Priyanka Chopra Jonas mimes a punch that – even though she is only wearing a fluffy dressing gown and slippers – is so convincing, I instinctively flinch. “I’m very good at stopping a hair away from making contact,” she says, laughing. Embedded in the public consciousness as an action heroine, she says that fans usually approach her in the street with the words: “‘I wouldn’t want to be in a fight with you.’ And I say, ‘Actually, you should be in a fight with me, because I’m taught to miss.’”
Chopra Jonas is currently starring as Nadia in the spy-action television series Citadel. But in the past quarter-century, since she was crowned Miss World, she has proved she can turn her hand to almost anything, appearing on screen in multiple genres, releasing several singles, writing a book and running numerous businesses. Now a global icon, with nearly 93 million Instagram followers, even she has lost count of how many films she has starred in. “Seventy five?” she guesses. Initially, her focus was on Bollywood, but in 2015, she made history as the first South Asian woman to play the lead in a primetime American network drama (as the FBI agent Alex Parrish in Quantico).
In 2018, she attracted British attention as a guest at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Then, later that year, she married the pop-rock star Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers in a spectacular three-day wedding at an Indian palace that out-glitzed even the Harry/Meghan nuptials, with four reception parties, an 18-foot cake and a 75-foot veil designed by Ralph Lauren to look impactful in aerial shots. “His idea was to have a 100-foot veil,” explains Chopra Jonas. “I said 50, and we compromised with 75. The veil was stitched on to my head and I had to look graceful while tugging [it]. I got stuck at one point and six people from the atelier had to come and unstick it… But when I walked out, it was perfect. My neck muscles were on my side.”
We meet in New York, where she is shooting an advertisement for Bvlgari, the luxury-jewellery brand she represents. Wearing a figure-hugging terracotta-coloured dress, she is prowling, catlike, across the set. Biagio Fontana, the creative director, thinks she needs to look more evil. “A sexy witch?” suggests Chopra Jonas.
“If all the witches were like this,” says Fontana. “I think that the world would be beautiful.”
Although there are about 20 people in the room, Chopra Jonas seems to be in a trance. “It’s just the camera and me,” she explains later, her voice taking on a dreamy tone. “I dance wherever it goes. I always want to understand the woman I’m portraying – even in a photo.’ Her character for Bvlgari is, she says, “no nonsense. She has no time. She’s expensive, she’s high-maintenance and she lives life by her own rules – she doesn’t care to be liked a lot. If you love me, great. If you don’t, great…”
Cotton dress, Ferragamo; jewellery, Bvlgari High Jewellery
A bit like Nadia? “Yes,” agrees Chopra Jonas. “I feel like that is the [acting] persona associated with me.” But it is not the way she sees herself. “I’m a Cancer – I cry at the drop of a hat. I love my family, I live to eat. I like talking about dinner when I’m having my lunch. I like the simpler things in life: taking a walk, getting ice-cream, reading a book. And my job is just the opposite – I look great with a weapon in my hand.”
As if to prove her point about food, she has three lunches while I am with her: first sushi and salad, then a couple of main courses delivered from a nearby Moroccan restaurant. “I eat,” she says, “but I’m not very helpful in the kitchen. It feels intimidating to me. My father wasn’t a big fan of me learning how to cook. Growing up in India, he always saw the women in his family in the kitchen while the men were eating. So he was very clear that I wouldn’t do that.”
Her progressive late father’s encouragement underpins Chopra Jonas’ success. In tribute to him, she has a tattoo inked on her right wrist: ‘Daddy’s Lil Girl.’
Both her parents were doctors in the Indian Army, so the family moved multiple times. “My dad made it a game. He was like, ‘You get to transform and be whoever you want to be at the new place.’ That was such a powerful concept to me.”
Cotton dress, Tory Burch; sandals, Polo Ralph Lauren; Jewellery, from a selection, Bvlgari High Jewellery
At 12, Chopra Jonas went to stay with relatives in Iowa and was so keen to go to high school in America that she convinced her parents to let her remain. When she moved back home aged 17, her younger brother was turfed out of his room and, desperate to win it back, he proposed to their mother that she submit photos of Priyanka to the Miss India 2000 competition. Chopra Jonas came second, then went on to be crowned Miss World. “At that time, [beauty pageants] were looked on as a platform to jump into movies,” she says.
Inundated with film offers, she quickly became one of India’s highest-paid actresses – and her brother got his room back. In 2012, her manager suggested she reinvent herself in Los Angeles as a pop star. “I was like, ‘Great. Bye, Bollywood.’ I was suddenly in the studio with the most incredible artists – Will.i.am, Pharrell, the Chainsmokers… I realised very quickly I can’t sing. I mean, I can, but I’m mediocre at it. It’s not my place to shine, let’s just put it that way. I was like, ‘Let me pivot back to my day job.’”
Satin crepe dress, Atlien; sandals, Polo Ralph Lauren; jewellery, from a selection, Bvlgari High Jewellery
In fact, her ‘hot-second’ music career proved a useful stepping stone: having already made the move to Hollywood, she quickly found representation. Cast as the lead in Quantico, she suddenly appeared on billboards everywhere. It was then that Jonas noticed her. He texted his friend Graham Rogers, Chopra Jonas’ co-star in the series, to say: “Priyanka. Is. Hot.” Rogers said he thought the two of them would get on well together. Jonas messaged her: “Several people have told me we should meet.”
“He slid into my DMs,” jokes Chopra Jonas today. Intrigued, she texted him back and they struck up a friendly rapport, but it was nearly 18 months until they met in person, briefly, at an Oscars after-party, and then another year before they started dating. In her autobiography Unfinished, Chopra Jonas admits she was reluctant to move things forward because of the age difference. “I wanted to be with someone who wanted a family. He was 25 and I was 35, so I assumed he didn’t, at least not any time soon.” Also, after a series of failed relationships, she was looking for five non-negotiable qualities in her future Mr Right. “The first was honesty, because there were times in some of my previous relationships when I’d been hurt by dishonesty. The second was that he had to appreciate the value of family. Third: he had to take his profession very seriously, because I take mine very seriously. Fourth: I wanted someone who was creative and had the imagination to dream big with me. And fifth: I wanted someone who had drive and ambition, like I did.”
Jonas, she soon realised, ticked all those boxes. “I wouldn’t have married him if he didn’t,” she says firmly. “You have to look for someone who respects you. Respect is different from love and affection… You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs until you find your prince.”
Her lunch break over, she spends the rest of the afternoon dancing with the camera. “Bella, bella,” calls out the director. “Show me a little more the curve of the body. Drop that left shoulder, raise that right one. Breathe. Beautiful.”
Silk dress, Fendi; jewellery, from a selection, Bvlgari High Jewellery
“That was a core workout,” she whispers, during a brief break. “What can I say? My job is strange.”
Does she ever feel objectified? “I don’t overthink it,” she says. “I know the nature of the beast… My job is literally to be seen through a lens. I made my peace with that long ago.”
We speak again a few weeks later, when she is back home in LA with Jonas and their two-year-old daughter Malti Marie. It is early her time and she is sitting on her balcony, overlooking her swimming pool, the San Fernando valley and the mountains beyond. She is wearing velvet pyjamas with a tank top and Jonas’ jacket. “The California morning can have a little chill,” she says, sipping an espresso.
“My husband just took our daughter downstairs for breakfast. I love sitting here because the sun hits the back of my head and it’s just nature as far as the eye can see. An eagle comes and perches right on this tall tree, and I sit in admiration of it.” (There is a bitter irony to our conversation, given that just weeks later, the LA fires are to destroy much of this beautiful landscape).
Muslin top, matching skirt, cotton bra, Alberta Ferretti; jewellery, Bvlgari High Jewellery
It is the first opportunity she has had to relax at home in almost a year. “I left in February and I came back in December. I’m a nomad, but I do crave roots, which is why I love this house. I love being able to walk my dogs and hike and go to my neighbourhood stores.” She has spent the past 12 months shooting three projects: one in France (Heads of State, an action-comedy with Idris Elba); another in Australia (The Bluff, a thriller in which she plays an ex-pirate); and a third in London (the second season of Citadel). “It’s a tough season for Nadia – she goes through a lot.”
As well as acting, Chopra Jonas has a foundation for underprivileged Indian children, and runs her own production company, Purple Pebble Pictures, which made the Oscar-nominated film The White Tiger.
Known for her sharp business mind, she has invested in multiple companies, notably the dating app Bumble. “We took it to India, which was cool because my brother met his fiancée on the app. For once, he was grateful for something I did! They’re so cute. I love love.” She repeats it more emphatically: “I love love, it’s awesome.” Not that she has ever used a dating site herself. “I missed out on that one. I was like, ‘I need to meet a real person, organically.’ Maybe I’m old-fashioned that way.”
Silk dress, Fendi; jewellery, Bvlgari High Jewellery
Despite her wealth and success, she finds it hard to turn down roles. “My job is uncertain. It’s not a cheque coming in every month, so it creates an anxiety,” she says. “I’m a greedy actor. I love my job very much.”
As well as representing Bvlgari, she is the global ambassador for Max Factor. “Max Factor himself was the make-up artist to the stars,” she says. “He worked on the faces of Marilyn Monroe and the most iconic actresses. It’s like being part of a Hollywood legacy.”
She has become friends with her fellow Bvlgari ambassadors. “Annie [Hathaway] and Zendaya are great. Whenever we meet at the Bvlgari dinners, it’s always a hoot.”
What would her younger self have thought if she could see herself today? “She wouldn’t have been surprised,” she says. In print, this may sound arrogant, but she says it with such charm that it just comes across as honest. “I never had small ambitions.”
The second season of Citadel is coming soon on Prime Video. The March issue of Harper’s Bazaar is available to buy from 6 February.
