Priyanka Chopra says she was dropped from 2 movies after a doctor messed up a surgery on her nose

• Priyanka Chopra Jonas said she was dropped from two films after a doctor damaged her nose.
• In her new memoir, the star said she had surgery after a polyp was found in her nasal cavity.
• The doctor "accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed," Chopra Jonas said.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas said a botched surgery altered her nose and led her to get dropped from two movies at the start of her acting career.

"I felt devastated and hopeless," Chopra Jonas said of the surgical error in her new memoir, "Unfinished," released on Tuesday.

In the book, the actor detailed her rise to fame, which began when she was crowned Miss India World in January 2000 at 17 years old and won the title of Miss World later that year.

Following her pageant success, Chopra Jonas began her acting career in India with a series of movies. More than a decade later, she had a breakthrough in the US when she landed the starring role on the ABC series "Quantico" - which marked the first time a South Asian actor played the lead character on an American network TV show.

But before her career in the entertainment industry took off, Chopra Jonas learned in summer 2001 that there was a polyp - a benign growth - in her nasal cavity that would require surgery to be removed. She first became aware of the issue when she developed a "lingering head cold" followed by breathing issues.

"Fortunately, a polypectomy sounded like a pretty routine procedure. Unfortunately, it wasn't," the actor wrote in her memoir.

Chopra Jonas said the doctor "accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed." When the surgery ended and she looked at the result, she said, she and her family were "horrified."

"My original nose was gone," Chopra Jonas recalled. "My face looked completely different. I wasn't me."

"Every time I looked in the mirror, a stranger looked back at me, and I didn't think my sense of self or my self-esteem would ever recover from the blow," she added.

The "We Can Be Heroes" star said the situation was worsened by the public scrutiny and the rumors that spread.

At about the same time, Chopra Jonas wrote, her prospective acting career was put in jeopardy when she was dropped from two out of four movies that she signed on for after "the producers heard rumors that I looked different post-surgery."

"As if the physical and emotional pain of the original and subsequent corrective surgeries weren't enough, this was a terrible blow," Chopra Jonas wrote, explaining that these films were supposed to be her first.

"My career, a career based so much on physical appearance, seemed to be over before it had even really started," the actor said.

Chopra's role in the Hindi movie "The Hero: Love Story of a Spy" was also minimized to a supporting part. She made her film debut in the fourth project she initially signed on for, a Tamil movie titled "Thamizhan."

The actor said the experience on set was a positive one in which she regained some of her confidence.

As for her nose, Chopra Jonas said it normalized over time, after "several corrective surgeries."

"I've gotten accustomed to this face," she said. "Now when I look in the mirror, I am no longer surprised. I've made peace with this slightly different me."

• Read more:
• Everything to know about Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the former Miss World and Bollywood star who's dominating Hollywood
• Priyanka Chopra Jonas rewatched 'Matilda' to get into the mindset of a kids' nemesis for her movie 'We Can Be Heroes'
• Priyanka Chopra shared her secret to career success, and said it can be applied to other life decisions too