Priyanka Chopra Met ‘Assistant Of Assistant’ In During Early Hollywood Days, Manager Recalls

Back in 2015, Priyanka Chopra made a bold and career-defining move by setting her sights beyond Bollywood and stepping into Hollywood. Determined to carve a space for herself on the global stage, she signed a talent deal with ABC Studios and soon landed the lead role of Alex Parrish in the American thriller series Quantico. When the show premiered on ABC in 2015, it marked a historic moment — Priyanka became the first South Asian actor to headline a network drama series in the US, instantly drawing international attention.

“You Can’t Break a Brown Bollywood Star In America”: Anjula Acharia On Early Doubts

However, the path to that milestone wasn’t free of doubts. Priyanka’s manager, Anjula Acharia, has now revealed that the decision was initially met with widespread skepticism. Many questioned the feasibility of launching a “brown Bollywood star in America” and even dismissed the idea as unrealistic. Speaking on The Ok Sweetie Show, Acharia opened up about the resistance they faced in the early days.

“People told me I was stupid when I bought Priyanka. Everyone was like, ‘You can’t break a brown Bollywood star in America’. I went to Jimmy (the cofounder of Interscope Records) because we had signed her together through a label deal at Interscope. I was having one of my insecure moments. There weren’t very many, and I was like, ‘Jimmy, people are saying that I’m crazy,’ and he goes, ‘Do you know everyone thought I was crazy when I wanted to launch a white rapper whose name was Eminem.’”

From cafeteria meetings to center stage: The tough early days in the US

In the same conversation, Acharia also recalled the early, often discouraging phase of Priyanka’s Hollywood journey. She spoke about the numerous meetings they attended with junior-level executives — what she described as meeting the “assistant of the assistant” — and how emotionally difficult that period was to watch.

“Imagine this: you are with the Beyonce of a country, but nobody else knows that she is Beyonce. Just you do. And she is introducing herself and saying, ‘You don’t know who I am, but I’m Priyanka Chopra.’ I’m meeting the assistant of the assistant in a cafeteria with her. I was suffering from heartbreak for her, but she was so fabulous. She has no ego.”

Acharia added that working closely with Priyanka has been a lesson in humility and perseverance. She shared that despite her own instincts to turn down certain situations, Priyanka consistently chose to stay grounded and do the work.

“She has no ego”: How Priyanka Chopra redefined humility and hustle

“Priyanka has actually taught a lot of humility. There have been a lot of times where I have been like, ‘We don’t have to do this,’ but she is like, ‘No, yeah we do.’ There have been very specific moments where I’m like, ‘We are above this,’ and she is like, ‘No, we are not.’”

What’s next for Priyanka Chopra on the global stage

On the professional front, Priyanka Chopra will next be seen in the R-rated pirate adventure The Bluff, where she essays the role of Bloody Mary alongside Karl Urban. The film is slated to premiere on Prime Video on February 25. She is also set to return to Indian cinema with S.S. Rajamouli’s ambitious globetrotting project Varanasi, which stars Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran in key roles.