When not racking up frequent-flyer miles and juggling shoot schedules, Priyanka Chopra prefers to pour her heart out for people to know the kind of person she really is. Underneath the tough Alex Parrish of "Quantico" lies a woman who cherishes memories with her late father and girl crushes on Victoria's Secret model Irina Shayk.
Slaying in a lace-up bikini top and cut-out swimsuits in Esquire's latest photo-shoot, Priyanka is every bit a vision and completely justifies why she is the "woman we love" (as the magazine calls her). She might be poised and setting a perfect example for those aspiring to be her, but there was a time she was a complete "mess."
"When I was little, my dad used to call me 'Bandarella', because I was a mess—a Bandar is a monkey in Hindi," she recalled and added that she failed to fit, but then her dad had an advice, which is a sure-shot confidence booster. "Don't worry about fitting into a glass slipper; shatter the glass ceiling," she quoted him.
In the tell-all interview, she also bares another side to her, which part of the world is unaware of. She used to be a "skydiving, bungee-jumping adrenaline junkie," but as she approaches her mid-thirties, work has all her attention.
Priyanka's journey out West began roughly four years ago when she rebranded herself as an international pop idol with hit single "In My City" featuring will.i.am. The song put her on the international map, earned her accolades and paved the way for a couple of other numbers — "Exotic" and "I Can't Make You Love Me."
Since then, she has featured on highly regarded publications — Elle and The Guardian — and popular chat shows — "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and is now well on her way to becoming a household name, globally.
Priyanka has "Baywatch" coming up with Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario.
Check one of the images from her shoot with the magazine here:
