Emily in Paris star and executive producer Lily Collins wanted to bring more vulnerability and maturity to Emily Cooper for the fourth season of the popular Netflix series.
In part one of the fourth installment, which landed on Netflix on August 15, Emily has a lot to sort out on the heels of last season when Camille (Camille Razat) called off her wedding to Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and acknowledged that Emily and Gabriel had feelings for each other. Though the wedding, which swiftly shifted into gear at an engagement party, was called off, Gabriel revealed to Emily that Camille is pregnant with his child. Poor Alfie bowed out of the church once Camille mentioned something he had always worried about.
“[Emily]’s been in this city, at her job, meeting these people, in these relationships for longer, and with that comes a comfortability and a trust and a safe space,” Collins told Deadline. “So now she can feel all the feelings she can show more emotions on a deeper level and be more vulnerable. And I was just really excited for that, because to me it grounds her more and makes her more relatable.”
In the following interview, Collins unpacked Emily’s progression and arc that led her to where she is in Season 4, with eye-catching scenes like the masquerade ball
DEADLINE: Why is it such a big deal for her to embrace the gray area looking back on how far she’s come in Paris?
Collins: It’s almost like an oxymoron because she’s talking about embracing the gray area, but she does always find herself in between two choices, so that technically, is the gray area. What’s important for her is that instead of just seeing it as option one and option two or just black or white, she’s not seeing the middle ground as being an option in and of itself. She’s learning how to be comfortable in the not knowing. So she doesn’t always have to have an answer. She doesn’t have to have a choice. I think when you’re comfortable in the uncomfortable, that’s when a decision can naturally show itself a little bit more and instead of constantly worrying about one or the other, she sometimes can be quite blind to what’s happening in front of her. It’s so important now, there’s more at stake for her and her job, and there’s more at stake just within her relationships there, she needs to be more focused on what’s happening in front of her, instead of just blindly thinking about option A or option B. She has this client, and she’s starting to think about the gray area. Of course, her clients and the pitches always are somewhat integral to her own experiences in her life, which makes her brilliant and her job. She’s more open and mindful of that experience of being uncomfortable now.
DEADLINE: How did splitting up Season 4 into two parts affect your preparation for and production of this season?
Collins: We filmed a couple of episodes out of order because we filmed this year in a fall, winter season. So we got to go to the mountains and have snow, and we needed to make sure that we had the best snowfall. So certain episodes that are in the second drop, we ended up filming before the end of the first drop. That was kind of complicated, because we still as a cast, and even, I think, [creator] Darren [Star], we didn’t know how the season was going to end. We filmed going towards something, but there were always going to be new dramas involved, so we were navigating it as the characters were. We don’t always know the trajectory of the season when we’re filming it, so it makes it even more interesting for us and also keeps us on our toes.
Knowing that it was going to be in two drops as we were filming was exciting because you get to lean more into these bombs being dropped, into the solid decisions you’re making. You can play more into those knowing that then things are going to come your way to shift, and so you can play into those shifts more as well so the characters are believing their decisions as much as they’re believing their decisions until something else comes up, like, “Wait, what?” It makes it really fun.
DEADLINE: What went into filming the scene with Camille at Giverny in Episode 2?
Collins: That was such a crazy experience. I’ve been to Giverny a few times as a tourist, and I went with my mom years ago, I just never would have imagined that we would have access to that place without history. I studied Monet, I go to museums and stare at his water lilies, and so to be able to then be on a boat in the water where his water lilies are, was just so surreal. And then to be fighting with Camille in this crazy comedic way, it was just one of those moments the little Lily would never have imagined this is where I would end up.
It was the perfect serene location for this ridiculous fight and the most beautiful juxtaposition with the conversation and the physical comedy, which we lean more into this season. It was so incredibly special, and I think all of the crew all day were just like, “This is crazy. How are we here? How do we have access to this place?” I was taking photos all day.
DEADLINE: The love triangle resolves somewhat in the third episode. What went into the masquerade ball and how is that a good midpoint for this first drop?
Collins: When I knew that that was happening, I went straight to Harris Reed and said, “I need this gown, and you’re the person to make it, and I love you,” and he’s a friend so I was like, “Please.” I was just so excited by the sketches I saw. I wanted to make sure you got to see it, even if it meant that we had to rearrange the blocking on scenes.
The whole scene in general, was such a cinematic moment, and it was such a way to make the beginning of the season pop because this season is more dynamic, it is more cinematic. It’s bigger and bolder. So much goes into shooting a sequence like that. We shot it over the series of a few days, because the dance between Gabriel and Emily, was shot in so many different ways to make it a moment that it is because it is a moment that I think people have been wanting for a very long time, so you can’t — forgive me — You can’t half-ass it. You have to milk it.
DEADLINE: What are you most looking forward to fans seeing from Rome in Part 2?
Collins: Rome was just such a magical place to film, and it was like the best place for the crew to end the season because it was something so fresh and new, and it really felt like season one with Emily going to Paris for the first time, with me going to Rome, because I had been there before, but I’d never experienced it in this way. I’d never gone to some of these locations. I really felt like Emily, in a lot of ways, experiencing it. It’s an opportunity for Emily to let her hair down and turn on her vacation mode and really put her phone down more. A lot of this season is spent with Emily trying to figure out how to create a better work-life balance. That is part of her journey in that lesson.
There’s a new character we can look forward to in Part 2. How will he affect the love triangle?
Collins: I can’t speak too much on that. I can just say that there were paparazzi pictures that came out where you see that there is a new person that she’s in Rome spending time with, but I will say that Emily gets to go on a very fun Roman Holiday, and Emily wouldn’t be Emily without a little geometry lesson.
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