She Started From Scratch

Priyanka Chopra Jonas has lived several very different lives in one career. She’s gone from winning Miss World at age 18 to becoming one of Bollywood’s biggest stars, then starting over in Hollywood where almost no one knew her name. Now she’s producing her own projects, starring in action films, and raising her daughter Malti while bouncing between continents.

But when she sits down with Amanda Hirsch on Not Skinny but Not Fat, the conversation takes a look at how she moves through it all—from motherhood and fame, to marriage with Nick Jonas and the constant art of reinventing herself.

Below are the highlights from the conversation adapted from the episode.

What do you love most about doing action movies?

“Done it actually for a really long time, before I started working in America, I worked in Indian films, lovingly called Bollywood by a lot of people, and I started doing action movies like…I think my first one may have been this movie called Dawn in the early 2000s…People don’t realize how technical stunts are and how much precision it actually requires to pull off all of that. I’ve always found that so fun…it’s like choreographed, not just with the people performing the stunts but also the camera work…Everyone has to know their distance, their exact marks. Because if you don’t fall on your exact mark, someone could get hurt…the stakes are high, so days like that your adrenaline is pumping and everything has to be precise. I really enjoy the precision of that.”

What happened when your daughter saw you covered in fake blood on set?

“[Malti] looked at me and she paused for a second…she was like three at that time, maybe two-and-a-half…I recognized it and I was like, oh my gosh, this can either go one of two ways, right? Either I’ve traumatized her for the rest of our lives, or I let her into the secret. So I took her in the hair and makeup trailer and we explained…we tasted it because it’s usually made of corn, like cornstarch, so it’s sweet. I showed her that it was just make-believe and she put some blood on me and painted it on me and then it was totally fine.”

Does your daughter think your job or Nick’s job is cooler right now?

“I think it’s both…she knows what it looks like to go from the friends and family greeting room to the dressing room. It’s her normal, so I don’t know if she has a preference, but I think with me, she’s very excited about–like right now on a press tour, she was with me for a while, while we were in LA and just the dresses and the heels, she’s a very girly girl, so she loves to sit with me and my makeup is happening, she’ll do her own.”

What do you think about protecting your daughter’s privacy?

“I’ve always been of the opinion that I chose a public life…that’s the nature of the beast. If you’re going to live a public life, people will be interested and curious in your life, that’s fine. But when it comes to children…that’s a terrain we are all learning…curiosity is great. I love talking about Malti, she’s an amazing, smart, precocious, fun kid, but protecting her is important to me.”

What’s the hardest part about being a working mom?

“Listen, it’s not easy being a working mom and we’re all doing the best we can…sure there’ll be a day I’m on a Zoom where I’ll stick [Malti] in front of a movie because I’ve got to do what I have to do and it’s fine. But as much as I can, I’m trying to not create that dependence.”

Are you trying to teach your daughter Hindi?

“I try. So there’ll be weeks [and then] one day, I’ll suddenly remember and the whole day I’m going to speak to her in Hindi…and she gives me the side eye. She’s like, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ but she knows three or four words. I live in America. I’m married to an American…even my mom, when she comes in, we forget. I keep telling her that and she forgets too, but I’m trying really hard to be intentional about it. Because a lot of my cousins when they came to the States, like they forgot how to speak Hindi too, and I remember…that’s one of their regrets is when you lose that second language. So I’m trying to be better about it…but we make sure that she goes at least twice a year and has exposure to India because that’s really important to me.”

How did you end up entering the Miss India pageant in the first place?

“My mom sent in my pictures to the Miss India pageant without telling me…I happened to get picked. I’m competitive. And my competitive b*tch self went out there and I was like, ‘now I’m here, I’m gonna win.’ I tried, I did…and whoever wins Miss India is sent to the Miss World pageant. It was my year that year, I won that…and then I started doing movies.”

When did you realize fame wasn’t actually the job?

“My relationship with what this job was was skewed because I thought…it’s about the fame. It’s only when I started doing it that I realized fame is the byproduct of the job. It isn’t the job. And that’s when it became really fun.”

What pushed you to try building a career in Hollywood?

“I started feeling limited and I wanted to see what else was out there…there were very few Indian actors within Hollywood and I wanted that. I didn’t know…there wasn’t a major precedent before me. So I just went out there and gave it a shot. The only thing I knew was I’m a really hard worker. I know my job. If you put me on a set with any filmmaker, any co-actor, I will stand toe to toe.”

How do you handle difficult moments in your career?

“I’m someone who just doesn’t like staying in the sh*t, because then you get used to the smell. When you need a pivot, I’m a big believer in pivoting…we have the ability to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off…take a minute to grieve…and then pivot.”

Why do you like being involved as a producer?

“I like having that extra layer of partnership…I truly enjoy being in the rooms where decisions are made, where I can contribute to the larger, bigger picture.”

How do you change when you’re around your husband, Nick?

“When we go to the airport, all I do is follow Nick. I have no idea. When I’m traveling by myself I’m a boss, I know exactly where I’m going. But when I’m with Nick I’m just like, ‘Wait, what? Where are we going? Where’s the gate?’”

When did you know Nick was ‘the one’?

“I still don’t have an answer to that. I think I was sure because he was sure. He was sure about me from the beginning…that’s just who he is. He’s a very self-assured person, and I think that was very attractive to me. Because he proposed…it was a surprise. I had a feeling it was coming, but not as soon as it did. It happened in two months. I was expecting it to be a little bit later. My parents got married in 10 days of meeting each other. They met at a party, got married 10 days later. So I was never afraid of anyone’s opinion on when and how we get married. We knew we wanted to do it that year and we did it.”

What are you manifesting for this next chapter of your life?

“My manifestation for 2026 is to be wherever I am. I’ve been a very ambitious person my whole life…but we romanticize the fact that if we don’t work so hard we don’t deserve it. This is the year for me to put a pause on that drive and work intentionally…but take time to breathe.”

To hear Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ full conversation, listen to Not Skinny but Not Fat wherever you get your podcasts.

Read More

• A 12-Step Reality Check to See If You’re Secretly Addicted to Drama
• Hailey Bieber Reveals the Health Scare That Left Her Unable to Speak at 25
• Dr. Terry Dubrow Thinks You’re Focusing on the Wrong Thing About Aging