Not Skinny But Not Fat - Priyanka Chopra Jonas Never Thought She’d Be an Actress

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is here! We discuss going from Bollywood superstardom to starting over in Hollywood and why humility has always been her secret weapon. She opens up about becoming a mom, what made her sure about marrying Nick Jonas and what it was like filming her new pirate thriller The BluffThis episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Buy any 2 cans of Olipop in store and we'll pay you back for one at drinkolipop.com/NOTSKINNYGo to littlespoon.com/NOTSKINNY30 and enter code NOTSKINNY30 for 30% off your first orderVisit unrealsnacks.com/NOTSKINNY to get $2 off a bag of Unreal. Terms and conditions apply.Use code NOTSKINNY for 20% off your first order at bloomnu.comAs a special offer for our listeners, good wipes is giving you your first pack for FREE! Buy any package in store, text them your receipt, and get reimbursed almost immediately. For more details, head to goodwipes.com/NOTSKINNYFor a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutrafol.com and enter promo code NOTSKINNY10Find furniture, decore, and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. Head to wayfair.com right now to shop all things home.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. Welcome back to the Not Skinny Bonafat podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Hirsch, and I still can't believe that I get to chat with some of my favorite stars on my very own podcast where you'll feel like you're just talking shit with your best friends in your living room. Hey guys, happy Tuesday. Welcome back to a new episode of Not Skinny Bonafat. I'm your host, Amanda, and I'm on the other side of having strep, which let me tell you.

Stroh throat as an adult was just an insane experience. I swear I'm not a complainer. Like I will handle it, you know? And I wasn't handling it. I cried. Like, I feel like when you can't swallow without feeling like you're swallowing knives, plus feeling like your head is going to actually fall off. Like, if my throat didn't hurt at the same time,

I would think that, and the way my head was hurting, I would think like I'm having something, aneurysm or embolism. I don't fucking know, but I'd go to the hospital. But because it was with the throat and I knew it was all kind of connected, I didn't freak out as much. But it was just awful timing. Husband and his fucking broken foot, which I don't know if I've talked about on here,

but literally the man went to buy pizza and fell on the way in or out. I can't remember if he actually got the pizza. And I was so, like, cry wolf. Like, I was like, okay, sprain, you know? And I was like, you don't need a doctor, like elevate. put ice. And then we went the next day and they were like,

yeah, he broke it. And I was like, it's hairline fracture? And they're like, no, not hairline. Like, okay, the pit. Like, where did you bring airline from? Surprisingly, he's doing much better

than I would think that he would do with an injury as we know, as we know, not milking it. Like, but it is. It was a lot on me while I was sick because like it happened at the same time

and like he can't pick up Lenny with a broken, fucking foot. He couldn't walk Leo with a broken foot. Now he can. He got out of the crutches and he's in the boot. So he can. But it was a rough, rough few days. And I realized, like, I don't have enough help around me. Like, everyone was shocked that I don't, like, don't have a dog walker, you know, and that we, like, walk the dog. You know what I mean? I was like, should I have, like, a dog walker, like, for situations like this? You know what I mean? So it was rough. Our UFF. It was very, very rough.

Thank God for antibiotics and being on the other side of it now. But an adult strep, I do not recommend. And if you do fear you have strep, run to the fucking doctor so you can get on that antibiotic. Co-wick. Meanwhile, as both of these things are happening, my sister, Ariel, had her baby. And I couldn't be there, which, like, fucking sucked. Obviously, I couldn't be there because I had strep, but, like, my family is extra crazy with that. Like, even if you have a cold, like, you'll be banished.

for a while. Like, we're still in COVID quarantine times. So I'm like, I'm never going to see this baby. So, like, not only was I not in the hospital as having phoma. I was on FaceTime the literal entire time.

Like, I'm shocked. They, like, kept on answering my face time. But not being there for my little sister really broke my heart because she's my little babe and she had a babe and watching her, you guys, like, for my third baby peeps,

for the contemplating third baby peeps. Oh, my God. This is putting me, you know, like, when you're contemplating, a baby or another baby, there are things that put you like on the yes track or on the no track. This put me on the no track. I was like, you know, after I did go to visit her, even after FaceTiming, I like looked at Lenny so happy that he's like on the way to being two, you know, and that he's like big and he eats

and he's not five pounds and I don't have to breastfeed and I don't have to pump and I don't have to wash. I mean, he still does take a bottle like, but you know, the parts. the pump parts and the, oh my God, and my sister had a C-section. So she's like recovering and looking at her in pain. And I'm like, what the fuck is this? How do we do this? This is so fucking crazy.

Anyway, here for you, babe. No, but really, it's a fucking crazy thing to go through. And it's crazy to see, like, when you really fucking take a minute and you're like, a woman, carries a baby for nine months, goes to the hospital, goes through, you know, or a vaginal delivery or a C-section is literally like fucking ripped apart either way. Then is trying to like be put back together while figuring out for the first time how to feed her baby because the baby's life depends on it while like not sleeping for the first time in your life. That kind of lack of sleep. I just, and then you're going home and saying, bye.

That was cute for you in the hospital. gives me anxiety, honestly. But looking back, like, my sister, like, it's wild how in my family, like, I'm considered chill. You know, like, it's shocking, I know. But it's like, I'm considered chill. I know. Isn't it so funny? I mean, maybe you guys think I'm chill, too.

Like, to me, I'm not chill. But even, like, my sister's like, I wish. Because I was pretty chill. Like, I take things pretty as they come. I think that's my, like, defense mechanism. that's my way of survival. It's like you got to take things as they come because if nine know where my head's going to go.

Yeah, my sister's a little, I would say, more rattled up than I was with the situation. She's more of a warrior. So I'm really hoping she gets through this newborn phase unscathed. Anyway, you know, this does transition well into my guest today because my guest today has a new movie out where her mother, instincts, you know, kick in. She becomes a mama bear. I mean, she has a mama bear.

She's hardcore. She's badass. And she just shows you that women fucking rock. Priyanka Chopra Jonas is here. She's a global superstar. She started her career in Bollywood. She made over 60, 70 films. She was in Quantico, Citadel.

She's also a producer. She's an entrepreneur. She's a mom, and now she's starring and producing her new brand new action movie, The Bluff. This is a pirate movie, hardcore pirate movie. She plays a former pirate who has to deal with all this pirate shit to protect her family, okay? Her past catches up to her, and she fucking goes rogue, okay? And it's so badass and it's so hardcore and it's so different than any other movie you see today. You can trim the bluff now on Prime and enjoy my chat with Priyanka.

First of all, so gorgeous IRL, everybody needs to know. Those eyes. Thank you. Are you okay with those eyes? Trying to survive. And the hair, the new Ombray situation. Is that, did you dye your actual hair? No, I just bought it.

But you like, they put it in for you? Yeah, I wanted something different for my hair because I, Like, I'm in the, like, I'm photographed. There's a lot that happens, and I like to change my stuff much to the jargon of my hairstylist. Who's, what else do we do with your hair? But I'm promoting a pirate movie. Yeah. And I wanted the color of my hair to be dripped in, like, crimson blood.

In blood. Dried blood. I love it. Because your name in the movie is Blood. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. She's like this really tough, gory, not afraid of anything pirate woman. And I don't know, I was just having too much fun with the pirate court.

And you leaned into the pirate court. You leaned into the pirate court for the premiere. You also wore the, the, like, corset thing you wore in the, in that fight scene at the end. The armor. I watched the movie. Oh, he did you? I did. Which, thank God I realized it was rated R.

Because I was like, pirate movie, I'm going to watch with my son. Oh, my God. Thank God. No, no. It was so violent. We are very, our. Yeah, you are very art. It was so crazy violent and, like, action-packed.

and you are such a fucking badass in it. Like, you killed it. I was like, I believe it. Like, she's a pirate. She's an ex-pirate. Like, she's, you were whipping these guys into death. Let's put it that way, right? Done it actually for a really long time.

Before I started working in America, I worked in Indian films lovingly called Bollywood by a lot of people. And I started doing action movies like back in the day, I think my first one may have been this movie called Dawn, like in, early 2000s, mid-2000s. So I've chosen it often in my choices of work. And when you get to, it's such a, people don't realize that how technical stunts are and how much precision it actually requires to pull off all of that. And I've always found that so fun. Like it's a, it's like choreographed.

It's like, it's choreographed not just with the people who are actually performing the stunts, Harlan I, say, for example, in this movie, but also the camera work. When the, the, it's like choreographed. camera comes in, when it goes out, how close it'll be to you so you don't get hurt. Everyone has to know their distance, their exact marks. Because if you don't fall on your exact marks, someone could get hurt. So it's like the stakes are high. Yeah. So days like that, like your adrenaline is pumping. Everything has to be precise. So I really enjoy in the precision of that. We cheated the Cayman Islands in Australia. Oh, wow. Had more conducive to shoot. Yeah. But they have an amazing film industry. They've shot a lot of amazing films, so great crew, but also locations were

very, very similar. And we wanted to build practical sets in this movie, not use a lot of VFX, because we're in the 1900s. Yeah. Like even my hair, I didn't really use a curling iron. We used to braid my hair into connoes. Your hair was braided. And open it out. So it would have that natural feeling from the 1900s. So we had, we built everything from the house to those ships, to the every single thing on that movie, including the Brock, was built by production designers. Oh, wow.

How long were you out in Australia for? Two and a half, three months. Did the fam come with? Yeah. Oh, they did. Actually, my daughter came with, Nick flew in a night because he was on tour. Was she on set with you?

Yeah, she was on set with me. Oh. Do you know that scene where the conch shell scene? Yeah, when you put it back with the blood? I know. I was like, oh, she's hardcore. That day, Maki came to set, and I was covered head to toe in blood.

And she looked at me and she paused for a second. She was like three at that time, maybe two and a half. She paused for a second and I recognized it. And I was like, oh my gosh, this can either go one of two ways, right? Either I've traumatized her for the rest of her life or I let her into the secret. So I took her in the hair and makeup trailer and we explained, we tasted it because it's usually made of corn, like corn starch. So it's sweet. I showed her that it was just make, make believe,

and she put some blood on me and painted it on me, and then it was totally fine. Wait, so does she think it's cool? Because I saw, I remember a TikTok that showed, you had to hold her back from getting on stage with Nick. She was like, would you want to get on stage? That was so funny. Did she, who's cooler right now?

You doing action sense covered in blood, or is it still, is it her father on stage singing? I think it's both. I think she, when she's growing up, grown up on set and backstage. Like, she knows what it looks like to go to Crafty. She knows what it looks like to go from the friends and family greeting room to the dressing room.

Like, she, it's her normal. Yeah. So I don't know if she has a preference, but I think with me, she's very excited about, like, right now in a press tour, she was with me for a while while we were in L.A. and just the dresses and the heels. She's a very girly girl. So she loves, she sits with me and my makeup is happening. She'll do her own.

Oh, yeah. So she loves all that. How old is she now? She's four. She's four. Yeah. Is she, how is she with traveling in South Australia is a gazillion hours away? She's a great traveler.

She's a great traveler. She's traveled around the world since she was like five months old. Oh, that's amazing. She has, she's been lived in multiple countries already. So, yeah, I think she's a great little traveler. I really do believe that travel is the best teacher, especially when you're young and you get, you have the ability before school sucks you in in a real way. Yeah. To really travel and get that experience.

But at the same time, to each their own. Like they're, my best friend, for example, she, like, finds it really hard to get out of her routine, to pack stuff up and travel for four days. Meanwhile, me and my husband, or we'll just be like, hey, you want to come to Brazil for the weekend? It's not a big, that's your norm. So it's to each, it's not easy. It's not normal, but that's what I've done for such a long time. And she's used to it too. And she's used to it.

I also noticed about your daughter, Malti, that you started posting her. There were emojis before. Less emojis now. Was that a decision? No, it's opposite, actually. Full emojis. Then we, she was getting photographed anyway. So.

You want to take the power back? We did. We were like, okay, we took her out. I think it was Nick's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. By the first time, we took her out. And then I was just, we just were like, no, let's not do that anymore. It's new. You're trying to navigate this whole new thing.

And as she's growing older, so her baby pictures, we didn't care as much. but as she's growing older, we've started to also just deflect a little bit and let her have, she moves around a lot, let her have her as much anonymity as she can. It is her normal and people will be curious about her and I never want her to be fearful of that or judgy or skeptical of the humans that she meets because there are good people in the world and I've had wonderful experiences with friends like that. It is her normal and I think it's okay for her to be aware of it, but to have a sense of choice I think will be important.

And I know that you like hire extra security. Like that's a real like concern, right? Well, not extra security. I don't have security beefed up for her. But yeah, I, I, the reason, like, I just think it's important for when we have security for out and about. It's just for to not be recorded without consent because a lot of that happens. That is crazy to me that that happens, like recording a kid. Yeah, for sure.

She was followed from school home. Like by a paparato or by a normal? It's a normal person recording her. That's insane. A pop rotso. That's what was wild. That it's like a just... Just like an everyday person.

That's really... That's how desensitized we are to just recording people. I know people get upset when they do it to celebrities and actors and stuff. But that's one thing. But for kids, that should be really off the table. Well, with public people, I've always been of the opinion that I chose a public life. Yeah. And there is the...

I'm pragmatic enough to be like... that's the nature of the beast. If you're going to live a public life, people will be interested and curious in your life. That's fine. But when it comes to children, like, that's just, it's terrain. We are all learning in the last like 10 to 20 years what that is going to be like in the next 10 years, 15 years for them. Yeah. So I think a little bit of grace is required for everyone, but also like certain awareness of safety and what that means. Curiosity is great. I love talking about Maltese. She's an amazing, smart, precocious, fun kid. But yeah, protecting her is, for me, this movie, it was all about that. Like, the feeling of what are you capable of what will you do to protect

your child? How far will you go? Yeah. And I feel that. Yeah. In the movie, you did that for sure. Yeah, for sure. You did that for sure and you pulled it off. So do you cook? No, I'm not the best at it. I do when I need to. Okay. But I make sure that she has like her right nutrition. My mom-in-law, my mother, she has a lot of people that's around her much better at it than I am. Oh, really? Okay, that makes me feel better. I also don't know how to cook. Yeah. Just we do the best we can. Yeah. But I, because she's traveled so much, she's really been exposed to just pallets from around the world. I remember I was filming this movie I did called Heads of State in France and she was with me and she used to have a bone marrow every day. Stop. Imagine she was like two and a half. No. And she loved it.

every week or whatever, she used to love it. Wow. Now she's like ordering sushi. She's like, where's my salmon avocado? Does she like sushi? No, she hasn't done that yet. Oh, she hasn't done sushi? No, no.

But she does grilled avocado, I mean, grilled octopus. She loves grilled octopus because she calls it Ursula. No. Wait, has she watched a little mermaid? That's why. I'm terrified of Ursula. That's why she loves eating her. Wait, she wasn't scared of Ursula.

She was scared of Ursula, but now she's eating Ursula. She has a sense of power. Wait, that's so funny. Oh my God. I eat Ursula. Wait, that is the funniest thing that you have to remember because I as a kid was like traumatized by Ursula. Yeah, but if you eat her, if you eat her, and you have the power.

That's so funny. I think it was a Met Gala and you said something like she can have a movie tonight even though it's a Monday. As you said this, you were in like full makeup. It was like a crazy Met Gala year. And are you still there with that kind of rule of like movies on the weekends only? Yeah. And she's great about it.

Oh, great. She loves sketching. I do go prepared. Whenever we go out for dinner, whenever we're going somewhere, where I know she might get tired or rely on something more than just conversation. I go very prepared. I have little trinkets. As soon as her attention is over, one thing, I take something else out.

My bag is full. I have a sketchbook with crayons and colors. I have this camera, digital camera. I have like little magnet tiles, the travel magnetiles. I have like multiple things. little, little things that's amazing. That you just give them every 20 minutes and they're fine. So she waits for movies on the weekend.

Yeah, and she says it to us. She's, oh, I can't watch a movie. It's a weekday. That is great. Like, good for you. Can't say I'm doing the same. We all are doing our best. We all are doing our best.

Yeah. Listen, like, it's not easy being a working mom and we're all doing the best we can. And sure, there will be a day I'm on a Zoom where I'll stick her in front of a movie because I've got to do what I have to do and it's fine. Yeah. But as much as I can, I'm trying to not create that dependence. Yeah, it's hard. It's not easy. Are you teaching her Hindi?

I try. Yeah. So there'll be weeks where like a day I'll suddenly remember and the whole day I'm going to speak to her in Hindi. Yes, totally. And then the whole day I'm speaking in Hindi and she like gives me the side eyes. I have no idea what you're talking about. I know. But she knows three or four words.

I live in America. I'm married to an American. Like even my mom when she comes in, we forget. I don't travel as much. You should be like, Mom, you, that's your role. I keep telling her that and she forgets too. Yeah. But I'm trying really hard to be like intentional about it

because a lot of my cousins when they came to the States, like they forgot how to speak Hindi too. And I know that that's one of their regrets is when you lose that your second language. Yeah. So I'm trying to be better about it. But you guys travel there a lot, right? You have a home there. We do go to India often.

So if she has a summer or two, when she's a little bit older, like doing... She hasn't been that extensively. Yeah. Like she's gone for 10 days, 15 days. It's never been as... Even... It's not extensive for me, either. I don't live there anymore. I've lived here for 15 years, not 10, 12 years now.

So it's tough. But we make sure that she goes at least twice a year and has an exposure to India because that's really important to me. When you go there, in terms of walking down the street, do you have more privacy there? We don't have privacy anywhere.

You don't have privacy anywhere. And it's okay. It's like I said, nature of the beast. Right. When I want to find privacy, I know how to. That is true. You know that. No, it is true because, you know, I think about, I've always been fascinated by this culture.

And you'll see a couple go to like a specific restaurant. You're like, they could have gotten another restaurant if they didn't want to be. You know what I mean? Like that. There's two schools of thought there. I feel like one is, I don't give a shit. I want to go to this restaurant because the food's great. And if you take my picture, I don't care.

Yeah. I'm going to live my life, which is great. Yeah. Which I do. And I'm just like, you know, but also if I want to like not be seen, I know where I can go to not be seen. So I think it's okay to want to live your life normal without having to think about somebody taking a photo or whatever because it gets crazy after a certain point because you're living

your life just, it's like you're jailed. It's like you have to constantly think about who's watching. You can't live like that. That's insane. So you just have to understand that you're a public. person who lives a public life and people take pictures and it's fine. And if they don't, that's fine too. Yeah.

I mean, I think your attitude is so positive about it. Yeah. Yeah, because you don't have that extra layer of like annoyance about it. You're like, it is what it is. I deal with it. I accept it. I embrace it. I chose the job.

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Get 30% off your first online order at little spoon.com slash not skinny 30 with code not skinny 30. That's L-I-T-L-E-S-B-O-O-N.com slash not skinny 30 with code not skinny 30 for 30% off your first order. And we're back. Did you, because I know you started with pageants, right? Did that come from you? Were people telling your parents, she's beautiful?

You need to put her in these things? Like how did that happen? Well, I didn't do a lot of pageanting. I was 17 when I moved back. I was in high school in the States, and I was 17 when I moved back to India. And I was failing school. I was like, I could not get anything right. And like Indian kids were doing like integration and segregation in like math. And I had just an algebra. So studying here put you behind a little bit. I got you. So when I went back, I was like doing extra classes. And my mom, I think, felt really bad for me. And there was this ad for, an advertisement for, was it an advertisement for Miss India, the Miss India pageant? And we had these, you know those mall shots back in the day with like soft focus in your hand? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had a few of those, which my mom sent in to the pageant without telling me. And I happened to get picked.

I'm competitive. And my competitive bitch self went out there. And I was like, now I'm here. I'm going to win. I tried. Yeah. I did. You did.

And then whoever wins. Miss India, you're sent to the Miss World and the Miss Universe pageants. So I was sent to the Miss World pageant. And I don't know, it was my year that year. I won that. And then I had a year of being Miss World in 2001. And then I started doing movies. Did you do a lot of these?

Actually, it's this. Oh, my God. I love that. It's the wrist. You have to be benevolent when you do it. You're like the sipping, the that. I'm learning so much today. And having the crown, like, how did that feel?

It's heavy. Yeah? It's heavy. Did you care? Were you like, I know you were competitive, but did that mean something? Did you feel like it was just about your beauty? No. I have to give props where it's due.

When I did it in like 2000, the Miss World pageant really focused a lot on the substance of a woman. So it was really like, you know, who you really are, what you stand for. So I felt a really, I felt such a sense. sense of pride, honestly, that I represented my country and I won on this pageant with 95 girls and it was a really big deal. And to my 18-year-old self, like, I immediately became a pageant girl, hence me knowing how to do this well. I love it. Imagine how much I must have practiced. You practiced a lot, huh? I did. I had to quickly forget about all of that after. But in retrospect, I think it was the first big jump that I ever got into entertainment. And I don't think I'd ever do it again if I had to.

it's crazy. That thing is crazy. It's a crazy thing. It's a crazy thing. All I know about it is like miscongeniality. That's all I know. That's a like of course epic movie by the way. Yeah. But that's like the stereotype of what it is. But it's a crazy thing if you think about it. Like you just, it's wild. Anyway, I would not do it again. But at that time, I think it catapulted me into something which eventually did end up becoming my career because I'd never thought I would act. It wasn't something. What did you think you were going to do next after? After pageants, what was in your mind? Well, after pageants, I knew I would get into movies because in India, pageants to Bollywood movies is usually a normal progression. So whoever does really well in the pageants ends up in movies. Oh. So it was like that was happening anyway.

Yeah. So I kind of knew that would be the next step. But before pageants, I grew up. My parents were doctors. I come from an academic family. I didn't think normal people became actors. I don't know how many other people thought that. You thought it was like Nepo vibes only.

I don't know. I just thought like everyday people don't become actors. I was going to high school in Cedar Rapids. I was like, you don't think that you're suddenly going to be an actor. Yeah. I didn't, it was not, it was just not something I thought of. I enjoyed musical theater. I loved stuff like that, but it was just not a vocation.

So after my film school was my acting career. Like I was thrown onto a movie set right after pageants. And I had to learn everything on an actual set on the job. Yeah. What was your first movie? It was a movie called Tamilian in the Tamil language in India. Do you have to learn a new language? I had to phonetically learned language.

I couldn't. It's impossible to learn a new language. But I would memorize my lines and I would say them. But it was my first exposure to like a little bit of fame, I think. For my co-actor, his name is Vijay. is extremely popular. And I remember when we used to land up on set, there used to be people like stand hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people

just standing there to watch him. And while he was dancing and while he was doing his thing, and my first movie, I had no idea what happens behind the scenes. I just saw what we saw in movie theaters. And I just remember thinking about what a demigod feeling that must be. Especially in India where people love their movies. movies and the fans like are really, really giving with their attention.

Did his, were you like, I can't wait for the focus to be on me? Yeah. My 18-year-old self-worth is that what this means? Yeah. And like I think that when people start in the industry and here I'm talking 25 years later, when you start in the business. Not 25. 25, girl.

26. We're in 2026. This is, I'm telling you a story of 2000. 2000, 2001. Priyanka. You said you were 18. And that's still true. And I know your age now.

So that's 20 years. Yes, I am 20. You're right. 20 years since. It's 2000 and we're in 2026, girl. 26 years later. Oh, okay. I started filming in 2001.

Okay, okay. I thought you were, I don't like when people like age themselves more. I'm like, let's stick to our current age. Girl, no. I would love to de-age myself. But because everybody knew, whoever knows me knows that I won this damn pageant in 18, you can do the math. I can't even hide my age. Damn it.

Damn it. So you saw this first movie, you saw the fame your co-star had. Yeah. So I think that my relationship with what this job was was skewed because I thought, well, everybody, it's about the fame. It's only when I started doing it that I realized that fame is the byproduct. of the job. Yeah. It isn't the job.

And that's when it became really fun. And you did like 60 movies? I don't know. IMDB is not sure. Oh, it's not true? No, not sure. I think it's a late 60s, early 70s somewhere there. Wow.

That's a lot of movies. Yeah. And then did you have the, like the... Between Hollywood and... Oh, between Hollywood. Yeah, both. So because what was the bug that first came in that was like, I want to make it in America?

This isn't. enough. Oh man. It wasn't when I was working back in India, I just felt that I don't know, I started feeling limited and I wanted to like using that word because I wanted to be able to see what else was out there and I hadn't really seen in American pop culture someone who was like besides Mindy Kaling there were very few female or even male Indian actors. within Hollywood. And I wanted that. And I was like, why don't we have that representation? It really made me think of myself, that girl in Cedar Rapids I was talking about, who was in ninth grade, who was like, I'm in America and like, where do, nobody looks like me in my high school.

But it's okay. I didn't, I didn't think about it at that time. But now as someone who was starting to seek work in Hollywood, I was like, where do I stand? How do I begin? What does it mean? So I think it came from a need to want to expand and see what the possibilities were. And then, like I said, I'm competitive. And was there some? Because I know you've said before, like, you started feeling tense relationships with some of the stuff going on in India with the movie scene. Yeah. Listen, nothing is an easy ride.

Yeah. Okay. And I think that we all have battles that we have to handle and deal with. I'm someone who just doesn't like staying in the shit because then you get used to the smell. When you need a pivot, I'm a big believer in pivoting. I just think like when something is a struggle or anything in your life is getting tough, God has made us,

we are so resilient as human beings. We have the ability to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, take a minute to grieve and feel emotional and feel the pain. and that's absolutely okay. And then pivot. Yeah. Big kid, choose. And I have done that many, many times in my career.

And this was one of those. I wanted to see, like, if there was something out there for me, what the possibilities could be. I didn't know. I didn't know there wasn't a major precedent before me. So I just went out there and gave it a shot. And just the only thing I knew was I'm a really hard worker. I know my job.

If you put me on a set with any filmmaker, any co-actor, I will stand toe to toe because I've done it for long enough. And I went out there and started working. I love you that you call your, I feel like usually people say co-stars and I love that you say co-actors. Because I feel like for me it sounds so humble. Like you're not calling yourself a star vibes. I find that awkward anyway.

To say co-star. Just star in general. That's what I figured because you always say co-actor I've noticed. I really do believe we are doing a job. And I feel like actors do get to, we do. enjoy the amazing position of love and affection and attention and brickbats at the same time. It's like the attention comes with good and bad. Right.

But eventually we're all doing a job. And I really am off the, I'm a major believer that when you go onto a film set and I'm a big cinephile, I love movies, I love the art, the art that goes into making a movie, that we stand on the shoulders of 150, 200 people. Right. of every department having to be 100% between action and cut. So I believe that I'm an actor on the job. There's a cinematographer.

Everybody brings their own expertise. But like the acting job is like you were saying, it's a job. You're working long hours. You're covered in blood. Your sweat, tears, the whole freaking thing. I mean, look, it's not rocket science. We're not saving lives here. Yes, but it's not glamorous all the time is what I mean.

Oh, it ain't. And especially in this movie, The Bluff Warrior. There are moments which are, of course. Like, I have amazing pinch me moments in my career where I'm like, did this just happen? I had dinner with Bruce Vingstein. Just things like that. Yeah. Just like, what?

So there's been cool stuff, but no job is 100% glamorous. Yeah. There is backstage to everything. I saw somebody say about you. I don't know how you. you're related to this woman that was speaking about you on like a podcast, but she was like saying that you came from India where she was equating you to the Beyonce. She said Priyanka was the Beyonce in India and imagine coming to the U.S. and starting where people didn't know you. And she was talking

about you in a very, very positive way saying how humble you were and how egoless is the word because you have to kind of, with what you know, Beyonce, Priy, Priy. come to America where people were just being introduced to you. So how did you, did you have to like talk to yourself through that? Or did, was that just a natural thing for you? I'm going to, I'm going to start. I'm going to start it all over. Like I said, it's a job, right?

First of all, just being equated with Beyonce is she's my queen. Is she your number one? Yes, she's one of my number ones. I have a few. I don't think women, we need to be competitive with the number one space. I'm rather generous with my number one spaces. Have you met her? Yes, I have.

She's wonderful. Yeah. She's such a grounded, amazing woman. And anyway, so I think that that was my manager, Angela. She has to believe in me. You know the clip. Yeah, I know which clip you're talking about. But think about it this way.

You decide to pick up and go to France and start this again. You're going to do the digging, right? You're going to start from the beginning. So it's like any other job. I'm not going to expect just because. again, I said my relationship with the word famous, like going back to just because I'm famous or well known or have a body of work in one country doesn't mean it necessarily needs to translate to every country in the world. That's not something I don't walk around with the assumption that

you know me or know anything about me or have even seen my body of work. And that's not humility. It's just there's like seven billion people in this world. What are we talking about? Yeah. And I'm okay with that. I think that there's a certain yes, there were hurtful times, but there is a certain power in being able to put your head down and go to work. And it took a while,

but I'm here producing and starring in my own movie. Yeah, you're producing, you produce the bluff too, right? So Amanda Seifred, I think, just spoke a little bit about, she, I don't know if you saw this, but she produced the housemaid. Yes. And she was really funny on this press tour.

And she said something like, People were like, oh, you produced this. And she was like, I did? She was like, I don't even know what that. So I feel like producing to like normal people, we don't know what it means. And I know that sometimes it means being super involved. And sometimes it's like a credit. I think she was saying like it was like a credit.

So what was it like for you on this movie? I started producing back in 2012. My company is called Purple Pebble Pictures. And we've done a bunch of movies in many, many different languages, English, in Hindi, in Marathi, in Bojpuri, in many languages. We've had some amazing successes and we've had some not so many amazing successes. But my company was built on the philosophy of wanting to be the shoulders for newer filmmakers, younger filmmakers, people who don't really get the opportunity to have a seat on the table

to magnify their stories. Different movies require different kinds of involvement with this movie. Most of the production was handled by Agbo and, Prime, Amazon, Agbo being the Russo siblings, their company, Joe Anthony and Angela Russo. So they had everything handled. But what was required of me was a collaboration when it came from the time the script was being tightened when I came on board to be written for me and Carl and the casting as it was to have a sense of, we went to Cayman Islands, we did a research trip to kind of understand what, to have as much in-depth knowledge so that we could keep

are schedule really tight. The producer is basically somebody who oversees that the movie gets made in the best possible way and buttons up all the gaps. Yeah. Anything that's missing. As a lead actor who also had the responsibility of producing,

I wanted to be the best collaborator in every department that I can and to make sure that anything that was required was facilitated. Yeah. And that I could be the best partner in doing that and continuing to do so right now. And you like having that extra layer of responsibility,

like not just showing up and doing the acting, having that, like, extra layer. I like having that extra layer of partnership. I think there is really, yes, of course, and I'm absolutely happy being just an actor, going to set and doing that too. But I do truly enjoy being in the rooms where decisions are made, where I can contribute to the larger, bigger picture.

We'll be right back after the break. I find it hard to keep up with supplements and, you know, the people that have the whole, like, supplements box that they take, like, that's not me. I don't have a gazillion supplements that I take. I protective of my gut, and I also want to take stuff that I really need, and I really prioritize specific supplements. So it's very on brand for me that one of the supplements that I prioritize is Nutraful, because Nutriful helps with hair, nails, skin. Those are things that I prioritize.

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slash not skinny. And we're back. Doie Saldana also, she executive produced this. How did that happen? Did you bring her in? No, no. She brought me in, actually. Oh, she was supposed to start. She was supposed to star in it. And then she was doing, and then she was doing multi-billion dollar movies and she got busy. Did she think of you for it? I'm not sure. That's a question to ask Frankie. Okay. But she has been such a wonderful support through the movie and so supportive of the bluff. She just had to be. screening in Kaman a couple of weekends ago and she and her sisters have been it's so great to have girls girls in the industry and like working together it's awesome that an amazingly talented star like

Zoe would give her blessings to a movie with me and and still be supportive of it so I'm she's wonderful she's a girl's girl and so grateful to have her support was she was so she was involved in the movie yeah she came and she didn't come to set because she's so busy filming yeah but she's always been very supportive and encouraging of the film. Oh, that's so awesome. So you became friends? I know her. I wouldn't say I'm friends with Zoe, but I admire her tremendously. Oh, that's amazing. I love that. I love that she's a girl's girl. So while I was like looking at all these videos of you, I obviously saw videos of like you and Nick being adorable, but this, okay, so there were two moments that I was like, like that. One, even at just this premiere, everyone was dying over him

holding your, like, like one, on one hand, I'm like, no, that's. It's so hot. It's so gentle. On the other hand, I'm like, you guys, he's her husband, and he was moving her dress out of the way. But the girls were dying over it. Did you see that? Yeah, find yourself a guy I'll do that. Girls don't settle. Don't settle.

Yes, that's exactly what it is. He's my husband, and he were both very conscientious of each other. When we are on the carpet, these pictures are from any angle. You want to look good. You want to make sure you're all right, and we have each other's backs. And he's great about that. In fact, he'll make it a point before we get out of the house to understand how he'll speak to the stylists and try to understand how the train should be and tries to set it like that.

That's so sweet. He's wonderful like that. So that's why it's like great to have somebody who gets it. Yeah, for sure. Because he's been in the business just as long as me, 25 years, understands. And he'll just set it up. And another moment, which I think this one even trumps that, is you were doing this, GQ, couples interview.

And at the, do you remember this? You were wearing like, I think, like a black, like patent leather look. And at the end of it, he like pulled your chair over in this really hot way. I'll show you the video. Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't know.

Was it GQ? Was it? It wasn't GQ? I can't remember. But it was also a moment the girlies were, were dying. That was a moment for me, too. Yeah.

That wasn't just early. That was early. We were, I think we just got married. or something. It was like early, early in our relationship. I remember that moment. I think you can see it on my face, too.

Whenever I see that clip, I'm kind of like I don't know where to look. I'm blushing. Yeah. Oh, yeah, because they asked you like what activities you guys like to do together. No, not that part.

Oh, not that. You blush there too. Yeah. But when he like pulled me closer, it was, I was, it's so fun when, I don't know if this is me and if this is you either.

I love being babyed by my guy. Like, I love because. You love feeling like small. Toddler. Like, I want to be a child. Like, I want to be. You want to feel small.

Yes, I want to be small. I love, like, snuggling in. You want his sweatpants to be huge on you and then they're not for me. No, no, I love half of his wardrobe is in my closet. Stop. So, yeah, literally Nick has the best clothes. And you can share clothes. Yeah, they're slightly big for me, but I like it.

At least they're bag. That's good. Yeah. That's nice. Because if you're not, there's that meme that you put it on your boyfriend's up. You want to be like cute. And then it's, yeah. Just because sometimes guys have skinnier legs.

Yeah. They don't have any. My husband usually wears like baggy stuff. Baggy stuff. That's good. Or at least that's the stuff I steal. So you love feeling like, I'm so small and cute and you're the man. I can't do anything. I am incapable.

But like that's so not you. No. Like you're such a strong woman in front of my husband. Like I literally can't do anything. Like Gaga, can you change the channel? You call Gaga? My daughter. calls him Gaga. I think she's to try to say that da-da. Uh-huh. And she couldn't and it became Gaga.

So now we've just kept it on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't, don't change it. Can't change. Something Gaga, I don't know how to change the channel. My internet's not working. My phone's not doing this. Yeah. It's yeah. Did you know that about your side? Did that only happen with Nick or Rico is like that? No, no, no. It's definitely a husband thing. Yeah, it's a husband thing. Yeah. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's like you finally feel like safe enough to. Maybe. Maybe. of be like, of like, I don't need to take care of everything, do it. I could just be myself. Yeah, I don't have to hold it all together.

Right, right. You can kind of like let go. Yeah. And he's okay with that. You know, what I feel like I'm such a, I'm such a strong personality and I make all the decisions, let's be honest. And then to let them feel like it's nice. Oh, it's definitely nice.

But I think I love it when it just happened. Yeah. I don't have to let him. I like become that person in front of my husband. And it's definitely a husband thing because there's just something about I'm completely incompetent. Like when we go to the airport, like all I do is follow Nick. Like I have no idea. And when I'm traveling by myself, like I'm a boss.

Like I know exactly where I'm going. How to get. But when I'm with me, I'm just like, wait, what? Where are we going? Where's the gate? What is that? Is he like a dad that gets to the airport three hours early and checks where the gate is.

No, he travels too much for that. Yeah. He knows what he's doing. We both do the, like, when it's the last minute we can. So last passenger on board will be me. Not like late. Really? Not late, but last.

We're pro travelers. Yeah. We're like pro travelers. Like nothing can get, like how about like a turbulent flight who's freaking out? None of us actually. Stop. Like if it's bad. Yeah.

Like I spend half my life on a plane. It's scary. Yeah. But usually we were like, okay. So what made you so sure about... Oh, he can sleep through it. Oh, he can sleep through it. Because I know you started dating in May, engaged in July, married in December.

What made you so sure? Is it like when you know, you know, kind of a vibe that happened? I still don't have an answer to that. I think I was sure because he was sure. Oh. He was sure about you from the beginning. From the DM, he slitting near DMs was like, we need to meet. People have said.

Yeah. We need to meet. He was sure from the guest. But that's just who he is. He's a very self-assured person. And I think that was very attractive to me. Yeah, that is hot. So because he proposed it was a surprise.

I had a feeling it was coming, but not as soon as it did. It happened in two months. I was expecting it to be like a little bit later. Were you worried then about what people would say at all? Did that creep in? Like that you're getting married quickly or something. Like, no, my parents got married 10 days of meeting each other. They met at a party, got my head.

10 days later. So I was never afraid of no one's opinion on like when and how we get married. Yeah. No, we just, we knew we wanted to do it that year and we did it. And how many years are you celebrating? How do you know when to celebrate your anniversary since your wedding spanned a few days or? Oh, but that's an Indian wedding. Yeah, yeah.

You still have one anniversary. Oh, you have one. Yeah. We have two because of the Hindu ceremony and the Christian ceremony. So we have. Oh, so you have two? We have to. Do you celebrate both?

We celebrate the, yeah. Of course we celebrate both. You celebrate both. We take like three days. It's great. Oh my God. Your roast was so good at that roast. I was cracking up.

Did you prepare that on your own? No, actually. Of course, some of the writers wrote it, but I don't know if many people know this, but Nick Roast wrote most of it for me. Stop. Yeah. That's what a partnership looks like. Did you ask him to, or was he like, I,

good ideas for you. I asked him. I was like, here, I want you to read it and give me your thoughts. And he just made it better. Were you shocked how savage he was willing to get about himself? No, because that's how self-assured he is. I knew that he would make it better. Yeah.

Like, you would be too sensitive to his feelings. No, like, I wouldn't say it. Yeah. But, like, he would know. Wait, because that was, it was like, you have more followers on Instagram than all of them. That was his joke. And the, what was the age? Gap joke that you made?

Yep, that was his joke too. No, that's so funny. Do you scroll? Yeah, definitely. You're a scroller? I'm user 856995. 8.05. Wait, on TikTok, you mean?

Oh, you're a user on TikTok. Yeah. You're a scroller. So what's your... I'm a scroller. I see everything, but I don't do it. What's your FYP? I...

What is it? Is it you? No, imagine just like things of you. Not on TikTok. I wonder if like your user knows... Not on TikTok. On Instagram it is. Yeah, on Instagram, it is.

But on TikTok, it is like, mostly like a lot of kids stuff. I love babies being funny. Yeah. And then like savage people, people, like funny stuff. TikTok is and also informational, by the way. Oh. Like this drink will do this the next morning. You won't be bloated.

Like stuff like that. Do you follow the hacks? No, but I will save them. Oh my God. And then forget. It's like I'll save recipes that are so. Many recipes. That are so, this is like a.

disease that I have. I'll save these recipes. I'm going back. I'm going to go back to it. I actually text myself. So I'll, like if I like a TikTok or something of a recipe, I'll text it to myself.

I never make it. I never fucking make it. I, like, what is your dream? Because you said you did so many action movies. That's your forte. You thrive in it. The bluff. So good.

Do you see yourself doing next? Like, romantic comedy? Like, I feel like that would be like your action. Like for other people. Well, they would go from that to doing stunts and everything. But for you, would that be totally different to do that kind of a vibe? Yeah, I think for the last few years, I've done a lot of, like, cool, fun action movies and that genre. In my Indian language work, I've worked in a lot of genres.

So I'm looking forward to doing like a drama, maybe a comedy. Comedy, yeah. I love a good rom-com. But yeah, pivoting and doing, like, things. And now with it now, now you're saying you're had it for. 12 years, but you can seek out those kinds of projects, no? I'm developing some really fun stuff for me, which hopefully let's see. We'll see what happens.

Well, fingers crossed. Yeah. Is that what we're manifesting? Is there anything specific? We're manifesting for what's next? I do want to be able to diversify in the work that I do for sure. But I really want to manifest being able to, like, actually be present. That's my manifestation for 2026, is be,

wherever I am. Like I'm here having this chat with you and I want to be here and I have had this mindset which has been my ambition. I've been a very ambitious person my whole life but we just keep going. We keep going and we romanticize the fact that if we don't work so hard, we don't deserve it maybe. And this is the year for me to just put a pause on that drive and that feeling and work intentionally, but take time to breathe. Yeah. Do you have like a time off now after you're done with this press tour and everything? No, I'm still filming this movie of mine called Varanasi, which I'm flying back and forth from India.

But after that, I have a little bit of time. After you're done with this movie? Yes. After I have a little bit of time. Are you going to go on vacation? I don't know. Depends. I think my husband's going to be a movie set somewhere.

So we'll be on vacation wherever he is. I don't know. We have to figure out between our schedules and where we can be. What a wild life. What a fun. It's like a. Fun ride. You never know what's next. Yeah, that's for sure.

Yeah. You definitely never know what's next. Well, thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. It was so great to get to know you and stare into your eyes this whole fucking podcast. The Bluff is on Prime Globally. Yes, it's out today. It's out today.

It's out today. So by the time this comes out, it'll be out for everyone. It's such a, I want to say, like, fun, action-packed, hardcore, badass movie. Thank you. And with the twist of pirates. It's what real pirates were like. Not Jack Sparrow. Not Disney.

Not Disney. I love Pirates of Caribbean. Not the Disney version of it. It's what real pirates were like. And we have erased the story of female pirates, I think, from history. No one has heard of them. Right. Very few Mary Reid maybe.

Very few people have heard of Ching Shi or like amazing female pirates that actually existed. Uh-huh. And so it's really cool to be telling her story. I love that and I love the pirate core. Thanks. It's fun. Are you going to keep it going for a little bit? No. She's done.

She's done. A week was good. Yeah. I love it. Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Not Skinny but Not Fat. Follow me on Instagram at Not Skinny but Not Fat. Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any episodes. Rate the podcast that you love so much on Apple Podcast and write a little review.

If you tell me you did, I'll give you a big virtual smoooo. Thank you guys. much for listening and I'll see you next Tuesday. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.