Illustration: Lauren Tamaki
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a beloved Bollywood and Hollywood superstar, started in show business after winning the Miss World contest in 2000. Since then, the 38-year-old star has become a singer, film producer and author. Chopra Jonas wrote his new memoirs, Unfinished, (released on February 9), during the global pandemic – she describes it as “between interviews, the things I never talked about”. In addition to releasing his first book, Chopra Jonas also ended filming Text for you, a Sony film, and is starting production on an Amazon series, Citadel. At the same time, she is starting her book tour and promoting two films: We can be heroesand The white tiger, both available now on Netflix. She currently lives in London with her Chihuahua Diana, while her husband, Nick Jonas, is at her home in Los Angeles.
Cut editors want to acknowledge that we missed the mark in a previous article on Chopra Jonas, and we rightly heard our readers about it. That was a mistake, and we apologize to our readers, as well as Chopra Jonas and her husband, Nick Jonas. We are happy to have spoken to her recently – see how she does it.
In the mornings:
I wake up around 8 or 9 in the morning. The first thing I do is look at my phone, which is the worst habit. I search. I make a big cup of espresso – I have an espresso machine in my room – and this is how my brain starts. I’m trying to reduce it to a small one, but at the moment it’s still a big one. As I work on two different continents, one of them is always awake, whether in the United States or India. LA and Mumbai are 12 hours apart. London is in the middle. So I always wake up with messages from a part of the world that was awake while I was sleeping. I check emails once a day, maybe, but I check my texts [right away]. I go on Instagram and Twitter and see what’s going on in the world. Considering how it was 2020, I often woke up and expected the worst. I would have a coffee and form opinions on what I think.
In training:
After breakfast, I train Zoom with my trainer. I receive specific training for the next job I will do. Now, this is Citadel. I’ve never been able to work out consistently before, but quarantine helped me get into the routine of working out five days a week. And my husband also helped me get it right. It consists of body weights and is very functional and oriented to cardio.
On the importance of eggs:
I eat two meals a day: brunch and dinner, and maybe a snack in between. I have to eat eggs in the morning. Brunch won’t be complete if I don’t have eggs. Depending on my mood, fried eggs, scrambled or omelet. Usually scrambled. With avocado toast, Hibiscus tea, orange juice, lots of water, some fruits. It is usually my breakfast.
When writing:
I signed the contract to write the book two years ago. Life was crazy. I was on a flight every other day, flying across the continent. I was on 25 flights in a month. I never had time to do that [the writing]. I looked at an empty page on my computer. I tried to write in a diary, but I was blocked. Then the pandemic happened and I had the chance to take a break and do a deep insight. When Nick and I were home in LA, we had a chance to build our home, and I had a great view of Hollywood. I would sit there or on the couch with my computer and sometimes a diary, and write what I remembered.
I’m terrified of the book launch and of people getting to know me so closely and personally. This book is overloaded with all my insecurities, fears and vulnerabilities. It was a cathartic process, writing it, and it came out of me.
In press tours with zoom:
I’m promoting We can be heroes and my new movie The white tiger, both on Netflix. I’m taking a press tour that would normally be done in studios with the cacophony of hair, makeup and wardrobe staff – now it’s just me doing my own hair and makeup, and my wardrobe falls off and I choose my clothes. I try to overcome the technological disasters that happen to me and to everyone who is having these virtual meetings at home.
In nighttime routines:
I take a break at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm for an early dinner, but only because I’m training for a job – otherwise, I wouldn’t be so disciplined. Usually like protein vegetables. I love to explore gastronomic experiences from different parts of the world – Vietnamese chicken with zucchini noodles, Lebanese, Greek, Thai food. And after that, I go to a few more meetings until about 9:00. So it’s time to read or watch TV. At the moment, I’m watching all the writers at the Academy – all the films that are under consideration for the Oscars. My producer has an initial contract with Amazon, and we are providing content for them, and a second contract with CBS Viacom, so I always have a script by my side. I am always late with them, much to the chagrin of my executives. I need to spend some time on my face before going to sleep – I do my night routine, take off my makeup, hydrate. I try to control myself to sleep seven to eight hours a night, because that’s when I work best. When I see that I am [about to hit my time limit] that’s when I go to bed, usually around 11:30 pm or midnight.
In domestic work:
In India, there is a large service industry. But here, I am very proud of your home. I’m always walking around the house doing as much as I can. Taking things. I hate to see a sink with dishes inside. I also don’t like a wet sink, or a bathroom with thrown towels. I need to make my bed when I leave my room. I am very specific about cleanliness. I don’t know how to cook, so this is usually a delivery service that comes to me, especially during the pandemic.
On social media reviews:
Girl, I learned to deal with it in a year or so [into my career]. I have now been a public person for most of my life – it comes with brick bags and bouquets. You do that deal with the devil, the fact that I am going to do this job, and I am to consume, news about me is to consume – I made peace with it 20 years ago. So it doesn’t bother me, unless it affects my work or my family. But my work is tangible. I go to the set, create a movie, a TV show. This is my job. The freedom and beauty of social media is creating a medium for conversation. I have a lot of love and support on social media from interested or curious people. At the same time, my relationship with social media has changed after big, obscure “scandals” or online conversations that have baffled me. I am not as free, open or vulnerable as I used to be. I follow my relationship with the internet. I consume for the positives.
At distance wedding:
Nick and I have atypical careers. In non-pandemic circumstances, we would be in different time zones. It takes a deliberate effort by Nick and me and our team to manage our schedules and make sure we can see each other as often as possible. That usually includes him coming to me where I’m working, or me going to him where he’s working and taking time off from our careers. There are many moving parts.
I am happy that we live in the age of technology. My parents were military, my father would be placed in obscure places and my mother would not hear from him for days. I moved to the uk [last fall] for a year because I’m making a movie and then a TV show here, and Nick had a break, so he came in November and December to accommodate me. He stayed here, he arranged our house with me, and I feel super accommodated. That’s the thing about having a partnership – we both admire and appreciate each other’s careers and it helps us navigate this scary thing called programming.
On how to avoid isolation during the pandemic:
Whenever I feel crazy or frustrated, I call someone who will listen and understand where I come from. My friends or family, or even my team. That’s the only thing this year really taught me. There are two ways to deal with the mix of emotions that we all really feel. One way is to isolate ourselves and make it internal. But I am in much more contact with my family and friends. I struggle to connect, because it was such a scary thing to be taken from me. Something we all take for granted.