Priyanka Chopra says actors should give 'lot more' auditions: 'Then people are cast on merit, not because..' | Exclusive

The biggest difference Priyanka Chopra found in the style of working when she moved to Hollywood almost a decade back is that the word ‘audition’ is not taboo there. In India, big stars almost never audition for roles and are cast on the basis of their star power. In the West though, auditions are common. Even Priyanka auditioned many times even though she was an experienced actress and quite a big star back home. In a recent interaction with DNA, the actress said that this mode of casting should be more widely adopted.

When asked if she auditioned for her upcoming Prime Video series Citadel, Priyanka responded, “Citadel, I did not audition for but my first one (Quantico), I did.” The actress then clarified, “Auditioning is not a bad thing. It is normal. In fact, we should do a lot more of it. Then people are cast because of merit and not because they are a flavour of the season or because someone likes you or someone recommended you.”

The actress also spoke about the lack of representation of south Asians in Hollywood despite being a sizable portion of the world’s population. “When we talk about representation in Hollywood and English language entertainment, we Indians are one-fifth of the world’s population,” said Priyanka, adding, “English entertainment travels around the globe. Why don’t we see more of us as leads?. India produces more than a thousand movies in a year. Our technicians are world class. They are even hired by Hollywood because we are good at our jobs. But yet, we are sidelined.”

The actress added that she refused to be sidelined and was confident she would get roles based on her talent. She said, “I’m sorry but an actor like me who has been a leading lady in Bollywood will not be sidelined. When I audition, I will be good because I am a good actor. I will win the job like I did with Quantico because I’m good at my job. And I am not underconfident. We need to create more opportunities.”

Having tasted the first bits of her share of success in the West, Priyanka now wants to pass it on to the next generation too. She explained, “I am doing that as a producer. I have a deal with Amazon Prime where I am developing multiple shows with them that not only star Indian faces but also have Indians behind the camera, women behind the camera. My dream is to be able to influx Hollywood with brown faces because I know how much we deserve to be on the world stage.”

Priyanka will be next seen in Citadel, a sci-fi spy thriller that also stars Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci and is executive produced by the Russo Brothers. The first two episodes of the six-episode show will premiere on Prime Video on April 28.