“They meant that they wanted someone who’s not brown.”
If you didn’t already know, which I’m sure you did, Priyanka Chopra is a talented actress and red carpet killer.
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But although she has the credentials of a great actress, Priyanka is opening up about losing a role purely based on the colour of her skin.
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Speaking to InStyle, Priyanka, an Indian actress, said that the incident happened last year when somebody from a studio called her agent and said that her “physicality” wasn’t right for the role.
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“I’m like, ‘Do I need to be skinnier? Do I need to get in shape? Do I need to have abs?'”
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Instead of stepping around the issue, Priyanka’s agent put it straight for her: “I think, Priy, they meant that they wanted someone who’s not brown.”
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Speaking about how she felt following the incident, Priyanka said: “It affected me.”
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She added that women are taught “don’t ruffle feathers – you won’t get the next job” and “it’s that conditioning we need to break.”
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“There are not enough meaty, strong lead roles for women where we don’t have to compromise on every level just to get the best job.”
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Talking about the core problem, Priyanka said that people don’t watch females in movies. “They don’t believe that they can be heroes. The world has to change the way they look at their heroes.”
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