Emily in Paris is a romantic comedy television series created by Darren Star and initially released on Netflix in October 2020. The show follows the story of Emily Cooper, a young American woman who moves to Paris for a job opportunity and shows her experiences as an ex-pat in the French capital. The audience’s reaction to the show has been mixed, with some viewers enjoying the light-hearted and romantic portrayal of life in Paris, while others found the show to be superficial, cliché, and unrealistic.

The show has faced significant criticism, with some critics accusing it of perpetuating harmful stereotypes about French people and misrepresenting what it’s like to live in Paris. Some viewers found the show’s portrayal of French people to be stereotypical, with many characters embodying negative French stereotypes, such as being rude, unapproachable, and dismissive of American culture. The show’s portrayal of Parisian life has also faced criticism for being unrealistic and superficial, with many aspects of Parisian culture and society being simplified or exaggerated for dramatic effect.

Despite this, the show has also been a popular hit on Netflix, with high viewer ratings and being renewed for a fourth season. Here’s what the cast members have had to say about the very popular, but controversial show…

7Lily Collins Believes That Emily In Paris Is A Love Letter To Paris

via: Netflix

Lily Collin’s leading role as Emily Cooper in the hit Netflix series Emily in Paris catapulted her into the public eye. Lily’s charming portrayal of Emily, a young American woman navigating life in Paris, won her many fans and helped make her a household name. She has also become a style icon and a popular presence on social media, with over 23 million Instagram followers.

Speaking to Vogue France in 2022, Lily opened up about how grateful she felt to land the role of the main character on the show, saying: “I’ve been very lucky to be a part of a show that is like one long love letter to Paris and French culture. The series features women from different generations who, while they may seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, have much in common. From the very first episode, I liked Emily’s attitude, and how she dedicates herself to her job, without apologizing for anything. Emily is very close to me, so close that my way of walking and my style has changed. She is a character that I have learned a lot from.”

Speaking to British Vogue in 2020, Lily explained that the show was presenting a realistic portrayal of life in Paris for an ex-pat, saying: “When I got to Paris for filming, I actually had so many experiences like Emily – to the point that I asked the team, ‘Are you planning this to try and give me more empathy for her? I already have empathy for her!’ It’s a cliché, but it’s also a fundamentally human scenario. In the end, it’s all about Emily’s attitude; she just gets through it, and she does it with a little bit of humor.”

6Ashley Park Gushed About Her Close Friendship With Co-Star Lily Collins

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Speaking to Vogue in 2022, Ashley Park gushed about the fans and their support for her, saying: “To fly across the world and have people come up to me and say how much they connected to Mindy and her music, was so meaningful to me.

In an interview with W Magazine, Ashley Park spoke about her on-screen character’s friendship with Emily, saying: “We get to see a new dimension to Emily and Mindy’s friendship, and it’s one that really turns it into a dimension of sisterhood. There’s a stigma that if people come from different backgrounds or don’t see eye to eye, that they can’t be there for each other.”

During the filming of the show, Lily Collins and Ashley Park spent a lot of time together on set and off set, getting to know each other better. They shared several scenes and had to work closely together, which helped them build a great relationship. Speaking about her friendship with Lily Collins, Ashley Park told Grazia: “Lily has made sure that I understand my own value, she has believed in me in ways I didn’t believe I deserved. There is no scene partner, leading lady, a friend-like sister who is as supportive as Lily.”

5Lucas Bravo Found It Difficult To Portray His Character Gabriel

Via: Instagram

Speaking to InStyle, the Parisian heartthrob expressed how he is different to his on-screen character, saying: “It’s always hard for me to play the confident boy-next-door. Honestly, the hardest scenes I’ve ever had to shoot were the scenes where I’m like ‘[Emily], do you want to live in my apartment?’ Or be like, ‘Hey, try my meat.’ All these scenes are a struggle because everything implying a pick-up phrase, for me, is the opposite of elegance.”

Recalling his adolescent years, Lucas said: “I was so afraid to be annoying, and I never gathered the courage to go talk to anybody I liked. I would always wait for someone else to come talk to me.”

4Camille Razat Addressed The Controversy Surrounding Emily In Paris

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Speaking to Glamour, the actress and French native said: “Everyone is able to have their own opinion. And for me, it will never ever be a problem. It’s open to discussion. I love to think about Emily in Paris as a celebration of Paris. It’s not supposed to be realistic, like Sex and the City was not realistic for New York either, but people loved it.”

She continued, saying: “It’s a heightened reality. It’s a fantasy. And it’s meant to be a little bit too much over the top, because that brings the comedy in the series. A cliché is called a cliché for a reason, because you take an element that is very true, and you just generalize it. I don’t think it’s so cliché either. Even me, I come from the countryside, and when I arrived in Paris, I had some Emily moments sometimes.”

3Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Defended Emily In Paris Following The Backlash

via: Instar Images

Speaking to Variety, the French actress defended the show from critics, saying: “What we see in Season one seems like a caricature, but it’s the first impression that foreigners have of France and Paris: Rude people who don’t have a sense of humor. Then, when people get to know us, they see our other facets that are prettier and more endearing.”

2Samuel Arnold On Rejecting The “Gay Best Friend” Trope

via: Instar Images

Speaking to Glamour, the French actor discussed how he denied the “gay best friend” trope, saying:

“I didn’t really think about it in this way, because I actually saw him first as a character. You can’t play “gay”. That’s just Julien’s sexual orientation; it’s not a real characteristic. He’s a best friend, who just happens to be gay. It didn’t really affect the way I worked on the part. Julien could be straight as well. That wouldn’t change anything about the way he behaves. He’s glamorous and fiery – I don’t think, if he was straight, he would be any different.”

1Lucien Laviscount On How Lily Collins Is Like A Big Sister To Him

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Speaking to InStyle in 2022, the British heartthrob gushed about his love for Paris, saying: “Paris is a place where you can really get lost and just find little gems. Paris has just got a different energy and vibe than anywhere else. The architecture’s incredible, how they built it. Even the Eiffel Tower, they built it around the sun. The city is a piece of art in itself.”

He also expressed that he viewed Co-Star Lily Collins as a big sister, saying: “She’s so giving as an actress and just as a human as well. She can really focus on what’s in front of her when she’s doing it and give a hundred percent. It is quite amazing to see how she snaps between all these different roles within her life, and it’s so seamless.”