“Not choosing is still choosing?”
That’s the question Emily (Lily Collins) asks herself in the third season of “Emily in Paris,” premiering on Netflix on Dec. 21. After a year of looming decisions, Emily will have to make some major choices in her personal and professional life.
At the series’ New York premiere on Thursday night, the cast of “Emily in Paris” spoke to PvNew about the indecisive nature of human behavior and the juicy love triangles that will unfold in Season 3.
“[Emily] is indecisive and yet weirdly decisive. But then the second she picks a lane, it all gets messed up,” Collins told PvNew at the French Consulate General, adding that she relates to her character’s uncertainty. “I feel like I like to sit in the middle of decisions sometimes and overthink a lot. Emily has to focus on one thing at a time now, and I admire that she’s finally making some decisions.”
In her work life, Emily will have to choose between staying with Madeline (Kate Walsh) at Savoir or remaining in Paris and helping Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) build up her marketing firm. Leroy-Beaulieu said that Sylvie will make a surprising effort to win Emily back.
“The moment [Sylvie] knows she might lose her, that’s when she realizes that she needs her,” Leroy-Beaulieu said. “It’s that moment, even in a couple where you go, ‘Oh, God, I don’t want to lose that person.’ It’s that level of unconsciousness in relationships.”
The love triangle between Emily, her hot chef neighbor Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and her kind-hearted friend Camille (Camille Razat) will continue to unravel this season. While Emily is in a long-distance relationship with Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), her feelings for Gabriel haven’t faded. As his relationship with Camille becomes more serious, Bravo believes Gabriel needs to take some responsibility and acknowledge his feelings for Emily.
“The best way to get untangled from this is not to be a victim and to own up to mistakes,” Bravo said. “I think the problem with Gabriel is that he plays victim all the time. It’s similar to denial: ‘It’s not my fault. I just love people and I’m in love with the idea of love.’ But in the end, you need to choose. Indecisiveness is also cowardice.”
Gabriel will also go through a major character arc this season. Bravo said, “He’s still a bit lost and a bit childish. I think in Season 3, he’s going to man up a bit. It’s a coming-of-age season.”
The key to minimizing damage in any relationship, according to Razat, is talking about feelings.
“If you don’t want to follow your desire, at some point it’s going to catch up with you,” Razat said. “I would say communication is the key to any sort of problem.”
Creator and showrunner Darren Star hinted that Emily will resolve her indecisive tendencies but that she will have to live with the consequences of the decisions she makes.
“I think one thing that Emily learns is that you have to make strong choices,” Star said. “It’s important to make strong choices, and by choosing one path, you’re closing off others. That’s just part of life. By not making a choice, you’re still making a choice.”
William Abadie, who plays entrepreneurial perfumer Antoine, hopes that viewers learn from the mistakes and humanity of these characters.
“As a species, we’re just getting better and better, but we’re also human beings so we’re deeply flawed,” Abadie said. “That’s the beauty of who we are, isn’t it? It’s a beautiful question, and I love that the show has that as a theme.”
“Emily in Paris” returns on Netflix on Dec. 21.
