Priyanka Chopra has opened up about the difficult time she fell into a “deep depression” after her nose surgery went wrong.
The Indian actress, 40, was left with a “completely” changed appearance shortly after winning Miss World in 2000, after a doctor accidentally shaved the bridge of her nose and caused it to collapse.
Chopra had been advised to have nose surgery to remove a polyp in her naval cavity, after experiencing a “lingering head cold” triggered by the tissue growth.
The Citadel star was an actress on the rise before going under the knife, and was subsequently fired from three movies following the botched procedure, leaving Chopra fearing that it signalled the end of her career.
“This thing happens, and my face looks completely different, and I went into a deep, deep depression,” Chopra said on the Howard Stern Show.
“[My acting career] was over before it started.”
Chopra revealed that she entered a “dark phase” after having nose surgery.
The actress said her late father Ashok Chopra, who was a doctor in the Indian Army, then encouraged her to have corrective surgery, in an effort to help her to feel like her former self again.
“I was terrified of that, but he [Chopra’s dad] was like, ‘I will be in the room with you’,’” Chopra shared.
The star thanked Bollywood director Anil Sharma for being the first to offer her a job following the traumatic experience, in what was her first Hindi film titled The Hero: Love Story of a Spy in 2003.
“I was supposed to play this lead, and I was shifted to a supporting character. That filmmaker [Sharma] was very kind,” Chopra continued.
“He, while the tide was against me, said, ‘It will be a small part, but give it your all.’ And I did.”
Chopra previously spoke about the pressures she’s had to undergo cosmetic surgery in her career in her 2021 memoir Unfinished.
Referring to a producer, the actress wrote: “He stared at me long and hard, assessing me, and then suggested that I get a boob job, fix my jaw, and add a little more cushioning to my butt.
“If I wanted to be an actress, he said, I’d need to have my proportions ‘fixed,’ and he knew a great doctor in LA he could send me to.
“My then-manager voiced his agreement with the assessment.”
Chopra revealed she didn’t take the advice and fired her manager afterwards.
