Priyanka Chopra

I'm not even Indian-American: I'm Indian-Indian. Everybody expected me to have henna and a nose pin and talk in an accent like Apu from 'The Simpsons.' I was nervous because I wasn't sure if America was ready for a lead that looked like me.

After I won Miss India, I realised I do not like failing. I just like being the best. I hate being a loser. So I just have to keep winning.

I'm trying to be global and trying to push us, as a society, to becoming colorblind, and so I'm very grateful to ABC for casting me in 'Quantico.' It was based on my merit, not on my ethnicity.

In my 20s, I used to have a lot more energy! I was this skydiving, bungee-jumping adrenaline junkie. I don't know what happened to me! Now that I'm in my early 30s, I've put all that energy into my work, although I'm still a little ridiculous. In your 30s, you're sensible enough to know better, but still stupid enough to do stupid things.

When I was little, my dad used to call me 'Bandarella,' because I was a mess - a Bandar is a monkey in Hindi. I was not a girly-girl and would always break something and would be running around and didn't really fit in.

I lost my dad two years ago to cancer, and before he died, I asked him to write 'Daddy's Little Girl' on a piece of paper for me. I told him it was for an album. He practiced and practiced and then sent it to me, and I had it tattooed onto my wrist and surprised him with it. He cried when he saw it, happy tears. This way I always carry him with me.

When there is a ring on my finger, which is actually given to me, then I'll tell the world. Till then, no one can claim me.

Bollywood is not a stepping stone to the West. I am extremely picky and in no hurry to sign a Hollywood film. I am only greedy for great roles; language and country is no barrier. And yes, I'll always be a Hindi film star first.

To convince another part of the world that Bollywood is not just jokers who break into song and dance was very difficult. I'm literally ploughing the ground and making people understand that Indian actors are not a joke.

So many people from the West are coming into India, all the studios have come into India, and they're making films here, whether that's Fox, Warner Bros, Disney, everyone. That stands as testament for us, so why are we afraid of sharing our talent with the world? We must.

Art is collaboration: we are artists all over the world. I believe that people are always going to watch Hindi films... that's never going to die, but I think it's amazing that collaborations like that are happening.

I felt so out of place at the Miss India pageant. I had just come back from America, and I was told I needed to lose my American accent and learn the Queen's English, so I had to enunciate my vowels and speak well and eloquently. Giving up a New York accent is pretty hard.

Beauty and fashion are not really local anymore. You really have to be a global citizen to know what trends are. Now, it's pretty much the same designers and the same kind of trends, whether I am in New York, Milan, or Mumbai - it's the same.

In India, people love turmeric. They make turmeric milk, and sometimes I mix it with some cream or yogurt and turn it into a scrub. You'd be amazed at what it can take off your skin.

I've always had a glam squad to do my makeup because of Miss India and Miss World, so I never really learned much about doing it myself, unfortunately. I do try to pick up what I can, though! The most incredible product that has ever been discovered in makeup, according to me, is mascara.

When it comes to an everyday situation, I am like an ant. I keep putting money aside because I know that if I want to splurge, there is a big mountain of money that I can use.

You like someone, you court each other, you get into a relationship. You're answerable to each other. Whereas, the non-answerability of dating, my God, I don't know if I would ever be able to.

I think 'Baywatch' will be a summer blockbuster, and I'm not just saying it because I'm in it. I saw a bunch of scenes right now, and it's the funniest movie ever. Dwayne and Zac Efron have the best chemistry, and I come and interrupt their chemistry.

I think because I was Miss World, and I modeled for a little while, I have - I just like heels, actually. I think that's the truth. I'm trying to find an excuse.

Who doesn't want to be, like, five inches taller whenever they can be? If boys could, they'd be wearing heels.

I always get stopped by security and immigration, telling me, 'Tell me who the terrorist is, or we won't stamp your passport!' The last time that somebody did that to me - at LAX, actually - I was like, 'Hey, don't ever ask a brown girl that in an American airport!'

One girl used to call me Brownie and tell me to go back to my own country. At lunch, I'd get a bag of chips from the vending machine and eat it in the storage room so I wouldn't have to see her.

When I'm not shooting, I don't wear much makeup. I just moisturize and maybe put on a berry-colored balm on my lips and cheeks, and then mascara - that's it. My face and hair gets abused every single day, so I try take it easy on off days.

I'm really strict with my skincare regimen. No matter what's happening in my life, I wash my face every single night and I moisturize - even if it's 4 A.M.

After every bath, I make sure to moisturize my entire body. I'm obsessed with Diptyque: people love their candles, but their body products are also amazing.

I have great Indian genes! You know, I'm lazy. I want to take advantage of the fact that I have a great metabolism. When I start getting fat, I'll work on it! I like food, and I don't like the gym, and as long as I look like this without doing anything, why bother?

I think great skin is always important. With lots of makeup, by the end of the night, you look like you're melting!

I believe in myself and my art so much. I've always trusted destiny. Wherever it takes me, I just work damn hard at the opportunity.

To be a philanthropist, you don't have to be Nelson Mandela. You just have to look around you and ask, 'What little bit can I do? Whose life can I touch?'

I can't eradicate poverty, but at least for the people around me, I can help make sure no child is denied a dream.

The best part of working on 'Baywatch' is to be the villain of the movie. I don't think The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, has ever had anyone who's been mean to him.

When I was 13, I would come visit my aunt and uncle in New York. I decided I wanted to live with them after seeing my cousin's school. Honestly, I just wanted to go to a school where I didn't have to wear uniforms, and my mom said okay.

As an entertainer, I try to do projects that reflect a woman having the ability to stand up for herself.

I've been doing a lot of work on female rights, especially adolescent rights. I've been to a lot of schools where the UNICEF had set up villages in India, and it's an eye-opening experience.

I think there's a social responsibility that comes with a public platform. Because of the position that I've been put in, I think it's important to use my voice to do as much as I can.

When I won Miss World, I wasn't even 18, and I only remember, like, I thought of it as a day in the races or something. It didn't feel like it was Miss World of the Millennium Year, the change of the century. I didn't understand the magnitude of it for at least a couple of years.

I had a holding deal with ABC to find me a show, and I was very clear about the kind of show I wanted to do, because Indian people have always been seen as - well, we've been put in a box, about who we should be like.

When I grew up, I never saw anyone looking like me on TV, you know? I'm so glad to see a lot more of us on television, whether it's Mindy Kaling or it's Irrfan Khan or Freida Pinto. You know, I hope, like, little girls across the world can just look at me and say, 'Ah, I want to be that!' Indian or not, it shouldn't matter.

I can never be incognito... but I love it!

I'm different. I don't speak perfect American. I do have a lilt of an Indian accent. I thought, 'Maybe the world's not okay with what I bring, being Indian.'

The acceptance of 'Quantico' so far has been really great. At the moment, I'm just straddling two continents far away from each other, with very active careers in both!

It's almost negligible sleep and insane amounts of plane rides, but I'm doing it. Your body is screaming out to you to not abuse it so much, but I love what I do in my Hindi films as well as with 'Quantico,' and I want to be able to balance both.

'In My City' was my first single. It has a very special place in my heart, and I am beyond excited to bring the amazing energy of the track to the NFL's passionate fans.

Whenever I pick a script, I make sure I'm choosing something I would want to watch. And 'Quantico' was something I'd definitely want to watch. As soon as I read the pilot - and I read 26 this season - I knew this was it.

In features, we're languid: we shoot one or two scenes over, like, three days. In TV, the pace is so different. You're shooting ten scenes a day, going way into the future or way back into the past. It's complete madness, and I'm just trying to keep up with this really electric pace.

I decided a long time ago that if I was going to do anything internationally, it would be mainstream pop entertainment - and that's exactly what 'Quantico' is. The diversity is just reflective of the world today - look around you: this is what America looks like. This is what the world looks like. It's time Hollywood embraced that.

I don't look at Hollywood as a big break. Indian film stands on its own.

I've been used to being my own boss for a really long time, so I don't take to authority very well.

I hate the term 'Bollywood,' because we're not a 'me too' of Hollywood. The Indian film industry is prolific.

When I was in high school in America, I didn't see anyone who looked like me - hardly ever. I just thought that was normal because you don't know any better. So I used to idolize so many other people, like Sarah Michelle Gellar on 'Buffy.'