Priyanka Chopra is "very conscious" about picking movie roles that "break stereotypes".
The ‘Baywatch’ star wants to improve how the industry treats women of all races and uses her own roles to break down stereotypes created by the film industry.
She said: "I felt like this was my first English language film – I’m an Indian girl, would I be able to translate that? Is the world ready for a girl who looks like this to be a mainstream villain in a mainstream global movie?
"I used to get a little worried about that, but I’ve seen so much love and acceptance from at least both parts that I’ve played [‘Baywatch’ and ‘Quantico’] and they’ve both been very mainstream, so it’s been a very conscious decision on my end to play parts which break stereotypes of what someone like me should play.
"I really do think that people are put in boxes and we’ve created so many divisions between us of what someone should be and what someone looks like and what they should be doing that we completely forget that art transcends borders, art transcends language."
And the 34-year-old actress liked playing the villainous Victoria Leeds in ‘Baywatch’.
Speaking to BUILD in London, she added: "I tried to keep her ethnically ambiguous because I thought it would be cool for her to just be a woman of the world who’s playing ball in a man’s world – and she’s ambitious. There’s a little bit of a back story where she says in a scene, ‘My brother was given the family business because he’s a boy even though I have the business acumen,’ and that resonates with so many people around the world.
"Being a villain in a comedy is actually really difficult because it could be over the top!The budgets of American movies are pretty much triple the movies that I’ve ever done, but the demographics that Indian movies enjoy are global and it’s so wonderful to see that sort of transition of audiences happening, where people of Indian audiences or people who enjoy Indian movies are now maybe seeing me in my American work."
Priyanka Chopra’s conscious movie choices
