Priyanka Chopra reveals what made her look for work in Hollywood: ‘Was dealing with a lot in India, was trying to survive’

Although Priyanka Chopra is today celebrated as an international icon with recognition spanning India and the West, her early years in Hollywood were marked by uncertainty and struggle rather than glamour. Addressing audiences at the Harvard India Conference, she reflected candidly on the professional setbacks and emotional hurdles she encountered while attempting to establish herself in the American entertainment industry.

During the discussion, Chopra revealed that her move toward Hollywood was not merely driven by ambition but also by necessity. At that stage in her career, opportunities in India were not unfolding as she had hoped, leaving her feeling professionally unsettled. She explained that she was navigating a difficult period and was focused primarily on sustaining her career. The desire to see her face featured on another magazine cover became a symbolic motivator, something tangible that pushed her to rise each morning despite exhaustion and disappointment. She described accepting relatively minor roles and even sharing limited promotional space, such as cramped trailer arrangements involving multiple actors, because she believed these compromises were stepping stones toward a larger objective.

Chopra also recounted a particularly humbling experience from a Hollywood film set. She shared that she once remained on standby for nearly fifteen hours, anticipating the filming of her scene, only to have the shoot postponed without her portion being completed that day. Such an incident, she admitted, was unfamiliar to her given her previous experiences in the Indian film industry. Yet rather than viewing it as a slight, she chose to interpret it as part of a long-term investment in her future. She maintained that her focus extended beyond immediate discomfort; she was committed to building a lasting legacy rather than chasing short-lived validation.


Looking back, Chopra expressed deep appreciation for her younger self’s resilience. She remembered enduring a severe emotional breakdown, only to compose herself quickly and proceed with a scheduled interview shortly afterward. She credited her perseverance—the ability to set aside tears, regain composure, and present strength in public—as the foundation for her current understanding of achievement. According to Chopra, that inner determination ultimately reshaped how she defines success today, transforming hardship into the bedrock of her enduring global career.