Priyanka Chopra says nose surgery left her in 'deep, deep depression'

The actress said she was fired from three films after the surgery went wrong

Priyanka Chopra has spoken of the impact a nose job gone wrong had on her career and mental health. AP

Priyanka Chopra has opened up about how a nose job recommended to her by a doctor at the start of her career left her in a “deep depression”.

The actress, 40, was advised to undergo a procedure to have a polyp in her nasal cavity medically removed in the early 2000s.

But Chopra said the procedure left her looking “completely different” and negatively impacted her career.

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show this week, the star revealed she was fired from three film roles following the procedure, and believed her acting career would be “over before it started”.

Chopra said she entered a “deep, deep depression”, but was eventually encouraged by her father, who was a doctor, to undergo corrective surgery.

“I was terrified of that, but he was like: ‘I will be in the room with you,’” she said. “He held my hands through it and helped me build back my confidence.”

It was Bollywood filmmaker Anil Sharma who helped bolster her career by offering her a supporting role in one of his films.

“He, while the tide was against me, said: ‘It will be a small part but give it your all.’ And I did it,” Chopra said.

Chopra, who won Miss World in 2000, made her Bollywood debut with the 2003 film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy.

This is not the first time the actress has spoken about the impact her nose job had on her life.

In her 2021 memoir, Unfinished, Chopra said she felt “hopeless” after the procedure.

“Every time I looked in the mirror, a stranger looked back at me, and I didn’t think my sense of self or my self-esteem would ever recover from the blow,” she wrote.

Chopra also revealed how the recovering from the procedure eventually helped her to accept herself and her body.

“I’m just like everyone else: I look at myself in the mirror and think maybe I can lose a little weight; I think maybe I can work out a little more,” she wrote. “But I’m also content. This is my face. This is my body. I might be flawed, but I am me.”

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