11 GIFs That Made Us Fall in Love With Priyanka Chopra

If it seems as if you’re seeing Priyanka Chopra everywhere these days, you’re not imagining things. The star of ABC’s Quantico, which sees the actress playing super smart FBI recruit-turned-terror suspect Alex Parrish, is having a major moment right now—and it goes far beyond the small screen.

From music to movies, Chopra has yet to meet a medium she can’t conquer. And while her rise to stardom might seem meteoric to American audiences, fame is nothing new to Chopra; she has been a familiar face to audiences in her native India since the early 2000s and is one of the country’s most powerful celebrities. “I’m destiny’s favorite child, other than Beyoncé,” she joked in our June/July cover story. And she might be on to something.

If you’re wondering what all the buzz is about, you’ve still got time to binge-watch Quantico’s addictive first season before season two kicks off on Sept. 25 at 10|9c. In case you’re not convinced yet, check out these 11 GIFs That Made Us Fall in Love With Priyanka Chopra.

Within the first two minutes of Quantico’s very first episode, Chopra tells us everything we need to know about Alex Parrish: This is a woman who knows what she wants, and how to get it with a single look.

Before she has even stepped through the FBI Training Center’s front doors, Chopra’s Parrish already knows that she’s going to own this class of recruits.

Though she made her big-screen debut in the 2002 film Thamizhan, Chopra’s breakthrough performance came a year later, in the Bollywood film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. (Coincidentally, it’s about a government spy who’s asked to help the government take down a terrorist.) By the time 2012’s Agneepath set box office records, Chopra’s eyebrow game was strong.

Though she’s considered a “newcomer” by Hollywood standards, Chopra has more than 50 films under her belt. And while she’s a bona fide Bollywood mega-star, she has proven that she’s more than just a pretty face. In 2014, she took on the title role in the biopic Mary Kom, the true story of India’s world champion female boxer—a woman who could easily go toe-to-toe (and fist-to-fist) with Quantico’s Parrish.

If you’ve ever wondered where Chopra honed her skills for playing powerful women, we’ve got two words for you: beauty pageants. In her senior year of high school, Chopra began competing in local beauty pageants, and on Nov. 30, 2000, she was crowned Miss World. (Maybe those moms on Toddlers & Tiaras know something the rest of us don’t.)

Considering her Bollywood track record, it’s hardly surprising that Chopra has got some pipes. (She often sang during the talent portion of those aforementioned beauty pageants.) In 2011, Chopra signed her first major record contract; in 2013 she released her second single, “Exotic,” featuring Pitbull, in which she deemed herself “hotter than the Tropics.” Fortunately, there was a video to illustrate the point.

Though “Exotic” was a hit on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic charts, Chopra’s first single—“In My City,” with will.i.am—might be the more familiar tune, at least if you’re a football fan. A shortened version of the song was used in a promo for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football, and then opened each episode of the show for the season. For her part, Chopra had to record more than 30 intros, one for each NFL team (dressed in their gear, of course).

Quantico’s second season will undoubtedly deal with the aftermath of Alex’s decision of whether or not to join the CIA. In a way, it’s a case of art imitating life. Chopra’s decision to start from scratch in Hollywood when she took on the lead role in Quantico put her position on India’s A-list at risk. Fortunately, it turned out to be a very smart move.

She may be one of the small screen’s most famous faces, but you almost wouldn’t know it given Chopra’s approachability. In interviews, she’s both charming and outspoken and never backs down from a challenge. She was once even game to partake in a hot wing eating competition on late-night television. (She won, of course.) “It is that superstar quality,” Quantico creator Joshua Safran told us of what makes Chopra stand out. “That Julia Roberts quality, that Meg Ryan quality, that thing of Sandra Bullock. You feel like you could actually know them, but you also know that you could never know them.”

When it comes to “sexy,” Chopra has her own definition of the word. “I don’t think ‘sexy’ has to be taking off your clothes,” she said during the cover shoot for our June/July issue. “I’ve never believed that. I think the more you leave up to the imagination, the sexier it is. Let the guys think.”