Priyanka Chopra is opening up about a dark time in her life.
The Citadel star recently recalled undergoing doctor-recommended surgery to get a polyp in her nasal cavity removed at the beginning of her career. However, the botched procedure ended up having a detrimental impact on her mental health.
"It was a dark phase," Priyanka said on the Howard Stern Show May 1. "This thing happens, and my face looks completely different, and I went into a deep, deep depression."
The 40-year-old further said that she was fired from three different movies after the surgery, adding she truly believed her acting career "was over before it started."
Despite being hesitant to go under the knife again, Priyanka's late dad, Ashok Chopra, encouraged her to get corrective surgery.
"I was terrified of that, but he was like, ‘I will be in the room with you,'" she confessed. "He held my hands through it and helped me build back my confidence."
In addition to father, she also expressed her gratitude to Bollywood director Anil Sharma for helping her through this emotional time.
"I was supposed to play this lead, and I was shifted to a supporting character," the Quanitco alum told host Howard Stern. "That filmmaker was very kind."
She added, "He—while the tide was against me—said, ‘It will be a small part but give it your all.' And I did.'"
And these days, Priyanka—who is mom to 1-year-old daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas with husband Nick Jonas—is continuing her streak as leading lady, including with her new Prime Video series Citadel.
"This was a very demanding show, physically, spiritually and emotionally," the Baywatch star exclusively told E! News' Francesca Amiker in April. "We shot it in 2021 and it's five years in the making. Here the show is, we trained for over a year and a half for this show."
"It required a lot of discipline," she added, "and that was tough so I learned I can do anything I put my mind too."