(CNN) — Priyanka Chopra Jonas says she left Bollywood to give Hollywood a chance because she felt “cornered in the industry”.
On Monday’s episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, Chopra Jonas said that “there were people who didn’t want to cast me” and had “issues with people” from Bollywood. He added that he had never said that before.
The ‘Matrix Resurrections’ star had a successful career as a Bollywood actress in India before coming to the United States, but admitted she was “politic-weary” at the time.
“I needed a break,” he says.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas at the SXSW festival in March in Austin, Texas. (Credit: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)
This break from performing in India came as an opportunity arose to travel to the United States and work in the music industry, ultimately leading to Chopra Jonas signing to Interscope Records as a singer in the early 2010s.
“When this music thing came up, I was like, you know what, ‘Fuck it.’ I’m going to the United States,” he explains.
After working with artists like Pitbull and Will.i.Am, Chopra Jonas said she realized she was better off being an actress. He began looking for roles in Hollywood because, back home, I “had trouble getting cast in the films I wanted.”
After a chance encounter with an ABC casting officer, Chopra auditioned Jonas for the network’s new spy series Quantico.
“I read the pilot to get a feel for the tone of the show and worked with an acting coach,” he explains.
Chopra Jonas landed the role and starred on Quantico as FBI recruit Alex Parrish for all three seasons of the show from 2015 to 2018.
“That one audition at this point in my life really shaped me,” he said Monday.
Chopra Jonas has continued a successful career in Hollywood, starring in big films like ‘Baywatch’, ‘Matrix Revivals’, upcoming romantic movie ‘Love Again’ and spy drama television series ‘Citadel,’ which opens next year on April 28.