Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s New Press Tour? It’s All About Piratecore
Priyanka Chopra Jonas has lived a lot of different lives on-screen: The Indian star has portrayed everything from a high-fashion model (Fashion) to a boxer (Mary Kom), and loads else in between. For her new Amazon Prime movie, The Bluff, however, Chopra embraced a brand new acting challenge all together: She plays a badass pirate named Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden, whose secret past comes back to threaten her new, normal life. “This is a kick-ass pirate movie,” Chopra Jonas tells Vogue. “But besides that, for me, it s about how far would a mother go to protect her family.”
Naturally, becoming a sword-wielding action star did not come without some preparations. The star spent several months training to pull off the film’s high-stakes fighting sequences. “It s not every day that you wield swords against each other—that requires a different part of your brain, to learn how to work with two swords,” says Chopra Jonas. Luckily, she had some familiar help. “I worked very closely with my stunt coordinator, Anisha Gibbs, on three different projects in one year: Heads of State, Citadel (season two), and The Bluff,” she says. “They were all action projects, so she kept me training for the entire year so I could do all three projects.”
Last night in L.A., Chopra Jonas got to celebrate all of her hard work, when she attended the premiere of her film at the TCL Chinese Theatre (alongside her date, husband Nick Jonas). “I ve never had a premiere at the Chinese Theatre,” says Chopra Jonas. “So I was really excited about that—to have so much of our crew that I haven t seen in almost two years there was very exciting.” Even more thrilling? Chopra Jonas kicked off her press tour, which will have loads of thematic fashions to look forward to. (Yes, she is on board with method dressing.) “I m so excited about the clothes that I m wearing for this press tour, because it s piratecore, and I had a lot of fun with it,” she says.
Chopra Jonas’s first press tour outfit began by basing the look around a leather cuirass, which she actually sports in the film. “It s handmade of leather, and took three months to make by many artisans in Australia,” says Chopra Jonas. “When I first tried it on during production, I knew instantly that I wanted to wear it for the premiere as a gown, but didn t know how yet.” The star worked with costume designer Antoinette Messam on the piece, and she adds that many of the costumes in the film draw from classic maritime stories. “Bloody Mary s armor had to be designed, so we thought about what a pirate, specifically a female pirate, would wear,” says Chopra Jonas. “She created this [character] that was beautiful and deadly at the same time.”
From the sculptural top, Chopra Jonas’s premiere ensemble evolved further. The star worked with her stylists Wayman and Micah to cultivate a striking final look, by pairing it with a high-fashion skirt. “They suggested Who Decides War, New York based designers who draw from their Caribbean heritage,” says Chopra Jonas. “They are so cool and contemporary, and have such an edge with design. They made this beautiful skirt to accompany the cuirass, which I think is a really beautiful combination of the feminine and the masculine.”
Much like her approach to dressing for the red carpet, Chopra Jonas says she loves treating her personal style as a form of storytelling. Lately, she has been less focused on looking perfectly-glamorous, and more about being intentional and fun with her choices. “I just try to have fun with it, honestly,” she says. “I think if fashion can have meaning and representation, it s great. It should be an expression of who you are, and your expression needs to be true to whatever you want at that moment.” She views playing with fashion as a form of art—just like how acting or performing can be. “As an actor, I think about fashion as an emotion,” she says. “I try to think about what I m feeling that day. And last night, I wanted to feel fierce.”
Below, see exclusive photos from Chopra’s premiere night.
Photo: Caitlin Wiig1/9The parrot bag! Do I like a theme? #PirateCore.
Photo: Caitlin Wiig2/9The glam though…shipwrecked.
