Priyanka Chopra told she 'could leave' film set over equal pay request
Priyanka Chopra (Credit: REUTERS/Lilian Wagdy)
Priyanka Chopra has said that she was told that she would be welcome to leave a movie set by a producer, after requesting equal pay to a male co-star.
The Indian actor said that she was told that there were 'so many other girls' who would be willing to take her place.
Appearing on the Skimm’d from The Couch podcast, she said: “They said to take the paycheque which was nominal compared... There’s so many other girls who will take this opportunity. And, you know, women in movies are interchangeable.
Read more: Priyanka Chopra hails White Tiger figures
“I didn’t do anything about it. I had to work within the system because that’s what we’re told, that, 'You know, if you want this job … this is the only way'.”
She went on: “It took almost 15 years for me to get to that place where, you know, I could stand my ground. It took hearing the conversations from other women banding together to give me the confidence to stand up for myself.”
Chopra made her Bollywood debut in 2003, appearing in dozens of Indian movies, before going on to appear in Hollywood movies like the Baywatch reboot with Dwayne Johnson, and ABC series Quantico.
She married US singer Nick Jonas in 2018.
Chopra also said in a recently unveiled excerpt from her upcoming memoir Unfinished that she was told by another movie producer that she should have plastic surgery on her breasts and face in order to break into the US market.
Read more: Chopra says UK lockdown has been good for her marriage
“After a few minutes of small talk, the director/producer told me to stand up and twirl for him,” she writes. “I did. He stared at me long and hard, assessing me, and then suggested that I get a boob job, fix my jaw, and add a little more cushioning to my butt. If I wanted to be an actress, he said, I’d need to have my proportions ‘fixed,’ and he knew a great doctor in [Los Angeles] he could send me to. My then-manager voiced his agreement with the assessment.”
Watch: Priyanka Chopra on new memoir
