Priyanka Chopra is breaking down barriers in Hollywood. The Quantico star was the very first South Asian actress to win a People's Choice Awards and to play the lead role in a TV series, but it appears the industry has yet to appropriately recognize her accomplishments.
Chopra made an appearance at this year's Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, where she opened up to Variety about how she was denied a role due to her race. "I was asked to not be a part of a movie because I was too ethnic," Chopra blatantly told the festival crowd referencing a call she got from her agent two years ago. The star's agent, who also found it difficult to explain the situation to her, added their reasoning behind it was, “You know, we’ll have to explain how an Indian girl is this character in the mainstream. We’ll have to explain where her parents came from and what was she doing in America.”It's mind-blowing that actors are still going through problems like this, but that's not even the worst part. Even her role on Quantico was reportedly written for a white actress at first, but Chopra eventually made the character her own.
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No matter what, Chopra has never backed down and continues to stand up for the necessary change needed in Hollywood. Hawaii Five-0 lead actors Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim, who play Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly, went through race issues of their own. The duo left the show because they didn't receive equal pay as their white co-stars. Here's to hoping Hollywood finally wakes up and recognizes how important inclusivity really is.
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