ROME – First Paris, now Rome and next Barcelona — Lily Collins is taking on two more European cities.
As the star and producer of “Emily in Paris,” she’s been playing the unlucky-in-love marketing executive, breaking hearts (including her own) in France for the past three seasons of the Netflix show.
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That changes in part two of the fourth season when, in her usual dramatic fashion, Emily heads to Italy. The cast, including Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Lucas Bravo, Ashley Park and Camille Razat, were all in Rome this week to premiere the new episodes releasing Thursday. Getting away from Paris is something there might be more of in future seasons, as writer and creator Darren Star says he’s happy to take this show on the road.
Although he rules out changing the title.
“No, it’s ‘Emily in Paris,’” says Star. “But Emily can have experiences in other cities and I think Rome is a part of the show now. It really is.”
Barcelona comes into play this October when Collins makes her West End debut opposite Álvaro Morte of “Money Heist” in a stage thriller named after the Spanish city.
Luckily, filming “Emily in Paris” in public places has helped give the actor the boost to become a leading lady on the stage.
“It did give me a bit more confidence, an understanding of performing in front of a large crowd this year,” Collins says. “It just ironically happened to be the year that I would then be doing theater right after.”
In a recent interview with The Associated Press in Rome, Collins explains why it’s the right time for her London stage debut and how filming in Rome allowed her to channel Audrey Hepburn’s on-screen Italian adventure in “Roman Holiday.” It has been edited for brevity and clarity.
AP: Would you ever play Audrey Hepburn?
COLLINS: Yes. I mean, I love her. There is no ever replicating her, but she is someone that I’ve grown up admiring.
AP: There were two distinct nods to her (in part two) — “Roman Holiday” and “Charade” — did I miss anything?
COLLINS: No, I think those were (the) two. “Roman Holiday” — there’s an essence of her the whole time. Because if you’re here — how can you not, you know?
AP: What was it like filming those scenes around Rome with the Vespa…
COLLINS: Stunning.
AP: I imagine you had to go round quite a few times?
COLLINS: We went around so many times, which was funny because then tourists, of course, are noticing that there’s this massive machine and then a car with a Vespa attached to it. And then we are going on an actual Vespa. But then there’s also the transport vehicle. So like, what are they filming? And then once they figured out it was our show, it was fun.
It was also surreal because you’re going around the Colosseum and everything in Rome is beautiful and ancient. And I was pinching myself, but it was amazing to be able to explore another city. I’d been to Paris before the show, so playing (Emily) who was coming to it fresh, was a character. Whereas this time, I’d been to Rome but never fully explored or been here for a long period of time. So it was a whole new adventure, but genuinely for me as well. And it was more of a vacation mode for Emily, which I was happy for her. I was like, “You go, girl. You get a little vacay.”
AP: Do you think this could continue?
COLLINS: I definitely hope so. We’re just, you know, waiting (crosses her fingers). But it would be really nice to explore more of Italy. I think there’s so much here. But I don’t know.
AP: I want to ask you about moving from the TV show to theater.
COLLINS: I’m very excited. But of course, I’m also nervous. And it’s a whole new world for me. I did theater as a kid, but this is something I’ve been dreaming of my whole life. And the West End is the West End. But it really feels just surreal and I love my team that we’re working with. I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful script. And the theater is one of a kind, I love the Duke of York (Theatre) and our director (Lynette Linton). It’s a wonderful, wonderful group.
AP: So that’s Lily in Barcelona.
COLLINS: Yes exactly (laughing). All the different cities around Europe.
AP: How does it fit in around your TV work and the show?
COLLINS: It’s all about timing as well because ... doing theater is something I’ve always wanted to do. But it is a time commitment that when you’re doing something like “Emily in Paris,” that is also the biggest time commitment. It’s making sure that it fits in at the right time. But it also isn’t just about that. It’s the project. When I read “Barcelona,” I went, “This is it.” And, “How do I make this happen? What time do we have? How do we make it happen with the theater?” You know? So it was a bit of a Tetris-type of thing, but to me it’s a different medium, it’s a different skill set, it’s a different experience.
This season, because “Emily in Paris” is more known, when you’re out and about in the streets, it does become a bit of live theater because you can’t control people watching all the time. And so sometimes there are scenes, when you’re near (Emily’s) apartment building or you’re in Rome or you’re in the mountains skiing, where there’s hundreds of people that just show up to watch. And so it is a bit like theater. You are performing for an audience that weirdly doesn’t know the storyline, though, so it’s a little bit the same and a little bit different. It’s like, “But you won’t see this for a few months, so please don’t spoil it!” Whereas with theater, it’s in the moment.