Priyanka Chopra opened up about a “dehumanizing” encounter on set.
The actress recalled a moment when she was just stepping into the world of acting that she said was both equal parts heartbreaking and distressing.
“I’m undercover, I’m seducing the guy—obviously that’s what girls do when they’re undercover,” she said of her role during a May 23 interview with The Zoe Report. “But I’m seducing the guy and you have to take off one piece of clothing [at a time]. I wanted to layer up. The filmmaker was like, ‘No, I need to see her underwear. Otherwise why is anybody coming to watch this movie?'”
The 40-year-old noted that the director hadn’t issued his command to her directly, but to the stylist in front of her. “It was such a dehumanizing moment.”
Priyanka added, “It was a feeling of, ‘I’m nothing else outside of how I can be used, my art is not important, what I contribute is not important.'”
Though the experience left her questioning her worth beyond her physicality, she continued to work on the project for two more days. Eventually she chose to exit, saying she opted to repay the entire amount spent on filming rather than continuing to endure what she said was an unsettling environment. Referring to a director who she wouldn’t name, she admitted, “I just couldn’t look at him every day.”
