While this interview is far from the explosive content Oprah Winfrey unearthed when she spoke to Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex earlier this month, the talk show host’s chat with Priyanka Chopra Jonas on her new show ‘Super Soul’ has revealed some interesting nuggets as well.
The new discovery+ series has Winfrey and Chopra Jonas in a sit down, while thousands of miles apart with the media mogul stationed in Maui, while the latter checks in from London. Yet, the miles don’t thwart Winfrey’s attempt to get Chopra Jonas to spill the tea on finding love with Nick Jonas, her Miss World win, finding success in Bollywood and taking the time to pen her memoir, ‘Unfinished’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have to say a little bit of it had to do with that, but I had committed to writing the book in 2018, and in between all those flights and the little time I would get in all the hotel rooms that I would live I could just never write. But I had this time because of COVID and that helped me really delve deep,” the ‘Quantico’ actress revealed when questioned about her memoir, which is already a New York Times best-seller.
The actress went on to add: “And honestly, I also feel like I, as a woman in a little bit more of a secure place, where I felt like I could leave behind the insecurities of my twenties and not worry about the things that used to scare me before, as much. I have a little but more confidence in myself, in what I bring to the table professionally, personally. So, I think that really helped me address my life and I just always wanted to write a book. And I thought the easiest way to do it would be to write about my life.”
Chopra Jonas also told Winfrey about her fairytale whirlwind affair with Nick Jonas that culminated into a marriage.
“I may have judged the book by its cover. I honestly didn’t take it very seriously when Nick was texting me. I was 35 and I want to get married and I want to have kids. He is in his 20s... I don’t know if that’s something he would want to do. I did that to myself for a while till I actually went out with him. Nothing surprised me more than you know him. He’s such a self-assured man, so sensible, so excited about my achievements, my dreams... you know. Such a true partnership he offers me everything that we do together, that I truly believe that my mom manifested him,” she said.
The actress, 38, also spoke of life changing overnight for her after her Miss World win in 2000.
“I was thrown into the deep, and so badly. I didn’t come from a pageant family. I didn’t come from desiring that. I never thought I could be part of it. At 17, when you’re thrown into this crazy world of pageants internationally and movies, I was just trying to keep my head above water at that point,” Chopra Jonas said.
And like many pageant winners before her, the actress went on to take a plunge in Bollywood with the film, ‘Hero: Love Story of a Spy’, followed by ‘Andaz’ the same year. However, life wasn’t all sunshine and roses for her in the film industry as Winfrey learned.
“I was told to have an opinion in a room that disagreed with me. I was always encouraged to have a voice,” she said, speaking about her upbringing. However, she couldn’t call out a director who mistreated her and she still regrets it. “I was so scared. I was new in the entertainment business and girls are always told that ‘you don’t want to get a reputation of being hard to work with.’ So I worked within the system,” she said. Chopra Jonas eventually quit the movie.
