Priyanka Chopra stated that Citadel, her newest Russo Brothers action drama co-starring Richard Madden, is the first time she has had pay parity with her male co-star during an interview with Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW 2023) on Friday.
After being named Miss World 2000, Priyanka joined the film industry and made her acting debut in the Tamil film Thamizhan (2002). The following year, she starred in her first Bollywood movie, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003).
She will next be spotted with Richard Madden in the upcoming Russo Brothers-produced series Citadel on Prime Video. According to the description, the programme is a “action-packed spy series” that takes place all over the world. For the first time, Priyanka mentioned “pay parity” on the programme.
“I might get into trouble for [saying this], depends on who’s watching. I’ve been working in the entertainment industry for now 22 years, and I have done about almost 70-plus features and two TV shows. But when I did Citadel, it was the first time in my career that I had pay parity. I’m laughing about this, but it’s kind of nuts,” Priyanka Chopra said.
The actor continued, “I work and invest the same amount, but I receive much less compensation. I was like, “You’re right, it’s fair,” but I was surprised by how easily Amazon Studios said, “That’s what you deserve, you’re co-leads, that’s just fair.” And I ponder: Did that occur as a result of the dearth of female executives in Hollywood? If a woman hadn’t made that choice, would the conversation have been different?
Those were not straightforward conversations to have. Jennifer Salke praised her executive team but retorted that she couldn’t speak for what would have happened if she hadn’t been in charge. At her company, she claimed to have “great allies” who are both men and women.
Recently, the spy series starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden debuted its first trailer. Priyanka’s upcoming projects include Love Again with Sam Heughan and Celine Dion in addition to the web series Citadel on Prime Video.
The movie, which was written and directed by James C. Strouse, is an English-language adaptation of the German movie SMS fur Dich from 2016, which was based on a Sofie Cramer novel.