Priyanka Chopra Jonas says her role in Citadel – reported to be the second most expensive show ever made – was the first time she ever received pay parity with a male co-star.
The 42-year-old actress, who is one of India’s highest-paid stars, is currently shooting the show’s second season here in the UK, opposite Scottish star Richard Madden.
Richard Madden with Chopra Jonas. Pic: Amazon Studios
Taking a day away from filming, and speaking about the show, Chopra Jonas admitted: “I have to say that it was the first time in my career that I received pay parity. It was not something I even thought was possible.
“Did it happen because the head of the studio was female? Maybe”.
Chopra Jonas, who founded her own production company, Purple Pebble Pictures, in 2015, began her rise to fame after winning Miss World 24 years ago.
She was speaking to head of Amazon Studios Jen Salke at Trailblazers, a Prime Video event to celebrate women both on and off-screen.
The first season of Citadel is understood to have cost around $300m (£225m), but failed to thrill critics, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of just 51%.
Getting a second season nonetheless, the next chapter is due out next year.
Produced by the Russo Brothers – who are best known for their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Chopra Jonas plays spy agent Nadia Sinh, opposite Madden’s spy agent Mason Kane.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Pic: Amazon Studios
Chopra Jonas sent Amazon boss images of ‘bloody faces’
Describing the demands of the role, Salke said Chopra Jonas is “willing to do every stunt,” sometimes “falling down” and messaging her with images of “bloody faces” due to the physical nature of the role.
Opening up about her ambition to be more than a romantic lead, Chopra Jonas said: “For me, it was very different, you know, daring to say that I wanted to be able, as an Indian actor, to play leads in commercial entertainment and English language entertainment.”
“When I started doing this, 10 or 12 years ago, very few people had done it, and still there are very few people who are continuing to do so.”
A rarity for a big-budget screener production, Citadel is not based on existing intellectual property.
In a conceptual first, it also has local language spin-offs set in other countries, with Italy-set Citadel: Diana streaming globally from next week and Indian-based Citadel: Honey Bunny, streaming the following month.
Salke described the innovative approach as “internationalising and localising at the same time”.
Speaking about her role as a mother to her two-year-old daughter Malti, who she shares with husband Joe Jonas, Chopra Jonas said it was sometimes a challenge to balance life with the demands of work.
Pic: Amazon Studios
‘I learnt not to self-sabotage’
She said: “As women, we generally tend to think about how, when we have to put ourselves first, we think about everybody else that it’s going to affect before we even think about ourselves. It can be really scary to do something when the path has not been paved many times before.”
She also admitted she taught herself not to always focus on “all the stuff that can go wrong, all the hurdles, [and not to think] ‘what will make it the most embarrassing, horrible decision you’ve ever made?'”
She went on: “I had to learn to not do that because that is so self-sabotaging.”
Speaking about the shows it’s released this year, Prime Video said over 50% of its global greenlights are from women in front of or behind the camera.
Chopra Jonas also revealed she’s set to star in the upcoming action-comedy film, Heads Of State, also starring John Cena and Idris Elba.
Shot in the South of France, and again playing an action role, Chopra Jonas called it “a great, fun ride”.
Led by Russian-born director Ilya Naishuller, the movie is due out next summer.
Citadel 2 will be released next year.