‘Baywatch’ Movie Cast, Updates: Priyanka Chopra Talks Playing Villain Role Originally Intended for a Man, Reveals Secrets to Staying Fit

‘Baywatch’ actress Priyanka Chopra expressed her enthusiasm over playing a villain role originally intended for a man. She also revealed her secrets to staying fit for the role.

 According to Times of India, Chopra talked about her new role as the ‘Baywatch’ film reboot’s latest antagonist Victoria Leeds. During a recent online chat organized by Twitter New York, she expressed her excitement over bringing the iconic television series from the 1990s to the big screen.

Chopra said, "'Baywatch' will be May 19 next year and I'm very excited about the movie because I was a big fan of the show. I think 'Baywatch' as a show is much more popular around the world. I mean, people just loved the show all over the world and this movie, according to me, will be a big summer blockbuster next year because it's so funny.”

She added, “It's Dwayne [Johnson] and Zac [Efron] together. Just picture them together. Isn't that just funny looking at them together? It's just really funny. That in itself is fun, now imagine that in slow motion. It's a great movie. It doesn't take itself seriously. It's a comedy and I play the bitchiest, badass bombshell of a villain in the movie."

Chopra joins the new cast alongside Johnson and Efron, who play Mitch Buchannon and Matt Brody respectively.  Mitch was originally portrayed by David Hasselhoff in the original television series while Matt was portrayed by David Charvet.

Other members of the cast include Alexandra Daddario as Summer Quinn, Kelly Rohrbach as C.J. Parker, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Sgt. Ellerbee. Original stars Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson are confirmed to be making cameos in the new film.

According to another article on Film News, Chopra’s antagonistic role was originally intended for a male actor. The 34-year old Indian actress recalled the moment when Johnson expressed his apparent dislike for her character. She said, “It’s so much fun because, Dwayne was telling me after we finished one scene, ‘I’ve actually never had a nemesis I haven’t crushed before, I can’t do that to you because you’re just mean’.” 

Chopra continued, “I’m just really mean in the film - you know when you don’t know what to do with someone who’s just unapologetically patronising, and condescending? What do you say to someone like that?”

She also added that playing the villain in a film could be “liberating”. She said, “If you don’t pull it off, you’re screwed, and people are like, ‘Oh, girls can’t be villains,’ but I find it liberating, because when are we ever going to be so bad in real life? It’s so much fun to be bad - it’s luxurious.”

Chopra is best known as one of Bollywood’s highest-paid and critically-acclaimed actresses. In addition to acting, she is also a popular singer and philanthropist. She was also the winner of the Miss World Pageant held in 2000.

According to an article on Foods 4 Better Health, Chopra revealed that although she maintained a strict and clean diet most of the time, she loved to indulge in junk food such as burgers and pizza. Her usual diet consisted of home-cooked meals containing fruits, vegetables, and chapatti.

She also revealed that although she didn’t enjoy exercising as much as she should, she devotes hours in the gym with strength training and yoga for her role.

‘Baywatch’ is an upcoming comedy film based on the 1990s television series of the same name. It is directed by Seth Gordon and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is produced under Cold Spring Pictures, Contrafilm, The Montecito Picture Company, Paramount Pictures, and Seven Bucks Productions.

The film adaptation is scheduled to be released in the U.S.A. on May 19, 2017.