The actor, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Priyanka Chopra during her recent interview with Vanity Fair magazine opened-up about playing the role of ace-pugilist Mary Kom and prepping for the role.
Chopra who is also the cover girl for Vanity Fair magazine’s February issue asserted that she feels like someone from the northeast should have played the titular role. “When I played Mary Kom, I was very skeptical taking it on in the beginning because she was a living, breathing icon and she made place for so many female athletes. Plus, I look nothing like her. She comes from the northeast of India and I am from northern India and we physically didn’t look alike. In hindsight, the part should have probably gone to someone from the northeast,” Priyanka Chopra told Vanity Fair.
“But I was just greedy as an actor to get a chance to tell her story because she inspired me so much, as a woman, as an Indian woman, as an athlete. When the filmmakers insisted I do it, I was just like, ‘You know what? I’m going to do it.’” – added the Baywatch star.
Speaking of how she prepped for the role, Priyanka mentioned, “I went and met Mary, I spent time in her home, I met her children, I met her husband. I had to spend almost five months training to learn the sport, which is not easy, by the way… And to physically alter my body as well, to get into an athlete’s shape. So, physically, it was really tough, mentally, it was really tough. Because I physically didn’t look like her, I decided to embody her spirit. So, I spent a lot of time with her so that she could educate me about what her choices were, why she made the choices that she did.”
Directed by Omung Kumar, ‘Mary Kom’ movie is a chronicle of the life of Indian boxer Mary Kom, who went through several hardships before audaciously accomplishing her ultimate dream.
Its worthy to note that the Star-Indian flyweight boxer participated for the first time in 2012 London Olympics, where she clinched the Bronze medal. In a career that has spanned 20 years, Mary Kom has won the World Championships a record-equaling six times, the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships five times, and is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games among other achievements.
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