Priyanka Chopra Jonas Talks Career Aspirations, Motherhood And New ‘Citadel’ Series

From Bollywood fame to rising Hollywood stardom, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has already built a career for herself that most could only dream of achieving. And just like her character Nadia in the new espionage series Citadel, Priyanka continues to set out on a mission that she has made possible.

Coming from hit films out of India including Don, Krrish and Aitraaz, she told me, “I really enjoyed an incredible career in Bollywood movies, where I worked with the best filmmakers in the business – the best actors. I created a variety of characters in various genres. I haven’t done that yet in America, I think. I’ve done specific kinds of roles but I want to diversify my filmography in America, in English language entertainment. I want to be able to work in other languages, as well.”

The internationally-known film and television star added that she wants to be able to do dramas and comedies that will allow her to challenge herself. “As an actor, that’s what you look for – you’re constantly trying to evolve, constantly trying to find the next thing that makes you nervous.”

In Citadel, which is now streaming on Prime Video, Priyanka plays a top-skilled agent for a global spy agency. So, what was it about this script and Nadia that intrigued her to make this her latest project?

“Well, if you think about the spy universe or spy shows and movies, they’re dominated by men,” Priyanka said. “Women are usually damsels, or if they’re not, they have a few scenes but the weight of the world is usually on the guy. I loved that it was on Nadia this time.”

Priyanka is no stranger to action stunts and fight choreography. Most recently, she spent three seasons as the main character Alex Parrish on the FBI television series Quantico. Now within her performance and preparation for Citadel, Priyanka wants audiences to understand there is a lot of work to effectively create these high-intensity on-screen moments.

“People don’t realize how hard it is to sell a fight scene without actually making contact,” Priyanka said. “It takes immense amount of technical training and precision to be able to stop my fist while it looks like it’s going 60 miles per hour, right before I take out your nose. And that can happen. People get hurt. You have to be very skilled and train enough to be able to make it look real.”

Now with an extensive list of acting projects that only continues to grow, including her next cinematic starring role alongside Sam Heughan and Celine Dion in Love Again in theaters May 5, I wondered if Priyanka has noticed her mindset and her approach with business evolving as her career heads onward.

“I definitely have. I think the more experience I have, the more understand the technical side of the business. I think that helps me understand why as an actor I’m asked to do the things that I’m asked to do. Experience lends to a greater understanding of the whole process.”

When I asked Priyanka what joys she is getting out of her career right now that perhaps she did not feel she had 10 to 15 years ago, she says she has a sense of stability today that she did not have a decade ago, adding that she has been able to build a certain credibility that you don’t have when you first start out in the industry.

Thinking back on her early acting career, Priyanka said, “I was like a young horse, just trying to run, greedy – I wanted everything. I wanted to win at everything, competitive with everyone. I’ve calmed a lot more. I’m a lot more content. I feel stable in my choices. I feel like I make informed decisions.”

Over the past year, Priyanka’s world has undoubtedly seen some major changes with the birth of her daughter Malti Marie in January 2022, alongside her music superstar husband Nick Jonas. Now being a mother and coming from a hard-fought career that has been her focus over the past two decades, I wondered how her outlook on life is different today.

“I do think parenthood, just at least the first time around – I’ve only done this once – your priorities just suddenly change,” Priyanka said. “It’s so different when you don’t have someone that you’re completely and wholly responsible for. Your life, what meaning it has before that and what meaning it has after that. Everything is about that person, or at least for me.”

She added, “With my journey, my daughter had a really tough time when she was in the NICU for about 100+ days. I was and am still a very terrified mom. I’m just very grateful that she’s alive and she’s happy and she’s joyous and she’s healthy. That’s all my whole day is about.”

Priyanka credits her husband Nick, his parents and her own mother for creating a sense of family and support for Malti, saying the entire dynamic has changed how she sees her life. “It’s one little human being that’s changed me, and it’s insane. The greatest gift ever.”

Circling back to Citadel and living in a video streaming world that feels like we have endless options right at our fingertips, I asked Priyanka why she believes people should give her new series a chance, a project that is executive produced by Avengers: Endgame and Extraction filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo.

“There’s nothing like this on TV ever. It’s a movie! You see this in theatrical major event movies, and we’re seeing that in a six-part series at home on your couch. I love everything that the Russo brothers do, and I think that them infusing and bringing these incredible technical teams that they’ve worked with on all their other jobs and creating something as ambitious as Citadel on a streamer like Prime Video, which travels all around the world in almost 200 territories.”

Following the many experiences and various titles she has added to her life and career over the years, I concluded my conversation with Priyanka by asking her what comforting words or warning would she give to her former self, the Priyanka who was just striving to get noticed in Bollywood.

“I would’ve told her ‘Sure, you’ll have successes but it’s what you do after failure that’ll define where you go and how far you’ll go.’ When I was younger, failure scared the crap out of me. As you get older, you kind of realize it’s a part of life: loss, death, failure, grief – these things happen and your character is defined by the choices you make after that.”