I'm balancing two worlds like the Statue of Liberty: Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra, who's shooting Quantico in Montreal will be back next month to sign two films.

Last week, Priyanka Chopra walked into Times Square in New York to find herself splashed across billboards and digital screens in the busiest pedestrian junction of the world. It's the same, in the Canadian city, Montreal, where she is filming her upcoming TV show, Quantico.

Speaking to Mirror from her new home in Quebec City, PeeCee admits she feels like an 18-year-old debutante all over again. "I had just won the Miss World title when I signed for Andaaz opposite Akshay Kumar. I remember sitting at Juhu Beach, gazing at six hoardings and wishing I were up there too. It took me five years to get there, and I was finally across all of them just before Fashion released. It's the same feeling all over again," she reminisces.

The actress, who flew off to Los Angeles on July 20, has a new bestie in co-star Anabelle Acosta. There's a lot of 'womance' on the sets and PeeCee has her own girl gang. "It's like being back in school with the boys chilling out together and the girls doing their own thing. My co-stars are experienced TV actors and a big support. I'm glad I am not alone, this time around," she asserts.

Recently, she screened one of her Hindi hits for them. "And ever since the boys saw Gunday, they've been taking off their shirts and running around the sets in slow motion, like Ranveer (Singh) and Arjun (Kapoor) from the film," she laughs, adding that they plan to record a video of them imitating the Indian actors and send it to the film's director, Ali Abbas Zafar, as their audition tape for his next Hindi film. "Realising how far I am from home, they've been taking extra care of me. Despite living in the US, they too miss home when they're shooting in Canada. We stick together. By month-end, my mom, (Madhu Chopra) will be with me too. I cannot live alone!"

The 33-year-old actress has been filming 16 to 20 hours, canning nine scenes a day, shuttling between the past and the future for reel. All the recruits have a specific reason for joining the force and the ABC production chronicles their training in the present, before they fastforward to the future, when PeeCee's half-Indian, half-American character is suspected of masterminding the biggest terror attack on New York City, since 9/11. She also has an affair with a fellow recruit, Ryan Booth, played by Jake McLaughlin, who was last seen as the lead in NBC's fantasy drama, Believe. Aunjanue Ellis plays Miranda Shaw, the assistant director of the FBI Academy, and Josh Hopkins is her subordinate, FBI Special Agent Liam O'Connor. There are a lot of action sequences and Priyanka has been relying on the strength she built up for Don, Mary Kom and most recently, Gangaajal 2. "I'm confident and have a great body of work behind me. Hindi films are my heart and soul, my strength and ammunition out here," she says, adding that there are lots of hand-to-hand combat sequences in the series. "The fighting is as real as it gets, with punches, kicks and pushes. Alex Parrish is super-sexy and totally badass, so there are no wires and no flying around, Bollywood ishtyle."

Priyanka returns to India by the end of September to wrap up Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romance, Bajirao Mastani. "I have a few sequences with Ranveer (Singh) that I will wrap up and return to the US for Season 2. I'm not bound by a ridiculous contract, I can travel back and forth. I'm balancing my two worlds like the hands of Liberty," she giggles.

She reveals that during her next visit to India she will sign two Hindi films before she flies back to the US. She will also shortlist a few other projects. Is one of the films the much-awaited Don 3? "I can only confirm what films I am signing when I'm in Mumbai. I love everyone at Excel (Entertainment). Ritesh (Sidhwani), Farhan and Zoya (Akhtar) are my family. But nothing is finalised and it's too early to say anything," she reasons. "Waise bhi, it's the director's prerogative whom they want to work with."

What about a Hollywood film? "Bollywood is not a stepping stone to the West. I am extremely picky and in no hurry to sign a Hollywood film. I am only greedy for great roles, language and country is no barrier. And yes, I'll always be a Hindi film star first," she signs off.