Priyanka Chopra: 'Girls called me Brownie at school'

New Baywatch babe Priyanka Chopra hopes her teenage tormentors feel awful as they follow her successes.

The 33-year-old actress has become hot Hollywood property after landing Miss India and Miss World titles and starring in a series of Bollywood hits, but her life hasn't always been all fun and smiles.

Growing up in America, Priyanka was picked on because she looked different and things got so bad for the actress she eventually returned to India to complete her studies.

"One girl used to call me Brownie and tell me to go back to my own country," she tells InStyle. "At lunch I’d get a bag of chips from the vending machine and eat it in the storage room so I wouldn’t have to see her.

"I told my dad about how the teasing affected my self-esteem, and he asked why I wanted to fit in so badly. I responded, 'Because that’s what everyone does'. He said that we’re unique only because of our flaws. I now live by those words."

Before landing a coveted role in the new Baywatch movie, alongside Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Zac Efron, Chopra became the first South Asian woman to lead an American TV series after scoring a role in hit action drama Quantico.

And now she uses her father's advice to help other girls struggling with identity issues, telling them, "Don't try to squeeze into a glass slipper. Instead, shatter the glass ceiling."