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Baywatch Star Priyanka Chopra Alleges Pay Gap, Racism in Hollywood

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, who has carved a niche for herself in Hollywood with series like "Quantico" and the film "Baywatch," revealed to an online magazine that she was recently passed over for a role because of her skin color. She has also flagged the pay gap and lack of meaningful roles for women in mainstream cinema.
Sputnik

New Delhi (Sputnik): Gender parity in work with equal pay has been a contentious issue and this time it has been flagged by Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra. The actor, who is also a star in Hollywood, talked to InStyle fashion portal in Dublin and revealed that she has had experiences of being paid way less than the male protagonist. 

"I feel it everywhere, especially when you're doing movies with really big actors; whether it's in India or America. If an actor is getting 100 bucks, the conversation will start with max, like, 8 bucks. The gap is that staggering. In America, we don't talk about it as brashly, whereas in India the issue is not skirted around. I've been told straight up if it's a female role in a movie with big, male actors attached, your worth is not really considered as much," she said.

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Chopra, who is also a former Miss World crown holder, has starred in more than 50 popular Hindi movies, as well as a couple of Hollywood series including the blockbuster "Baywatch." She talked to InStyle extensively on the comparison of female leads with male peers in the film industry. However, she also created a stir by alleging that she was denied a role in Hollywood because of her skin color.

"It happens in both countries, it's just that here, it's hidden behind other things. In America, everyone is so worried about being liable that they don't want to say anything wrong, but they end up doing it anyway … I was out for a movie, and somebody [from the studio] called one of my agents and said, 'She's the wrong — what word did they use?— physicality.' So in my defense as an actor, I'm like, 'Do I need to be skinnier? Do I need to get in shape? Do I need to have abs?' Like, what does 'wrong physicality' mean?" Chopra pauses.

"And then my agent broke it down for me. Like, 'I think, Pray, they meant that they wanted someone who's not brown.' It affected me," Chopra told the fashion magazine.

She also acknowledged that the competition among women is harsher.

"We've been taught for eons that women need to fight each other, clamber and climb on top of each other to get that one job. And, now we're seeing through it," Chopra told the fashion magazine.

Priyanka Chopra was in Dublin for the shoot of the third season of the ABC series "Quantico."

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