Brit Lily Collins on Being an American in Paris

The actress speaks to CR about her meta-Francophile experience filming her new Netflix show Emily in Paris

CR FASHION BOOK – When Lily Collins found herself on Avenue Montaigne in Paris just over a year ago it was not to kick off a week of catwalks and fashionable fêtes as per Septembers’ past. Fashion Week would go on indeed, but the actress would for once not be in attendance. Instead, Collins, who moved to the French capital for a few months for filming, had one only one show on her mind. Debuting today on Netflix, Emily in Paris brings the 31-year-old to the streaming screen as Emily, a Chicago millennial who is transferred to Paris temporarily when the marketing conglomerate she works at acquires a boutique fashion firm. When she arrives to her new setting with an Eiffel Tower charm in tow, Emily is greeted with a grimace and what can only be described as a haute couture critique. The quick-paced, over-the-top series is a mix of Devil Wears Prada and Sex and the City—and for good reason, it was created by TV legend Darren Star (SATC, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place) with costume design by the incomparable Patricia Field. (In fact, Emily uses Field’s own vintage camera-themed iPhone case throughout the entire show as her signature.) Here, Collins speaks to CR about relocating to the City of Love, how the lines between the show and real life blurred, and what she’s learned about social media.
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Lily Collins Says There Are ‘Sex and the City’ Easter Eggs in ‘Emily in Paris’

VARIETY – Before the world went into lockdown, when Americans were free to travel internationally, Lily Collins was crisscrossing continents. The Golden Globe-nominated actor was shooting her new Netflix series “Emily in Paris” in the City of Lights, as well as working in Los Angeles on David Fincher’s “Mank” — a drama about the making of “Citizen Kane.”

In “Emily,” premiering on Netflix on Oct. 2, she stars as the title character, a young fashion marketing exec who is transferred from Chicago to Paris, where she doesn’t know anyone and can’t speak French. Slowly, she finds new friends and, of course, romance.
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For Lily Collins, Emily in Paris is About Self-Love
W MAGAZINE – The actress Lily Collins recently found peace sitting on a surfboard in the Pacific Ocean, waiting for a wave to come. Of all the activities Collins took up while quarantining at her home in Los Angeles over the summer—jamming through stacks of books about meditation and self-reflection; listening to podcasts from Brené Brown and Jay Shetty, a former monk; going on road trips to Northern California—surfing became a particular favorite. After some lessons on land from her boyfriend, Charlie McDowell, an avid surfer himself, she’d wade in. When the swell came, she’d hop up on her board, trying to be as strong as she could, focused on simply getting on her feet and staying there. She realized she had no control over the water, which would sometimes completely take her over, swallow her up in its power, and then spit her back out onto the shore. Whenever that happened, Collins just let it ride out, face-planting into sand, often in front of other beach-goers. What else could she do?
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