BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Indian film star Priyanka Chopra says she was eager to add a U.S. TV series to her resume.
“It’s like the golden age of television right now, and I wanted to be part of that … revolution,” Chopra said of her role as a FBI recruit in ABC’s new drama “Quantico.” It debuts Sept. 27.
Chopra said at a TV critics’ meeting Aug. 4 that she is glad to bring further diversity to ABC, which includes characters of various ethnicities in “Fresh Off the Boat,” ”black-ish” and other series.
Since coming to America as a student, “I never saw anybody who looked like me on TV, and this was an opportunity for me to change that,” she said.
She told the network that she didn’t want to be cast for what the color of her skin was, what she looks like or where she’s from, Chopra said . The goal was a worthy project that “gave me the respect of being an actor.”
She plays Alex Parrish, an Indian-American whose fledgling FBI career and freedom are in jeopardy after a New York terrorist attack. It’s a juicy role in a “smart show’ that any actress would covet, she said.
Parrish is “Jason Bourne in female form,” Chopra said.
Despite her new job, she has no intention of abandoning her film career back home.
“I love doing my Indian films, and it’s amazing that I can balance both,” Chopra said, labeling herself an effective multitasker. After this season wraps, she’ll jump back into a film.
