Priyanka Chopra Says She Was Rejected From Films As 'Somebody's Girlfriend Was Cast': 'It's Hard'

Priyanka Chopra has always been vocal about the hardships she faces in the film industry. The actress has mentioned in several conversations that she was “pushed into a corner” or had to deal with “politics” during her time in Bollywood and then had to reinvent herself in Hollywood. Recently, she spoke about getting rejected for films or various reasons, like someone’s girlfriend being cast instead.

Priyanka Chopra appeared on the Read The Room podcast and spoke about handling rejection. She said, “It’s hard. Especially in a job based on validation. Whether it is how many people come and watch your movie or what your director thinks about your performance or what your casting agent thinks, it is all subjective.”

She continued, “I have seen so much rejection in the movie industry for so many reasons. Whether I wasn’t right for the role, whether it was favouritism, whether it was that somebody’s girlfriend was cast, like there are so many reasons it happened. I made peace a long time ago. It is real. We can all say ‘I am better than that, I am confident’. It is not true. You have to allow yourself to feel the rejection. It’s like grieving. I am someone who does it. I will move on. I will brush it aside. A long time ago, I came to peace with rejection at work.”

Earlier last year, Priyanka Chopra had opened up about taking a break from Bollywood. She also shared that she was tired of politics. Talking to Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert, Priyanka shared, “I’ve never said this so I’m going to say it because you’ll make me feel safe” and continued, “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.”

Priyanka Chopra moved to the USA in 2012 after the release of songs like In My City and Exotic. Now, more than a decade later, she has bagged multiple impressive projects such as Baywatch, The Matrix Resurrections and high-budget shows like Quantico and Citadel. She was last seen in the romantic drama Love Again alongside Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. Her next lead film is the action comedy Head of State, which also has Idris Elba and John Cena in the main roles.

In India, Priyanka Chopra celebrates the success of films produced by her production house, Purple Pebble Pictures, which she established in 2015. The production house’s documentary To Kill a Tiger, released in 2022, earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. Additionally, the Marathi film Paani received the prestigious National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation in 2019.