‘Quantico’ Star Priyanka Chopra Is Ready To Take On James Bond

Priyanka Chopra is making a name for herself as a strong, independent woman in both her on screen roles and in her business dealings behind the scenes and that type of aggressive business acumen is earning her a growing following, particularly from women who look to Priyanka as a role model. Chopra first gained attention in her role as Alex Parrish in ABC’s Quantico, before stepping it up in a new Baywatch role, a role which was originally written for a male actor. Now, Priyanka has her sights set on the next James Bond film, but not as a hapless Bond girl.

Bond Wars: Priyanka Chopra Gives Gillian Anderson Some Stiff Competition

Ms. Chopra took on the role in Baywatch partly because she had always been a fan of the David Hasselhoff series, but also because she was intrigued by the idea of playing a female villain. Originally intended to be a male villain, the part was offered to Ms. Chopra and, taking on the role, she commands respect and fear as vile villain, proving that she can step into any role and make it her own.

Chopra says that she has often been told that she would make a stunning Bond girl, but Priyanka isn’t interested in such lesser roles. The Quantico actress is shockingly blunt, as she responds to remarks that she should play one of those famous James Bond love interests.

“I get that all the time,” Priyanka says. “But f— that—I wanna be Bond.”

Recently, Gillian Anderson has expressed interest in starring as the first female James Bond, but it certainly sounds like Anderson has some genuine competition in Priyanka Chopra. The Baywatch actress seems just as determined as Gillian to break barriers and blur the gender line in future James Bond films.

Quantico Actress Priyanka Chopra Found Her Strength From Dealing With A “Supremely Racist” Bully

Priyanka talked previously about having been bullied as a schoolgirl and she recently gave more details about the incident. Ms. Chopra revealed that she picked on by a black classmate, who disliked her for her race and her Indian heritage, and she says, although she really didn’t understand that hate, it did affect her. Priyanka says the bullying and racist remarks really hurt her as a young girl.

“I was bullied by a freshman named Jeanine,” Chopra revealed, speaking about her high school experience in Newton, Mass. “She was black, and supremely racist. Jeanine used to say, ‘Brownie, go back to your country, you smell of curry,’ or ‘Do you smell curry coming?'”

Ms. Chopra was so bothered by the harsh words of her classmate that she ended up returning home to India, where she hoped to blend in a little better with classmates who shared her own background. Unknown to her at the time, Priyanka says her mother had entered her in a beauty pageant with the hopes that the experience would help her to build self-confidence and strength. The ploy worked and Priyanka won, leading to her career as an actress.

Moving forward, Chopra soon learned that racism was to be found in every profession from student to actress and in every country from America to India.

“There are so many Indian actors who have crossed over, and have done a lot of work in the West, but they’ve always been made to speak like Apu,” Ms. Chopra says, revealing more than a little anger by the Indian stereotyping. “I want to be able to break the stereotype of what Indian people or people of South Asian descent are supposed to be. Nobody’s supposed to be anything. You can be whoever you want. And I want young people to see that.”

Baywatch, starring Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron, and Priyanka Chopra, is scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 19, 2017.

[Image by David Becker/Getty Images]