The French actress says the sophisticated Savoir exec is “more vulnerable than mean,” but she still loves playing Sylvie’s dark sides.
Emily in ParisSylvie Grateau is a force to be reckoned with. Sylvie, the domineering Savoir exec who reluctantly oversees American transplant Emily (Lily Collins) when she arrives in Paris, is stylish, chic and very intimidating.
although Philippine Leroy-Beaulieuthe driving force behind Sylvie says the “mean mean” character is more vulnerable than anything else, the actress admits she thoroughly enjoys playing the “dark sides” of her character. Defending Sylvie against Variety while promoting the season 3 premiere of the Netflix series, Leroy-Beaulieu shared that her character isn’t all that different from series creator Darren Star.
“She’s more vulnerable than mean! It’s like Darren. When you first meet him he’s very cold, but in fact he’s like a lot of people who are highly sensitive: he’s protective of himself. In a way, Darren and Sylvie have a lot She’s no saint either — she has dark sides and I love playing them all the way,” the actress said, adding that Sylvie’s character arc adds a deeper backstory to her (sometimes) bad behavior.
She adds, “As soon as I started reading this part, I got the sense that she was very rigid and repressed in the way she acted and moved, like she was hiding something. And that’s what we find out in Season 2: She came to Paris from the seaside resort of Saint-Tropez to pursue a career and had to toughen up to cope with the Parisian scene.
Leroy-Beaulieu fights back against “anti-French” criticism: ‘It is the first impression foreigners have of France and Paris’
While Emily in Paris helped launch Leroy-Beaulieu to international stardom, the series fell short in the veteran French actress’s homeland. The show was heavily criticized as “anti-French” for its stereotypical representations of Parisian culture and citizens, but Leroy-Beaulieu tells Variety she doesn’t feel like a traitor at all:
‘I am not a traitor at all, on the contrary! I’m like Asterix [of the comic book Asterix & Obelix] from the village of indomitable Gallic warriors. I tell the Americans not to catch me. I fight the invader! What we see in season 1 seems like a caricature, but it is the first impression foreigners have of France and Paris: rude people who have no sense of humor. Then when people get to know us, they see our other facets that are more beautiful and endearing.”
Fans can only expect more endearing, in-depth character growth from Sylvie (and other non-Emily) characters in the show’s upcoming seasons — star and producer Lily Collins liked to tease that Season 3 will focus more on her co-stars, telling Entertainment Weekly:
“I was so excited to be able to show the other actors more this season, and to see their storylines really thrive in the workplace and in their personal lives on the show. I’m so proud of each and every one of our cast. And it’s been a pleasure to see all the work they’ve done in things that don’t pertain to Emily’s storyline. I think it’s very important to the structure of the show.”
Emily in Paris Season 3 is now available on Netflix.