Change Agent

Quantico leading lady Priyanka Chopra may be a fresh face for american audiences, but the 34-year-old star of more than 50 indian movies is no rookie. And she came to play.

- Veronica Chambers

Many an international actress has set sail for the U.S. with hopes of “making it in Hollywood,” but in 2014, ABC casting executive Keli Lee flew to Priyanka Chopra’s home in Mumbai to present her with a stack of pilot TV scripts to choose from. Chopra—a multihyphenate who, in addition to enjoying a prolific Indian-film career, has recorded chart-topping pop songs with Pitbull and will.i.am and was crowned Miss World in 2000—selected Quantico, and the show, about a class of FBI trainees who may or may not have been infiltrated by terrorists, became one of last season’s breakout hits for the network.

So far, 2016 has been a big year for Chopra. She won a People’s Choice Award for favorite actress in a new television series and appeared on the cover of Time magazine’s annual issue celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world. With Season 2 of Quantico on the horizon, as well as a major role as the villain in the big-screen adaptation of TV’s Baywatch alongside Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson, her prospects for 2017 are looking equally rosy.

While she is somewhat new to America, Chopra is not new to being a star. At her début InStyle cover shoot on Long Island’s sprawling Jones Beach, her confident vibe is obvious. “I didn’t expect to be doing Quantico or to be in America,” she says later with her trademark husky Bacall–by–way–of– London voice. “It wasn’t a part of my plan. I have an amazingly successful career back home. I was very, very happy. I picked Quantico, and it happened to be successful, and now I happen to be spending so much time here.”