‘Emily in Paris’ Season 5 Will Start Shooting in France Next Spring, Lucas Bravo to Return as Gabriel (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy

20 November 2024 at 11:02 am·3-min read

French president Emmanuel Macron’s prayers have been answered.

“Emily in Paris” is returning to Paris for its fifth season, although it will also partly shoot in Rome, where the fourth season is set. Filming is due to begin in the first week of May next year with its usual key crew, ensuring the show will retain its French DNA, Variety has learned.

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A third chic international destination for the Lily Collins-fronted hit Netflix show is also being explored, along the lines of Saint-Tropez or Megeve, which Collins’ character Emily Cooper visited in the second and fourth seasons, respectively. (Netflix declined to comment).

While French actor Lucas Bravo has been vocal in recent weeks about his frustration over his “Emily in Paris” character — the hot yet sulky French chef Gabriel — the actor is definitely on track to star in Season 5 as of now and his Michelin-rated restaurant will be one of the backdrops of the upcoming season, Variety can confirm.

While promoting Mélanie Laurent’s Prime Video film “Freedom,” Bravo took the opportunity to slam “Emily in Paris,” saying his character had been “slowly turned into guacamole.”

“The ‘sexy chef’ was very much part of me in Season 1 and we grew apart season after season because of the choices he makes and because of the direction they make him take. I’ve never been so far away from him,” Bravo told IndieWire.

A source close to production told Variety that Bravo wanted his chef character to be grittier and closer to “The Bear,” suggesting the actor’s desire to emulate Jeremy Allen White’s career is part of the reason he grew out his hair out for the latest season.

Although Bravo told IndieWire that he has tried to voice his concerns but doesn’t “have much liberty on set,” the production source points out the actor hasn’t brought it up to “Emily in Paris” creator Darren Star, who would have been open to discussing the matter.

At the end of Season 4, which premiered this summer, Gabriel has an epiphany and realizes he wants to be with Emily, but she had already fallen into the arms of Italian beau Marcello and moved into an apartment in Rome to run the local office for her marketing firm Agence Grateau. Season 5 will see Emily navigating her new life between Rome and Paris.

“Emily in Paris” has been a catalyst in Bravo’s career. In the last three years, he landed roles in “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” “Tickets to Paradise,” “The Honeymoon” and most recently “Freedom,” which marks his first leading role in a feature. He stars in the latter as Bruno Sulak, a seductive French gangster in the ’70s and ’80s.

Along with boosting the careers of its key cast, the show has also been a powerful vector of soft power for France, partly thanks to its use of iconic Parisian backdrops and landmarks as well as product placement. Such is Emily’s impact on Paris, the show has sparked a lighthearted feud between the French President and Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri after Macron told Variety France “will fight hard” for the series to remain in the country.

“’Emily in Paris’ in Rome doesn‘t make sense,” he added.

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