'She’s bolder, stronger, and more adventurous': Lily Collins on taking Emily In Paris to Italy
Eugenio Franceschini and Lily Collins in Emily in Paris
Dust off your berets and most impractical outfits: is back, and this season Emily is taking on a new European city – Rome.
The romantic comedy series, created by Darren Star and starring Lily Collins in the title role, first premiered in 2020 and has since cultivated a devoted global fanbase. The story centres on Chicago-born marketing executive Emily Cooper as she navigates life in Paris after landing her dream job.
This season, Emily embarks on an exciting new adventure in Rome, where she steps into her role as head of Agence Grateau, the luxury marketing agency owned by Sylvie Grateau, played by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu. Emily faces fresh professional and romantic challenges as she adjusts to a new city. But just when everything seems to be falling into place, a bold work idea backfires – sending shockwaves through both her personal life and career.
Collins, 36, who also is a series producer, says Emily is a lot more confident this season. “This year, Emily once again has more confidence, a stronger voice, and a more defined sense of identity,” says Collins.
“She’s bolder, braver, stronger, and more adventurous. All the beautiful qualities I love about her continue to grow and evolve as the seasons progress. She’s in a new city and a new country, figuring out her life, love and work.
“She misses her family but loves where her life is now. She’s learned from her experiences — from practical things, like wearing flats to work and changing into heels later, to deeper lessons about relationships, vulnerability and what it means to be called out by her closest friend, Mindy, in ways that inspire her to change.”
This season takes Emily from Paris to Rome and Venice and according to Collins, the change of scenery has inspired Emily’s wardrobe. “It was incredible to film in both Rome and Venice,” she says. “Of course, there’s also stunning new fashion and beautiful looks for all the characters. This season feels like it flows between two countries more than ever before, which really sets it apart from previous ones."
Collins says a lot of her looks were inspired by Italian cinema this season. “This season was amazing; we got to wear so many incredible clothes, as always, and I wore a lot of red this year, which felt powerful, strong, romantic, and sensual,” she explains.
“There are some incredible pantsuits again, and so many epic outfits that really reflect what Emily is going through different scenes and in whichever country she’s in. We were very much inspired by Italian cinema this season, so that was a fun fashion journey to embark on.”
She adds: “We also wore fewer heels this year in Emily’s day-to-day life, which I loved. It felt more grounding and comfortable, but also represented a shift for Emily — being able to walk and run around the city, do her job, and not have to worry about wobbling or tripping.”
Series creator Darren Star, 64, who also created Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sex And The City, says this has been one of his favourite seasons so far.
“I think it goes off in a different direction. The story feels very fresh to me,” says Star “It’s not about Emily’s relationship with Gabriel anymore, that’s not the engine of the show. It takes place in such amazing locations. We’re in Rome, we’re in Paris, we’re in Venice."
Star says he introduced Minnie Driver’s character Princess Jane to relax Sylvie a little.
“With Princess Jane, I want to loosen Sylvie up a little bit and give her someone to hang out with,” he explains.
“She’s a great comic character. Minnie Driver is just a dream. She’s so terrific, so funny. I just love what she adds to the show, and from the moment she’s onscreen, being on set with her, just seeing her do even non-dialogue business would make me laugh. She found all the humour in that role and still kept it fairly grounded.”
Collins adds that it was great fun to see how Emily reacted to Princess Jane.
“Minnie Driver playing Princess Jane was so much fun. She is hilarious, collaborative, playful, and I really enjoyed working with her,” says Collins. “It was fascinating to explore a new dynamic between Emily and Princess Jane because Emily is definitely annoyed by her, and in some ways threatened by Princess Jane, which is something we haven’t really seen before.
“Jane isn’t afraid to stir things up, throw a wrench into situations, and assert that she knows better than everyone. She’s hilarious, but also conniving and tricky. It’s been really fun to explore how Emily reacts to a character like that.”
Collins says audiences should expect a lot of twists and turns in this series and plenty of unexpected moments.
“There’s definitely more drama this season, grounded, surprising drama, but it feels important to how the characters evolve and interact with one another as they navigate it all,” she explains. “After four seasons, it felt right to have certain pivotal moments finally happen. We get to see real shifts in relationships and a lot of growth, understanding, and vulnerability.
“I’m so excited for audiences to experience all the unexpected twists and turns, the laughter, the looks, and the cities we get to explore this year.”
- Season Five launches on Netflix on Thursday, December 18
