ELLE UK Exclusive: Priyanka Chopra On Why Being Miss World And A Feminist Doesn't Make You A Hypocrite

Major actress (for an indication of just how major, check out her Instagram: a cool 17 million followers), previous Miss World winner, feminist, activist and now part of GAP's latest inclusive campaign - if you don't know about Priyanka Chopra then, frankly, you're in for a treat.

We caught up with the Baywatch star to talk normalising diversity, why feminism needs men too, and how Buffy The Vampire Slayer became her childhood hero...

You star in GAP's new campaign championing diversity, is that something you feel the fashion and film industry are missing?

'If you look around you'll see that people don't all look like each other. And it should be normal to celebrate each other's differences. That's what the vision for the GAP 'Bridging The Gap' campaign was - to make the world realize that we can celebrate each other and at the same time celebrate our differences. Being different doesn't make us strange, it just makes us unique.

'I was very young when I was living in America. I was in high school and there was no one that looked like me on TV so my idol growing up was Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was awesome, I mean I love her! But realistically there was no one that looked like me on TV, and as a child it was something that affected me a lot, when I think about it.

'I met Aziz Ansari at the Met Gala after party recently and he looked around the room and said, 'I was at the Met Gala a couple of years ago and there was only one other brown person beside me. And this time there's like seven!' Even thought that's still such a small number, we laughed about how at least some progress has been made.'

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The campaign is one of the happiest thing we've seen in ages, how was it on set?

'It was so cool to meet Wiz Khalifa, Alek Wek who I'm a huge fan of and Yara Shahidi who I love. It's just so cool to see people like Adwoa Aboah who are leaders in their field coming together for a cause that's important to all of us.

'I think that's the conversation the world really needs right now. We've been divided by too many lines - whether it's race, country, language or religion. I think that we're forgetting that we're all human beings and it's humanity and love that counts.'

Gap

You're famously known for winning Miss World, do you feel a lot of pressure to prove the stereotype of 'pageant girls' wrong?

'I do think pageants are subject to a lot of stereotyping, and some of them deserve it too, but my experience with Miss World wasn't like that. It was focused on being a woman of substance - how well you'd be able to solve world issues, what kind of orator you are etc.

'It wasn't just about being pretty but being well spoken and having compassion. At 18 all of those values being drilled into me taught me so much about the world. It gave me confidence and made me feel great about myself.'

Feminism isn't about drawing lines, it's about erasing them. It's about giving women the power to make their own decisions and not being judged for them.

What about people who say you can't be Miss World and be a feminist?

'Absolutely disagree! I mean that's the beauty of feminism. Feminism isn't about drawing lines, it's about erasing them. It's about giving women the power to make their own decisions and not being judged for them - just the way men have for so many years. It's not hypocrisy, it's empowerment, where a woman gets to make her own choices without the whole world coming after her.'

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How would you encourage men to embrace their inner feminist?

'I think feminism definitely needs men. It's so cool to see so many men come out and speak forward for the women in their lives. You know, it's the dialogue and conversation that matters. Stand up for women around you, the women in your lives, whether it's your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives, whatever.

'You have to remember that women are an extremely important part of the world, they are life-givers and they need to be treated with that respect.'