Tourists crowding Paris often mistake Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Paris, 59 years old) for Sylvie Grateau, the character the actress plays in the television series Emily in Paris. Whether she’s having lunch in a quiet bistro on the Rive Gauche or browsing the latest Schiaparelli couture collection across the Seine, there’s always someone who approaches her with fantasies of chatting to the sexy boss and a Making selfie disrespectful Emily Cooper (Lily Collins). “Greetings and of course I’m attentive. Then they realize I’m not like Sylvie and tell me: “You’re much nicer,” admits Leroy-Beaulieu while serving us in a small café near his home in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district . “I can no longer go out into the street in my pajamas to buy a baguette. The French don’t care, because they are blase, indifferent. But the tourists are very enthusiastic,” she continues, lowering her gaze a little so as not to be recognized by two young girls who have just entered the canteen.
Darren Star, creator of Emily in Paris and TV hits like Feeling Live, Melrose Place and Sex and the City, didn’t have Leroy-Beaulieu in mind when he began his search for someone to play Sylvie Grateau. In fact, the comedy’s American producer and writers were looking for a 35- or 40-year-old woman. “But the casting director knew me well and told me to try. I introduced myself and didn’t hear from them for two months. I thought, ‘They must have found someone younger. No problem’. Eventually they called me,” the actress recalls. He concedes that this is all due to streaming platforms like Netflix giving more opportunities to artists from all over the world and of all ages. “It’s true that when you’re over 50 you get fewer job offers. But I don’t want to complain too much about this. I think actresses should stop complaining about being women and just act. If you insist on saying that you are the victim of an injustice, maybe you will be for the rest of your life. The world is full of injustices and you must fight for what you want. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I feel that way,” he says.
“I’m not worried about getting older. I inherited my father’s genes. He is 92 years old and was skydiving until recently,” says Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu. On this page, she wears a silk tulle and roulotte Cortana dress with Saint Laurent x Anthony Vaccarello sandals and a red ring. Javier Biosca
Leroy-Beaulieu is a cornerstone of the Emily phenomenon in Paris, a worldwide success since its premiere. Almost 60 million households around the world watched the series in its first month on screen in 2020. The third season, released in December 2022, reached the top spot in the ranking of the most watched Netflix series within a few weeks. But popularity is nothing new for the actress, a celebrity in France since film director Roger Vadim gave her her debut role in the 1983 film Surprise Party. Two years later, she starred in Three Bachelors and a Baby Bottle, which earned her a Best New Actress nomination from the Cesars. The film won the 1986 French Film Academy Award for Best Picture and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. “It is very dangerous to be successful at a very young age. I started out in this profession and I was scared because as a kid I saw how my father dealt with fame. It wasn’t always easy,” he recalls in perfect Spanish. Her command of our language stems from a teenage romance with an Argentine.
When he talks about his father, he is referring to Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu, a renowned French actor who worked under directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Deray, Dario Argento and Luc Besson in the 1960s and 1970s. Philippine was born in 1963, the year his father became known for his role in 55 Days in Beijing, the Hollywood classic starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven. The following year, Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu shot Carlos Saura’s Lamentation for a Bandit and Godard’s A Married Woman and became a star in Italy. “I grew up in la dolce vita Rome,” says the actress, who spent her childhood surrounded by paparazzi and celebrities, but also by intrusive looks and awkward interruptions. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t go out to dinner with my dad because people kept coming by asking for autographs. It was difficult for me,” he admits, adjusting the wool hat he didn’t take off during the interview. The recognition you experience now is different. “I am an old man and I have lived a lot. I’m not as innocent as I was when I was young. Now I’m more relaxed.”
Leroy-Beaulieu wears top and trousers Ferragamo and pumps Christian Louboutin. Javier Biosca
Her dream of becoming an actress began when she was 12 when she saw ballet dancer Carla Fracci in the role of Odette in Swan Lake. Shortly after, she was fascinated by Liza Minnelli in Cabaret and then she realized it. At 16 he began studying acting in Paris. His father was happy. Her mother, Françoise Laurent, a former model who worked as a stylist and consultant to designer Marc Bohan at fashion house Christian Dior, tried to dissuade her. “She was living with an actor and knew how difficult it was. He was right,” he says. In this 40-year career he has experienced ups and downs and that is why he takes what he lives calmly: “I know that tomorrow I can be forgotten again.”
It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon. In the summer he will start filming the fourth season of Emily in Paris and in recent months he has received many offers to work in the United States. He rejected them all. She says she’s been offered roles in Hollywood that look like Sylvie but are worse versions of the original Sylvie. “That’s what happens when you succeed with a character, you’re asked to repeat it a hundred times,” he laments. “Besides, I love Europe too much. I’m very European. I grew up in Italy, I live in France, my daughter lives in England, I have friends in Portugal and Spain… Why should I move to the United States? The cultural gap between France and the US is huge,” he stresses. Emily in Paris shows just that: the cultural differences that exist between French and Americans. Lily Collins plays Emily, an inexperienced American who comes to the City of Light to work in a marketing agency. Leroy-Beaulieu plays her Parisian boss: experienced, empowered, chic, and non-sexually biased (her character is married, but that doesn’t stop her from having affairs with younger men).
The criticism of Emily in Paris confirms that the cultural divide the actress speaks about is real. American public opinion and audiences adored the series. The French press and public were more skeptical. “The berets. Croissants. The baguettes. Hostile waiters. The irascible janitors. Inveterate womanizers. The lovers and the mistresses. Name a cliche about France and the French and you’ll find it in Emily in Paris,” reported 20 Minutes at the comedy’s premiere. “Sometimes we French are snobbish and arrogant,” says the actress, lowering her voice a little so the other patrons in the café don’t hear her. “There are people who tell me they watched a whole season and they hated it, and I’m like, ‘Then why did you watch all 10 episodes?
“Today we can get what we want without having to imitate men,” says Leroy-Beaulieu. In the picture she wears a dress in stretch taffeta by Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, gloves in stretch taffeta by AZ Factory and denim ankle boots by Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture. Javier Biosca
She doesn’t seem to care about the opinions of the critics, but she does care about the opinions of the young (and not-so-young) women who see Emily around the world. “My character tells them that they can feel confident without the arrogance of men. For a long time women tried to break the glass ceiling by acting like them. Today we can get what we want without having to imitate them, without pretending to be machos,” he explains. However, she refuses to speak about women as victims of machismo or patriarchy. “We are obsessed with the culture of victimhood. We are obsessed with insults and a reductionist notion of identity. If you are a woman, this must be your identity. If you’re black, that must be your identity. If you’re gay, that must be your identity. A single word should not define everything we are,” he continues.
Many French artists of her generation have criticized #MeToo, the movement that began as a hashtag on social networks in 2017. It emerged among American actresses to denounce sexual assault and harassment in the entertainment industry following the abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein. A few months after it went viral, a hundred actresses, singers and intellectuals from France signed a manifesto for men’s right not to be “harassed” because they said it was “essential to sexual freedom”. “Rape is a crime. But persistent or unfortunate flirting is not a crime, nor is gallantry macho aggression,” affirmed stars like Catherine Deneuve and Ingrid Caven. Leroy-Beaulieu has mixed feelings about Hollywood activism. “I think #MeToo was cosmetic. I’m sorry to say this and I know people will hate me. It was important to talk about it, but then excesses were committed. Part of the movement, not all of it, started hating men and decided they were all rapists. And that’s ridiculous. Where is it taking us?” he says, gesturing wildly with his hands. “It served to raise awareness of a problem. But there are people who think everything is fine since #MeToo. Things are that bad. The excess made her tell us to turn the page that everything was fine. No, there are still problems. Everyone put the hashtag and then forgot. This should not be a hashtag or makeup. I hate Instagram activism.”
“When you’re successful with a character, you ask you to repeat it a hundred times,” the actress regrets. Pictured wearing a top, skirt and elasticated knit boots by Dolce & Gabbana, a bracelet by Dorsale and a ring and earrings by Elie Top.Javier Biosca
For a moment, Philippine resembles Sylvie, the irreverent character who made her famous. In April, the actress will be 60 years old. “But I’m not worried about getting older. I inherited my father’s genes. He’s 92 years old and used to skydive until recently,” he says, laughing. She also seems ready for big jumps.
Credits:
Photography: Javier Biosca.
Styling: Beatrice Moreno de la Cova.
Make-up: Houda Remita (wise and talented).
Hairdresser: John Nollett.
Photo assistant: Enrique Escandell.
Styling assistant: Diego Serna.
Production: Maia Hoetink.
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