Netflix’s Emily in Paris is one of the most talked about series of the fall. Whether you think Emily (played by Lily Collins) is even more fun than Carrie Bradshaw (the show was created by Sex and the City‘s Darren Star) or just an entitled American millennial depends on your point of view. And people love sharing their opinions on all things Emily in Paris: Just try to scroll through your Twitter timeline without finding a hot take on Emily’s hats or her interpretation of French culture.
One person who has been reading these takes is Lucas Bravo, the 32-year-old French actor who plays Gabriel, a chef and Emily’s neighbor, on the series. When asked by Cosmopolitan what he thinks of the criticism of the show’s portrayal of the French, he admitted it doesn’t bother him much.
“We’re portraying clichés and we’re portraying one single vision of Paris. Paris is one of the most diverse cities in the world. We have so many ways of thinking, so many different nationalities, so many different neighborhoods. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough to know everything that’s going on in Paris. It’s an entire world in a city,” the actor explained. “At some point, if you want to tell a story about Paris, you have to choose an angle. You have to choose a vision. French critics, they didn’t understand the fact that it’s just one vision. They’re like, ‘Oh, this is not what Paris is.’ Of course. Paris is many things.”
