'First time in 22 years': Priyanka Chopra Jonas finally being paid same as male co-star

For the first time in her 22-year career, actress and activist Priyanka Chopra Jonas earns the same pay as her male counterpart.

During a South by Southwest keynote Friday afternoon, Chopra Jonas, who stars in Amazon Prime’s upcoming show "Citadel," discussed diversity and equality in global entertainment with Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios and former president of NBC Entertainment.

Here are five highlights from their March 10 conversation.

Pay parity requires consistent and proactive advocacy

Spy series "Citadel" is the first role in Chopra Jonas’ career history where she earns the same rate of pay as her male co-lead.

Before this show, Chopra Jonas said, she had filmed two TV shows and around 70 feature films, yet never earned as much as her male colleagues despite often holding leading roles.

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“I put in the same amount of service time, I put in the same amount of investment and work, but I get paid much less,” Chopra Jonas said. In fact, Chopra Jonas consistently did more work than her male co-leads in some of her Bollywood features, since her counterparts had three or four stunt doubles apiece while Chopra Jonas had to do many of her own stunts in addition to acting.

Women in leadership can help effect equality more quickly

“The ease with which Amazon Prime said, ‘You are co-leads, (equal pay) is what you deserve’” was a breath of fresh air with "Citadel," Chopra Jonas said.

Chopra Jonas credited Salke with ensuring that she was paid the same amount as her male co-lead, Richard Madden.

“I had pay parity with my male actor for the first time in 22 years,” Chopra Jonas said. “I wonder if it would have been a different conversation if a woman didn’t have that decision?”

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For Salke, there was “no question” that paying both leads equally was “absolutely the right thing to do,” especially given her position as a woman with decision-making power in a male-dominant industry.

“It takes a woman in the room to make space for stepping back, taking a pause (and saying), ‘Let’s gut-check this,’” Salke said. Chopra Jonas agreed, adding that women and other underrepresented demographics looking out for each other’s best interests “will create the space you’re talking about.”

Allies must support underrepresented voices to shatter glass ceilings

Both Salke and Chopra Jonas emphasized the importance of uplifting the voices of “the people with underrepresented views” within workplaces, “especially when they are the ones doing the day-in, day-out work,” in order to bring about true equality.

Salke shared that she often encourages women to share their ideas during meetings instead of following up with suggestions afterward, stating that listening to their viewpoints has to “become constant and automatic” in order to effect change. And their perspectives aren’t just for feel-good publicity; those voices provide valuable feedback that help companies better relate to their consumers.

Why Amazon Prime has entered the entertainment industry

The pandemic shifted the way people view entertainment, according to Salke, and Amazon expanded its business focus to meet that demand. ("Citadel" is scheduled to premiere April 28.)

“People had more time to watch (movies and TV shows),” she said, and the company began seeking out more content to add to its Amazon Prime library, both through streaming partnerships with existing studios as well as creating its own entertainment.

“(Intellectual property) comes from vision, from ideas, and we can’t just be chasing it,” Salke said regarding the multinational giant’s entry and expansion into filming proprietary movies and TV shows. “We have to generate it.”

Diversity isn’t just about appearances

Chopra Jonas touched on the evolution of diversity in entertainment, praising progress in the direction of showing different faces and emphasizing the importance of continued growth.

“It’s not just about the way we look in entertainment,” Chopra Jonas said. “Everyone also needs to be heard. … Diversity is about how we sound, the language that you use, the words that you say.” She believes that entertainment brands have “the power to change the true face of diversity,” by catering to what worldwide consumers want: more stories about people like themselves.

“It’s not an ‘Us’ and ‘the Other’ thing any more,” Chopra Jonas said. “Diversity … should be representing people in every part of the world.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 5 highlights from Priyanka Chopra Jonas at SXSW in Austin