Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu thinks French people "don't have a sense of humour".
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu thinks that French people need to lighten up
The ‘Emily in Paris’ star believes that the population of her home country could do with lightening up when it comes to her Netflix series - which follows Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), an American forging a new life for herself in the capital city - and understanding they're not the only subject of mockery on the show.
The 58-year-old actress - who plays marketing executive Sylvie Grateau - told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: “The French know how to laugh at other people but they don’t know how to laugh at themselves.
“They always get hurt and upset when people laugh at them, they don’t realise that [creator] Darren [Starr] is also making fun of the Americans, very much — they don’t realise that.
Philippine - who was born and raised to French parents in Italy - concluded that the French simply don't get the show.
She added: “They don’t have a sense of humour, that’s what I think!”
Philippine thinks “it's really cute” and is both taken aback and “really touched” by “young people, 20-year-olds” who love Sylvie’s personality and write “incredible comments on Instagram”.
The actress is thankful she was cast to play a character originally "written for a younger woman, like 35, 40" and enjoys having the chance to be "nasty, but not really" and to speak her mind in a way she never would in real life.
She said: "It’s an opportunity to do things and say things you never do in life because you’re never that French. I’m never that French!”
But the ‘Neuf mois’ actress struggles to feel as sexy as Sylvie does - who embarks on a frisson with young photographer Eric DeGroot, played by Soren Bregendal in season two - though she is “always honoured" by comparisons.
She added: “People my age should be freer than we are … being freer and being bolder and having more fun and just live.
“You know how hard it is when you pass 45 or even 40 and people start thinking, ‘Just get out of the scene.’ But there’s so much we can do and transmit. We have a lot to teach the younger girls.”
Tagged in Lily Collins