The actor, who just wrapped up shooting for The Bluff this month, talks about doing her own stunts and feeling homesick

Photographed by Zhong Lin

In 2008, Priyanka Chopra Jonas walked out of the Caribbean Sea onto a golden Miami beach in Dostana and it instantly became an iconic scene that catapulted her into the same league as a Bond girl. Now, 16 years later, she’s headed back into the sea, not in a monokini but in full gear as a pirate for The Bluff, an upcoming movie in which she stars opposite Karl Urban of The Boys fame.

Over the last couple of months, Chopra Jonas has regularly posted BTS snippets from the film set. In most of them, her clothes and face appear to be stained with blood, causing a fair bit of alarm among her 91.8 million followers on Instagram. (The actor offered placations via a post-script at the bottom of a caption which read, “For those who can’t tell. We use fake blood for movies. It’s make up.”) However, in a carousel of photos and videos she posted in June, Chopra Jonas showed off the very real battle scars she sustained on her leg while performing her own stunts. “Glamourous. Super glamourous. Like a ballerina almost. But stunts,” she announced in the video, twisting her leg to show her injuries. When a fan expressed concern about her wellbeing in the comments, she gently responded, “I’m alright. But you do get injured a bit when you do stunts. All minor injuries though. Cute bruises. Professional ⚠️ thank you for caring.”

Chopra Jonas might think her bruises are cute; although she admits her schedule was anything but. “My days were really intense, but at the same time, ironically, extremely routine,” she told Vogue India in conversation for her cover interview. “I’d been filming for The Bluff since May and I was working six days a week. If we weren’t shooting nights, I would wake up most days between 4:30 and 5am. I worked 12 hours, came home, ate dinner, played with my daughter, caught up with my mom or other work, went to sleep, then woke up the next day and did it all over again.” Her mother and daughter Malti Marie joined her when she was shooting on the Gold Coast in Australia, and while she was grateful for the company, she confessed it was challenging and isolating to be so far away from everything. “Nick [Jonas] was busy with his touring, yet he found the time to fly in for that extra TLC and to spend time with us.” Still, those moments were few and far between. “My family, friends and team were sleeping when I was awake, and while I was asleep they were at full steam. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess.”

Now that the schedule for The Bluff—centred on a former pirate who must safeguard her family against the dark sins of her past catch—has officially wrapped up, Chopra Jonas is able to look back on the experience more fondly. “What I loved about this movie from the jump was how unique and clutter-breaking it is. It’s redefining the pirate genre, which itself is very stereotyped, so that’s exciting. Also, filming in Australia was absolutely beautiful. The local crew, the people, the locations were all so nice.” The actor plays a double role in the movie: one, as the ferocious pirate-turned-homemaker; two, as producer in the credits that roll after the movie.

Although Chopra Jonas preferred doing a lot of her own stunts for The Bluff, at 42, she admits that her body was forced to bear the brunt of her enthusiasm. “I’ve always enjoyed the physicality of it, but man, you definitely feel it as you get older, and the recovery isn’t quite as quick as when you’re in your twenties.” That said, she appreciates that there was an elegance to the choreography of action alongside the depths of drama that her role demanded. “Being a woman also added another interesting layer to it. I love surprising the audience with the extent to which I can push myself in the genre.” Could it be said that Chopra Jonas is in her action heroine era? With Citadel, in which she plays espionage agent Nadia Sinh, renewed for season 2, action comedy Heads of State wrapping up filming and the release date for The Bluff set to be announced anytime now, it sure seems like she’s reverting to her Roma avatar from her Don days.