Priyanka Chopra on #OscarsSoWhite Controversy: 'Art Shouldn't Be Defined by the Color of Your Skin'

"You should get the job because you're the best person for the job," Priyanka Chopra told PEOPLE on the red carpet

Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty

Priyanka Chopra addressed the #OscarsSoWhite controversy at the award show Sunday.

Speaking to Alicia Quarles on PEOPLE and EW’s Oscars Live preshow, the actress – who was a superstar in her native India’s Bollywood scene for years prior to finding success stateside on Quantico – she thinks “that art shouldn’t be defined by the color of your skin.”

“You should get the job because you’re the best person for the job,” Chopra, 33, said. “[Casting by race] is a very primitive idea for me.”

• Check out PEOPLE’s full Academy Awards 2016 coverage and complete winners list!

The #OscarsSoWhite controversy came to a head following the announcement of the 2016 nominations, in which the Academy failed to nominate any actors and actresses of color for the second year in a row.

In the weeks since, stars have spoken out about the Oscars and the challenges for people of color in Hollywood.

Some big names decided to skip the ceremony while stars like Whoopi Goldberg pointed to a larger diversity issue in Hollywood.

For all things Oscars, click here to head over to PEOPLE’s Snapchat Discover, where we’re breaking down the best dresses of the nights, most meme-orable moments and everything in between.

“Why is this a conversation that we only have once a year,” Goldberg said on The View last month. “Every year we get all fired up and the rest of the year nobody says anything.”

The 88th annual Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will be presented live on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.