Happy Sad Confused - Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

She's an actor and a global icon and now an author! Priyanka Chopra Jonas joins Josh on "Happy Sad Confused" to talk about her latest film, "The White Tiger", and her open and honest memoir, "Unfinished". For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! And listen to THE WAKEUP podcast here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Priyanka Chopra Jonas on her new memoir and her evolving film career. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Harrow. It's welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Another newbie to the podcast this week. We seem to go in runs. I feel like sometimes like it's all the old friends. returning for another round, and I love that, but I also equally love meeting new people, getting to know new people. And that kind of fits Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who I think I've met

just one or two times before, but certainly never a lengthy chat like this. So this was a nice opportunity. Priyanka is, of course, a celebrated actor, a global superstar. And, you know, Some people you can kind of like skirt that and be like, yeah, they're big around the world. No, no, Priyanka's the real deal. Priyanka, before she ever came to, you know, Western cinema and American television was already a ginormous deal back home. She has had a remarkable life, and she is now detailing it in her memoir called Unfinished. I had a chance to read this. It is a great piece of work, and it is truly a fascinating tale, a unlikely story.

story of a woman who had no aspirations to be an actor or be in the entertainment business who found herself with this amazing opportunity after she had won the Miss World competition. And I guess this was somewhat of the usual process where like a Miss World then gets these acting opportunities, especially back home in India. And she certainly made the most of it. She became a huge star in India, in dozens of films of varied pieces of work, and then, of course, started to make the transition here. First tried out music, and then, you know, that didn't really take, but then came back in relatively recent times with Quantico, which was a groundbreaking show for ABC, and is now really mixing it up in an interesting and varied work, whether it's, you know, she kind of made her big. Hollywood debut in Baywatch, and then she was in, is in it romantic? She's in the new film The White Tiger, which is a great piece of work from Rami and Barani on Netflix right now. It's been seen a gazillion times around the world. And she's going to soon be in a film with our buddy Sam Hewin. She just shot that. Of course, we talk about that. Of course. I'm contractually obligated to bring up Sam Hewain if he has any tangential relation to that.

the guest. So I did my duty guys. And she also has just shot a role in the new Matrix movie. So you know, had to do a little bit of digging on that front. So this was a fun chat. She is hugely charismatic, well-spoken, smart, funny, self-deprecating, all the good things you want in a guest and, of course, talented to boot. So this was a nice opportunity. And I'm thrilled she came on the podcast. Priyanka, Chopra, Jonas. Other things to mention, of course, I have to mention Stir Crazy, my Comedy Central series. I always want you guys to check out the lighter side of Josh. Not that these conversations are so dark, but this is the even sillier side of me.

A new episode this week on Comedy Central's Facebook and YouTube pages with the great Noah Centineo, the dreamy heartthrob that is Noah Centineo. You know him from the Netflix series of films to all the boys I've led before. he was game he was funny he was silly again all the things you want in a stir crazy guest i hope you guys enjoy that one as i lose my voice uh check it out also let's look at the movie release schedule oh a couple good movies coming out this friday uh nomad land i feel like i've been talking about nomad land for like six months um you know those of us kind of in the entertainment um you know talk show and and film coverage beat uh i feel like we get into this bubble

We're like, that movie hasn't come out yet. Nomadland is one of those movies that's been screened a lot in these kind of virtual festivals for months. Finally, it is being released. It is from Chloe Zhao, who directed the writer, another exceptional piece of work you should check out. This one stars Francis McDormand. It is a lyrical, beautiful piece of work and really shows off what Chloe Zhao can do behind the camera. And I'm fascinated to see what she does next, which is a big old market. movie. Yeah, she's directing The Eternals. So that's an interesting pathway for a young

filmmaker. The Martanian is out this week with Jodi Foster, Tahar Rahim, who's getting some awards attention and justifiably so, and Jody Foster, who is also in the mix. That is a great kind of docu-drama about the injustices at Guantanamo Bay and directed by Kevin McDonald, who knows that space well, did the Last King of Scotland and other films of that type. So that is very well executed. I don't know if you guys can hear, but my dog is at my door. I'm hiding in my bedroom right now, and it's not a monster on the other side of the door. It's just a really cute and anxious and excited pit bull mix.

So I should go check out how she's doing, how Lucy's doing. And you should check out this conversation with Priyanka, Chopra Jonas. Again, the new movie is The White Tiger on Netflix, and the new memoir is unfinished. Check it out and enjoy this chat. I'm thrilled that Priyanka Chopra Jonas is joining me on Happy Say I Confused at Long Glass. Hi, Priyanka. Hi. How are you, Josh? I'm doing all right. I don't know what the weather. You're in London, I take it, right?

I am in London at the moment. So I don't know if you can see on my video. I'm like in the middle of like the biggest snowstorm in five years in New York. Oh my gosh, wow. This is weather. So pretty. This is what I signed up. I mean, did you grow up with the, I'm just, I'm so, I'm so ignorant of weather, weather patterns around the world. Back home, was snow a part of your life?

You know, so just like America, different parts of the country are, you know, different temperatures. So we used to, in India, during summer vacations, go up north and, you know, going to, you know, going into the snow in Kashmir and stuff like that, which was beautiful. But predominantly my not really, I moved to the US when I was 12 years old, actually, and I moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And that's when I, my first real winter of living in the snow and not just making snow, snowballs when you're, you know, vacationing the first time shoveling snow off of a car and the realities of that it's not pretty when you live in it. It's not that glamorous. Yeah, the first hour.

Oh my God, this is amazing. The 10th hour. It's crazy behind you though right now. It's intense. It's like one or two inches an hour. So yeah, wish me a lot. I just got a dog too. So she just experienced her first intense snowfall and she was not a big fan, I don't think,

although she did her business. So I give her credit for that. Oh, that's good. My dog, Diana, she will not step out if it's raining. Like she will not step out. She doesn't about turn and comes back. comes back. Oh, what an L.A. dog.

What a prima donna. Yeah, she actually is a New Yorker. Oh, really? She lived the first three years of her life in New York. And when it would rain, like, she would hate going out. I had to get like a little, you know, patch of grass upstairs in our apartment so that she would go. Amazing, amazing. So thank you for escaping for a few minutes.

I know you're, you're actually, I'm not surprised, given what I know about you and given reading your book unfinished, that you've, even in this year, this last year, where a lot of us have kind of like had to necessarily stop, I feel like this is like your third different project you've shot last year, at least, right? Yes, it is my third project this year. But you know, I have to say, it's like, you know, everyone is at home and everyone is watching entertainment, right? And we're like, okay, I finish watching the show and what's the next thing? Or I finish watching a movie, what's the next thing? That's what we do. So we're working so much is because people are watching so much.

No, this is fair. I mean, yeah, selfishly, I was like when this all started, I mean, the very bottom of the list of concerns, but one of the bottom concerns was like, wait, what happens when all the TV shows and entertainment runs out? What am I going to do with my life? Exactly. Thankfully, we found a way to make it work, even in these insane circumstances. Congratulations on both the White Tiger, which is excellent. I checked that out recently. it's on Netflix and unfinished you're I think you're the second memoir I've read in

quarantine it's you and Matthew McConaughey it's basically the same book same story really well that's funny just change the cover the same story well I'm I'm I didn't know that Matthew was Miss World or Beauty Queen but now I know I get it I mean everything makes sense yeah exactly talk to me a little bit about what the prize you take in seeing, you know, your name on a book compared to, like, you've seen your name in lights on billboards, et cetera. There's got to be a different source of pride, anxiety, excitement about exposing yourself in this way. Completely. It's such a bizarre thing when I first got the manuscript and it said,

my name, you know, I was like, okay, whatever, it's on a manuscript. But when it came to me in physical form, and it just felt so permanent. And I just wanted to read the book all over again. And even though it had been printed to see if I made any mistakes because it's going to live forever. Like, I have books, which are hundreds of years old, you know, they exist. And it's just, it's such a permanence to it, especially I've been an avid reader all my life. So, you know, there's a new honor to, you know, being sort of included or inducted in a club, which is very, I feel, elite because very few people can actually write a book.

So I'm very privileged and honored for the opportunity. that somebody wanted to publish my life story. But it was also very cathartic, you know, and healing. I didn't kind of expect that. I've always been sort of interested in doing things for the first time. You know, that really excites me to be like, on the first one, like, I'm doing it for the first time. I need to feel a sense of nervousness or excitement

or I need to feel challenged to sort of thrive. And this book gave me all of that. Did you know what it was going to be at the start? Did you kind of chart out in a kind of an analytical manner how this was going to be told and what stories you wanted to hit and what parts of your life or was it a little bit more free-flowing? Give me a sense of what the process was like. I think it was a marriage of both. In the beginning, I was like, oh, yeah, what's the – I always wanted to write a book.

I was scared of sort of a structural form of writing, you know, like a novel or a screenplay. or I've written op-eds and I've written prose and, you know, so it was sort of like free-flowing ideas. So when I decided to write a book, which I've always wanted to, but been afraid of, I was like, yeah, you know, the easiest thing to write would be my life story because I've lived it and I know it. Not at all. Memorys are a weird thing. You don't remember a lot. You may think you've experienced your whole life, but you don't remember so much of it. So, Then I had to like pivot to being a little bit more analytical and I mapped out the milestones

that I remembered, you know, like my first school and what was the next school. My childhood was very much about like my schools because I moved around so much. And that sort of helped me color in, you know, the places that I was in, et cetera. And then after that it was my career. Did you find that, yeah, I know what you mean. Like I've never kept a diary. My memory is kind I know, like, the movies I grew up with better than my own life. Yeah, it's kind of weird, isn't it? So did you have to go to friends and family? Yeah, I did.

I did. I had to corroborate the stories that I remembered with everyone in it. Because I was like, it's called my cousins. And we'd like, did this happen? Which was this? Was that my favorite teacher or was that one? You know, it was so funny to, like, do that. But I recommend this as an exercise to people, you know, just in general to just, like,

as a project, especially right now when I know a lot of people are, home, just like, write, you know, milestones of your lives. And it's healing. You come across doors which you never thought needed to be reopened. You deal with things that you didn't know you needed a perspective on. And for me, it was surprisingly healing. Well, yeah, you say healing. It did strike me in reading it. Like, there's like a half dozen times in the book where you just come out and say, like, I apologize for this. It feels like you're like making amends. Like, I don't know if that was something like you, at the start, you're like, you know what, I want to clear the air on this moment in my life or as you were going through it, like, this is a good opportunity to set the

record straight and be open and say that, yes, in retrospect, this was something I could have done better. Well, the way I see it was, you know, I'm not an elected official. I'm just a girl trying to navigate a career, which I didn't inherit. You know, I was learning as I went along. And that's how I treated the book as well. I experienced everything that I was experienced. in real time as I was writing the book and I had an opinion on it and I think I start the book by saying that I felt like at this time in my life as a woman as a professional as a person I just have reached a place that is giving me the ability to sort of take stock of my life you know I'm secure enough in myself I'm content and I'm not like the insecurities of my 20s are

not chasing me anymore, you know? So I feel like while I was looking at my life, I kind of had the ability to have a perspective on it as well. I've never been someone who, you know, clarifies because I'm not, like I said, you know, I'm just a girl trying to navigate a job. I don't owe any explanations to anyone because like, again, I'm not voted in here, you know. I chose a public profession and most of my life end up becoming dinner. conversation and that's just the deal you make with the devil you know well yeah except that you didn't make that deal you kind of fell into that deal right but then I did choose it I wasn't true yes you could have gotten out I suppose yes so tough parts to relive for you here I mean

obviously you talk a lot about your parents you you lost your dad he's front and center there are a lot of beautiful memories about your both your parents and this I would expect going through the loss of, I mean, I lost my dad in the last year. And, you know, that's, that's a, sorry. Thank you. Thank you. And I can only imagine reliving that has to be a difficult aspect of this. I didn't think it would be actually, you know, when you go through it, I feel like you've made peace with it. That's how you've been able to move on, right? Because the way I articulated my process in that chapter, which I called grief. It's one of my favorite chapters.

I didn't know I had done. I had to think about it. I had to ask myself, like, how did I get over this? And then I came to the conclusion that I didn't, and that I accepted the fact that I never would. And like, this was not happening to me in real time. This was, again, in retrospect, while writing the book, I was like, oh, I chose me.

Like, I could see what that girl. was doing to survive the pain and hence being able to write about it because I wrote about it from an objective place. But it was hard. Every time I read the book, there's lots of chapters in it, which are like hard to write, but when you come out on the other side, you know, you kind of like pat yourself on the back and you're like, you know what? You got through that. And you're on the other side and you did okay. I think being easy on ourselves is so important because everyone in the world is going to be hard on you. Right. You might as well be a little kinder. I always love to see sort of like how we're the sum of our parents, right? Like we take different traits and I was amused

to see sort of the different sides of your parents that have emerged in you. I take it so your mom maybe was, was she more into pop culture, more into TV and film than your dad? Give me a little bit of my parents were. Were they? Okay. My mom was more into Western pop culture. My dad was more into Indian pop culture. And that was a difference. But we used to wake up every morning.

If I knew there was a Hindi song playing, I knew whose day it was at home. Who was in charge that day? Got it. If there was an English, it was Elvis, and I was like, it's mom's day. Got it. Where did your mom's appreciation of Western culture come from? Or was it just so prevalent that you can't ignore it anywhere. Well, it exists in India in a big way like it does in the rest of the

world, it sort of permeates, and Elvis at that time permeated everywhere, you know, the whole world. So the 70s children, you know, Elvis and the doors, that kind of was everywhere. But I guess, you know, my mom, in India, basically, because of our colonial history, we have a lot of English and Hindi being our first languages. So you can consume entertainment in both, you kind of speak in both, you're kind of bilingual, a lot of, you know, middle class. You can choose to educate your kids predominantly in English or predominantly handy, and it's all like, okay. So because of that sort of, you know, confluence of influence of the West, it's just very predominantly available.

And but that's what my mom grew up when my dad was very much into Hindi movies and Bollywood songs and Hindi pop culture and like all of that. stuff. So I know from reading your story that it wasn't even like a remote possibility idea in your brain, like I'm going to I'm going to pursue the career that you ended up pursuing. It's it's while happenstance, a lot of strange events, but were you particularly interested as a kid in film, TV, music, the arts, or were you just like any other kid? I mean, just like any other kid, And how much they appreciate pop culture is how I appreciated pop culture, not that I was looking for a vocation in it, you know, just like a normal kid watching a movie when it comes out

or being excited about, like, the radio was my favorite thing. I lived on music, especially as I became a teenager. You know, this is like late 90s, making mixtapes. And I was that girl, you know, but never thought that, you know, I'd actually be working with some of these people when I was listening to their music. never thought I'd meet Dre when I was listening to his music, you know, but life had a weird way of taking me there. And when I was, like, those kind of things happened where I met people that I had consumed as a teenager and, like, they became friends or colleagues. Those were

moments where I used to look back and be like, whoa. Oh, totally. That happened. Yeah. No, I have the same thing. I always say, like, the stuff that really always blows my mind are the, you know, back when I would do the podcast in my office. It's the people that like I grew up watching like in my like as a 12 year old that like how are how are you sitting in my office like Kurt Russell you know like it's silly like 80s and 90s stars that like that is bizarre so I can only imagine the surreality of your life. I mean you mentioned and I had no idea you had spent this much time in the states in your like high school years and not only in the states but in like you weren't in New York in L.A. I mean you were in New York partially but you mentioned it. Yeah, I was

in Cedar Rapids. I was in Indianapolis. I was in Newton, Massachusetts, and I was in Queens, New York. So, yeah, talk about culture shock. I can only imagine. Are you an exceptionally adaptable person? I mean, was it difficult to kind of go from from place to place, or did you find that you were able to kind of fit in where you had to fit in? Well, when I was very young, again, because my parents were military parents, we moved around every two years. So even within India, we backed our bags and moved every two years, you know, so I was in a different city, different school, different friends. So adapting became sort of a sense of adventure. And I have to give it to my dad. He very early on told me that, you know, the trick to adapting is just knowing that the next

place you go to is a clean slate. So the baggage that you have and the place that you're in doesn't have to come with you. You can choose to be whoever you want to be. And that kind of got really exciting to me and lit this match of adventure every time I would go to a new place. So I would never be daunted by moving. I always had a sense of anticipation. Like even now, my job, I'm never in one place at the same time. My job is so transient and constantly in flux. I don't know where my next check is coming from. It's like the next job you're hired for, the next job you've created, you know, it's like it's a constant hustle. But I think like if I didn't have that sense of adventure and that wasn't inculcated, it didn't mean very young,

it wouldn't have served me in my job either. Yeah. Were you, surprised at the different levels of um you talk i think about like newton mass being like the worst place in terms of like bullying and and racism um were you prepared for that generalize the whole city of course i can only say but your experience like yeah new north at that time for me was you know as a school it was great had amazing teachers i had some wonderful friends we're still friends now, you know, but at 16, when you're just called out for, you know, things that you don't, complex things that you don't understand, I don't think they did either, I don't think I did either. But it kind of stripped away at me at that point, you know. But, you know,

my solution has always been to pick up my bags and move on, and I moved back to India. And, you know, life happened. Yeah. Well, so say the least, so you, you, you become, you know, misworld, you suddenly have embarked on this acting career that is kind of like, this is not how it happens. I mean, I feel like I always say that to actors, because like there is no one true path for an actor, but yours is exceptionally odd. You have to admit. I have to say, which culturally might be different with the U.S. just for people to understand, when you win a beauty pageant, or at least when I won at that time in the year 2000, the next step always was movies. Like, you know, a lot of beauty pageant winners before.

me, maybe, you know, international or national, the next step would be they would be cast in a bunch of movies and there would be all this chatter around like Miss India or Miss World debuting in this movie and whatever. And then we would get the opportunity and then if you're good, you stay. If you're not, then bye bye, just like everyone else. But, you know, that sort of opportunity, it did my beauty world, the fact that I won that pageant really did propel my acting career and give me that opportunity, which may be maybe I wouldn't have had if I didn't have that because I didn't know anyone in the business

and I didn't even know if that was something that I could think of. I just sort of went wherever the wave was taking me and just made sure that I could adapt and keep my head above water and just keep learning. Is there any sense of imposter syndrome in those first few years where you're getting those kind of sizable roles without much experience? As you say, it's not unusual culturally there but still you're probably often one of the least experienced people on set and yet you have these amazing opportunities my first few movies I was thrown in as like miss world and you know I was working with the biggest actors and directors um and I didn't know anything like I didn't know how to land on my mark and know my lines and have these lights on me

and have 400 people looking at me and but still convey love and anger and whatever emotion was required while they were focusing only on my face, which would be blown up to 70 m.m. You know, it was such a bizarre thing to sort of wrap your head around, but I knew that I'd been given an opportunity that, you know, is a privilege. And I've always been someone who recognizes the opportunities that come my way. I don't take them for granted because I know, you know, somebody else could have had them. But right now, it's mine. So I gave it my best. I made I learned, I trained, I imbibed, I listened, I never left set after I got on to set. I was not one of those actors ever.

Even now, it's a habit. I don't go back to my trailer. I'm usually on set, like, by the video village and I'll hang out. And I, you know, like sort of learn why people make the decisions that they do. My acting school has been my set, you know, my film set. I've learned everything that I knew only by being on the job. I often talk to actors who find success to varying degrees wherever they grew up, you know, in a local film or theater community. And I asked the question, you know, would you have been satisfied staying there, right?

Just kind of living that life, being successful in that sphere and never kind of crossing over, quote and quote. All which is to say, like, and your community was huge. Like you can be a ginormous star back home and never. and frankly, U.S. audiences may never, sadly, know of your existence. But did you feel like there was something not knowing at you that you wanted to find success or at least make a stab at something in Western culture? Or would you have been satisfied with a prosperous career back home? Well, I was very satisfied with an extremely prosperous, you know, solid career back home,

just like so many of my colleagues in India are. because, you know, Bollywood or the Hindi film industry is the largest producing film industry in the world. We make about thousand movies a year and distribute them all around the world. And, you know, it's like the same thing would happen. There'd be a lot of people from Hollywood.

You could take back to India and shoot with them and people would know who they are either. So, you know, it's just a cultural difference, I feel. But the Bollywood is the only thing second I think, to the American Hollywood entertainment that travels across the world the way it does. We premiere around the world. We premiere in festivals around the world.

So it was a very amazing solid career, which I was very satisfied with. But when I started doing, when the opportunity for me doing music came to me, that was interesting to me. Like I came to America actually to do music because I've been a closet musician all my life, right? And my dad always wanted me to do it, but I was just scared and shy of being exposed in that way, I guess.

I'd learned the acting thing on the job, and I could have because, you know, I got the opportunity as Miss World to get that. And with the music, I wasn't sure of myself, but I was signed on with Interscope Records. I came to America. I started working with some incredible musicians, Will I Am, Pitfall, Red One, you know, and I just, my music, and it lasted a period of about four years, I remember, while I was flying back and forth from India, I released a couple of singles. But I don't know, I just felt like my music felt short of my expectations of myself. What I wanted it to sound like, I didn't find my sound, I wanted it to be unique. It was just a mishmash of different things. It was just

never unique to me. And I, the one thing that I definitely learned from that, you know, that period of my life and big reason why my book is called unfinished as well is because it's okay to leave behind things that you feel are not in your trajectory anymore. And after doing my music for a few years, I just felt like it was not something that was going to happen the way I wanted it to. You know, I wasn't satisfying my creative self. So I pivoted to I know best and I look for representation in America because I was traveling back and forth here anyway. And I said, you know what? I want to do this as well while still working in movies in India because I had met people by then. I was working in LA. You know, I met at parties and stuff,

you would meet people and they'd be like, why don't you act here? And so the seeds sort of, you know, got stuck in my head and I knew that that was something I know how to do. And that's where Quantico happened. I met the VP of casting Kelly Lee for ABC Studios at a party. And she just said to me, she was like, I'm so curious about you. I really do think you could be one of the first from India to ever break America. India is really important to us at Disney. She started having this conversation with me, which really sort of scratched my brain. And then she flew down to India and met me at a film set and offered me a talent deal with ABC saying that, you know, if you bring, come to to the US to do a show, which would mean obviously, you know, one fifth of the world population

is South Indian, South Asian, Indian, not South Asian, Indian. And they watch Hindi movies, which means a really large audience as well, right? So she explained it to me like that and the math of it. And I was really curious. And I came to L.A., pilot season, read a bunch of scripts that they gave me, liked three, auditioned for two, and got the job with Quantico, and that's five years ago. Have you found whether, and it's tough to speak in generalities, I know, but like the film sets and the TV sets here, are they run substantially differently than Bollywood sets than Hindi sets?

Is there something you would take from your early experiences or the films you still do back home that you would apply to quote-unquote Hollywood sets? Well, tell them to losing up a little bit. Is that true? Yes, two more fun back home. Too many rules. Yeah, I have to say that, you know, there's a lot of paperwork on Hollywood sets and there's a lot of, like, emails and time management and which, like, eventually ends up wasting a lot more time, I feel. But, you know, there's something about having order, which I understand.

But, and, like, that would be the exchange. I would bring a little bit loosening up to Hollywood and I would take a little bit of punctuality to Bollywood. Got it, got it. Talk me through a little bit. I'm fascinated by the films that you've chosen, the films you've gotten in the States, the equivalent Hollywood films in recent years, whether it's like Baywatch was probably,

I guess, the first big one. And there's, isn't it romantic? And I can understand why you would want to work with folks like Rebel and Adam Devine. Robert Riegas, that's, he's a master filmmaker. I could understand wanting to work with him. I guess just like, is there a strategy behind those kinds of films or is it simply, you know,

follow the talent, follow the great filmmaker. What's your ethos in terms of finding work right now? I think it required me to first understand and the fact that I was starting out in America just because I've had a 15-year career somewhere else and it's been solid. It doesn't mean that I would have the same opportunities when I came here.

I was very blessed with being, you know, getting Quantico and getting the part that I got as Alex. I worked really hard on it and you know after that I had to start all over again and I didn't I wasn't afraid of that I you know the opportunities that I had with with Baywatch and isn't it romantic and all the movies were you know me sort of starting from the lowest rung of whatever opportunities sort of came my way and you know making the my best form I've just about now after five years or six years of working in America done my first leading role in the feature or done my first dramatic part, you know, it takes it for everyone, no matter where you come

from, you have to start at the beginning. And I think it's really important to recognize and accept that, that you have to put your head down and you have to work and you have to hustle. And that's how you'll get there. It's the, you know, you got to play the long game. Totally. You want to be in it to for a while. Are you referring to text for you, the film you just shot? Yes, yes. So you worked with a mutual friend, Mr. Sam Hewin, the, uh, Oh, really? Yes, he's tough to look at. He's a terrible guy.

Yeah, he's not a, he's not a nice guy. Eat him. He's an asshole. He should not be James Bond, despite what people say. Did you sample the Sassanac spirits? Did he give you some free whiskey, I hope? Very much so. We did an exchange.

We had his whiskey, and my husband was in town those days, and he has his tequila called Villa One. So it was a very dangerous night, I'll tell you that. Did Sam make you watch Outlander? Is that a prerequisite for his co-stars? No, he was very kind. Neither of us made each other watch our work. We just kind of came in blind. Now, did you also, this film, I'm intrigued.

This also features the one and only Celine Dion. Yes, sir. It's her acting debut. It's a long time coming. It goes me. Did you share the screen with Celine, I take it? I do, but we haven't shot her pots yet. we're supposed to, this pandemic happened.

We will be shooting with her this year, hopefully, later. Amazing. But yes, it's very exciting. I very much enjoyed The White Tiger. I'm a big fan of Rameen Barani, the filmmaker behind this, and I was thrilled that you guys were collaborating. It seems to, by the, you know, you can never tell the Netflix, but you see the charts.

It seems like it's number one in 70,000 different countries or whatever. So that must be a source of pride that, I mean, I guess what does it say to you that, like, I think this is the beauty of Netflix, is that it can kind of cross different cultures and bring, you know, different films from different stripes to people? Are you surprised, intrigued, excited that White Tiger seems to be resonating across different countries? Well, it's a really big moment for me because I remember when I was talking about, you know, when I came to Hollywood, there was not a lot of parts that were written for leading roles in mainstream parts for people that look like me.

So even Alex in Quantico wasn't written for a South Asian girl or an Indian girl. You know, it was just, it was written for an American girl and I adapted to being her. You know, so it took a lot of pushing down doors, actually breaking down doors to demand specific kind of, you know, treatment in terms of getting parts just for the artist in me and not being stereotyped into what is expected from someone who is an Indian character in a mainstream role. And it requires starting small, which is fine. But if you see the work that I've done, Baywash isn't romantic, I've not been ethnically defined.

Right. And that to me was a, it was a step that needed to be had in American entertainment so that we normalized being able to see different ethnicities in, you know, main parts. And then I sort of pivoted. after I'd done a little bit of that into, you know, wanting to create, after people got to know me a little bit, and, you know, there was a sort of a belief in what I brought to the table, and I did my first look deal with Amazon. And, you know, there was sort of a respect that started coming towards me. After that, I started really, you know, sort of going after projects that were South Asian that were Indian and bringing them to mainstream entertainment.

So when I read that the White Tiger was being adapted by Netflix, and I'm a big champion of the streamers, I'm a big fan. But when I found out that it was being adapted at Ramin. And Rameen, I knew that the White Tiger was dedicated to Rameen. I'd read the book many years ago. I chased after it. I got my agents to, actually my acting coach, my drama coach, Rebecca Kitt. She called me and she's like, there's this really interesting part, too.

You should check it out. And I called my agents. I got them to call the producers. I said, I would love to, you know, offer my services as an EP. I would like to support this kind of a movie because I know, you know, they're usually movies with an all-Indian starcast is made into a genre film. And I didn't want that to happen. I wanted it to come out of being a genre movie, an independent movie, in the mainstream.

I wanted to, you know, talk to people like you about it. I wanted to go to, you know, Jimmy Fallon and talk about it. Sure. You know, that's what I wanted to bring in that kind of attention. And I auditioned for the part. I got both the jobs as an EP and as, you know, Pinky. And it was, like, I cried when I saw that it was number one worldwide, you know. I don't think five years ago that a movie with an all-Indian starcast shot entirely in India,

written by an Indian novelist, directed by an Iranian guy, would have got the budget that it did or the reach that it had. Definitely. And it's the, you know, it's the confidence that streamers like Netflix, Amazon, et cetera, have in global content that I want to be at the hellman. It was my dream when I came to Hollywood, you know, wanting to create that opportunity for myself. But now I want to be able to do that with so many others. I'm so excited with others' work and Raj's work that people are being able to see phenomenal talent from India globally, you know, and that I could do. be a little part of it.

Like, it just got me so much. It's a very, I mean, we haven't even really said much of the content with the film, but frankly, I didn't know much going in. It's a very entertaining, like, big story, kind of a, it deals with like real, I mean, truly, you know, consequential issues of class and it's a crime story,

but it just moves in, you know, surprising ways. It's kind of a, it can be funny and heartbreaking at times. It's a really great piece of work. So you should definitely feel proud, and I'm happy it's resonating. Thank you so much. So who's more excited that you're in Matrix right now? You or Nick, who's, you are in the new Matrix movie. You've shot your part, you're done, right?

Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, just being a part of something so iconic that, you know, shaped my generation. Like when the first Matrix came out, I remember the conversations around it. I remember how it changed people's perspective. And then to be directed by Lana Wichowski was just like, I mean, it's like historic. I'm just grateful to, you know, be along for the ride, honestly, on that one. Did you, do you have to audition for that one? Can you give me a little backstory of how it happened?

No story. I'm not allowed to talk about it. I have a major gag order. I'm not even asking a plot question. You can't say how you. I'm just scared, man. What if they kick me out? I just envision.

Oh, I've already shot it. Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah, I just envision you meeting Lana. and Keanu on like a distant hilltop somewhere like it's like it feels like it has to be that kind of story um no it was i um i did audition i got a call back and i was in india and i flew i remember to san francisco from india to meet lana oh wow amazing i can't wait i can't wait um you're shooting citadel i take it right now yes i am well we haven't started yet we're we're still in training at the moment um in this covid world most of it is virtual but

we should start filming a month. And this is, are the Russo's involved in this one? Do I have that right, Joan? Yes, the Russo brothers are producing it. Amazing. They know what they're doing. Richard Madden, a pretty solid actor there you're working with. Ruses tend to not make films where you're just sitting around talking. I take this is going to be a little bit action-oriented, or what can you say about this?

I mean, it's going to blow people's minds. You know, what is happening with the movie and what Amazon studios are creating. It's truly a global experience, and it's going to be phenomenal. The world that is being created is something like we've never seen before. The technology we're using is extremely path-breaking. The sheer size of this show is crazy, but also the heart that it has. I'm really excited about this ride and just being able to have such a great opportunity to be in it. Joe had talked about you in an interview a couple years back.

was that about this or was there to talk about it wasn't like a marble thing at the time it was no no it was about this yeah got it okay so we're no closer sadly to getting you involved in the mccu damn it's not yet okay but advocate for me maybe that's what i'm trying you know people just advocate for me you never know um are you a fan of those kinds of movies yeah of course i'm definitely a fan of having superpowers who hasn't wanted that come on now Well, speaking of superpowers, the great Mindy Kaling, she has superpowers as a writer. Are you still collaborating with her? She's such a boss.

Yes. What's going on? It's so exciting with Mindy how that movie happened. It was just out of, again, the collective desire to create Indian stories in Hollywood. And she's someone I really admire. I love her sense of humor. I think she's such a clever girl. And she's a beautiful, beautiful person.

And I think just, I called her and I was like, you know, I admire you so much, you want to do a movie together. And we met for lunch. And she was extremely excited and, you know, offered to write it with Dan Gore. We went and pitched it to a couple of studios. And we went with, you know, Universal and they're amazing partners. Right now we've almost finished writing it. It's at studio notes level. So maybe after Citadel, that's what I'm probably going to do.

Amazing. So in between all this, you said you're a big. fan of the streamers. What have you been watching in recent months? Let's share some picks. Okay. I've been watching a lot of docs, I have to say. I watched this documentary called The Dissident. Did you see that? Yes, the Kamal Khashoggi. Oh, God. Oh, my gosh. Heartbreaking. Insane. Yeah. Even assassin. Did you see that? I didn't see that. So that's King Jong-un's brother was assassinated by two girls. And it's the whole case of in Korea, was it an assassination or these two girls said that they were just doing a

YouTube prank and poisoned this guy. It was crazy. And I was pretty amazed by it. But I've been watching a lot of like true documentaries. I also watched The Undoing, which was very cool. Very interesting. Little fires everywhere was great this year. What else? Let's see. Of course, I had to watch Bridgeton with all the chatter around it. Yeah, I don't know if that's made for me, to be honest, but I feel like I'm feel behind the eight ball that I haven't watched the Bridgerton yet. I don't know. I thought that it was made for me either, honestly, when I was watching it. But I'm a Shonda fan and I wanted to see what she did, you know, in this world. And oh, boy, she did a lot. She knows how to bring you in, how to, yeah, make a compelling television. She knows the thing. So I was curious. And, but I would recommend it just, you know, as a watch, like to just to see it. how she creates the thing that she creates.

Do you and Nick generally agree on what to watch? My wife and I are basically about 80%. We are on the same page, and sometimes we'll have to retreat to our respective rooms when it comes to a certain show. Yeah, we're also about usually 70, 80, but we don't have this. We spend so much time apart that we don't have this rule

of you have to be able to watch something together. And we tried to do that with the boys, and it was really hard. because we started it together, and then I went off to Germany to shoot. And I was like, you can't watch this episode without me. But our timings were different, so we couldn't watch it. Just wake up at three in the morning and watch this new episode with me. That's love.

So then we were like, all right, just watch it in your own time. But let's watch it and decompress and discuss it after each episode. There you go. That's the modern ways of a relationship. Look, you've got to make it work. I'm glad you came together for the boys. I'm glad we got a chance to catch up even in these bizarre times. I hope that we can do it in person sometime.

I'm such a fan of your work. I'm thrilled that people are checking out the White Tiger if you haven't already. It's on Netflix. It's no excuse. It's waiting for you, folks. And your story is remarkable. So people should really check out unfinished. It's an honest and an amazing story.

So, yeah, I hope people get a chance to check it out. Thank you so much, Josh. It was so fun talking to you. I hope it was a little break. enjoy a training for Citadel. Don't get hurt. Don't let the Russo's hurt you. Oh, my.

I'm really looking forward to actually what my body's going to look like at the end of this show. Oh, please. Between Matrix and Citadel, you're going to kick all of our asses, I'm sure. Thanks again for the time today, Priyanka. Thank you so much, Josh. Bye.

And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressure to do this by Josh. Goodbye, summer movies, hello fall. I'm Anthony Devaney.

And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Chalemay playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bugonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine. Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement.

There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about two. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.