SEX & LA CITÉ
Six ways Netflix phenomenon Emily in Paris has become worthy successor to Sex And The City as drama’s 3rd season begins
FOR those still pining for Sex And The City, Emily in Paris could heal the pain.
After two hit series for Netflix, it has proved itself a worthy successor to the adventures of Carrie Bradshaw and her pals in the Big Apple.
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American Darren Star, 61, is the creator of both Sex And The City for US network HBO, from 1998 to 2004, and Emily In Paris, since 2020.
Now, the latter’s third season, starting tomorrow and again with Brit beauty Lily Collins as the lead, promises more style, steaminess and drama. Emily must choose between different jobs, and men, as she juggles work and love.
TV Editor Rod McPhee looks at how the show has become a global hit by tapping into the magic of its predecessor.
THE SEX: She beds 2 love interests and (accidentally) a 17-year-old
Though the focus in Emily in Paris is on falling in love, it seems our leading lady - and everyone around her - can’t help but fall in bed with various men.
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It follows in the best tradition of Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, and her trio of sexually liberated mates in New York City in the Nineties and Noughties.
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Emily beds her two main love interests, one of whom gives her “the most incredible night of sex” she ever had.
And there’s also an embarrassing moment when, in a case of mistaken identity, the 29-year-old woman accidentally sleeps with a 17-year-old.
Then there’s Sylvie who is having a passionate affair with married businessman Antoine Lambert, at least until she meets hot photographer Erik DeGroot, played by Søren Bregendal.
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Not only is he young enough to be her son, it turns out she also has a secret husband, Laurent, who doesn’t seem to care one bit what she gets up to.
THE CITY: Show boss is ‘a French geek’
It’s no coincidence that Darren chose another international city - particularly one so fashionable - to set his new show.
With its sprawling avenues, squares, parks and restaurants, Paris echoes perfectly the romantic and frantic backdrop of New York.
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The self confessed “French Geek”, who fell in love with the city on his first trip there aged 19, said: “In the way I love to share my love of New York in Sex and the City, I wanted to share my love of Paris with Emily in Paris.”
Darren’s obsession with the city of light was obvious in Sex and the City as the temptation of the French capital gets touched upon quite often in show.
Die hard fans will remember Paris was where Carrie’s love, Mr Big, disappeared to one weekend, sparking a huge row between them, it was also a Parisian-style cinema in NYC where she would often escape to to indulge her love of all things French.
It was also where she ended up moving to with her older Russian lover, Aleksandr Petrovsky, where she found herself lonely and, like Emily, a fish out of water.
THE FASHION: More technicolor, more chic
CARRIE’S sense of style was certainly unique – and not just for the white tutu she wore in the opening titles of Sex And The City.
Everything was oversized, overstated and often blindingly colourful.
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But that is nothing compared with the wild, technicolor wardrobe of Emily.
In series two she wore giant, fluorescent bows and in season three we will see her wearing giant shoulder pads you could run a bridge between.
The skirts are often short, the necklines plunging and most outfits are capped off by berets, in a variety of shades.
But then Paris is the home of fashion, and her PR company handles the accounts of a string of designers, including firebrand Pierre Cadault (a mix of Jean Paul Gaultier and the late Karl Lagerfeld).
And while Carrie and her pals used New York’s Fifth Avenue and Central Park as their catwalks, the cast of Emily In Paris have even more chic backdrops in the form of the Louvre art gallery, the Palace of Versaille and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.
Show creator Darren Star said: “Fashion has always been in the DNA of Emily In Paris and will continue to be.
"As it evolves and characters like Pierre Cadault become even more important to the fabric of the series, we learn more about the fashion business.
“And the way the story evolves this season gives us an even bigger jumping-off point to explore the world of fashion in seasons to come.”
THE CREATOR: 24 years of Darren Star
WHEN Darren Star developed Sex And The City for TV, he created an iconic series which ran from 1998 to 2004, spawned two films and a recent reboot.
In the process Darren made Sarah Jessica Parker and her fellow actors – Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Charlotte York – international stars.
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Nearly 18 years after SATC ended on TV, Darren appears to have shifted the show across the Atlantic with Emily In Paris – while making some crucial tweaks.
Now they drink champagne and not cosmopolitans, eat croissants and not cupcakes – and while Carrie chronicled all her adventures on an Apple Mac for her newspaper column, millennial Emily does the same, only via social media.
The overlap is obvious, so much so that there is even talk of Kim Cattrall potentially making an appearance in season four – if Netflix give it the green light.
For Darren the similarity comes down to one key characteristic.
He said: “I like writing about women because, especially when you’re doing shows that are really about relationships, shows that are romantic comedies are generally female-driven.
“I just feel, like, women are funny, they’re expressive, they’re vulnerable, they’re verbal about their feelings.”
THE MEN: Alfie & Gabriel are new Aidan & Mr Big
While Carrie Bradshaw had Mr Big and Aidan, Emily has a menage a trois with Gabriel, played by Frenchman Lucas Bravo, and Alfie, played by Lucien Laviscount.
Beautiful Gabriel is her neighbour and a chef at the restaurant nearby, unfortunately he also has a long-term lover, Camille, who befriends Emily.
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Meanwhile Alfie is a British banker visiting the French capital, who doesn’t seem too enamoured by Emily’s charms at first, but quickly changes his mind.
She falls in love with both men, in different ways, and finds herself facing the dilemma of her life after sleeping with them.
Darren said: “She’s fully pursuing a new relationship with Alfie — but there’s still this mutual attraction with Gabriel that haunts both of them.”
And while Emily’s boss, Sylvie is juggling her two lovers and husband, Emily’s pal, Mindy, is bedding hunky guitarist Benoit whom she often busks with on the streets of Paris.
Then there are Emily’s hilarious colleagues at Savoir - Luc and Julien, played by Bruno Gouery and Samuel Arnold - whose greatest hope of being seductive is laughing people into bed.
And in series three there’ll be a new hunk arriving on the scene in the form of handsome businessman Nicolas De Leon, played by actor and model Paul Forman.
THE WOMEN: Sylvie is Samantha, Emily’s Carrie
JUST like Carrie Bradshaw, played by US actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Lily Collins’ character Emily Cooper is a fashion-obsessed woman in a tiny flat in a huge city.
She wants a career, clothes and romance but that means navigating cut-throat competition, men and her own rollercoaster emotions.
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The Parisian version of Sex And The City’s Samantha Jones, below left, played by American Kim Cattrall, is Sylvie Grateau, portrayed by French actress Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu.
She is an older sophisticate who runs PR firm Savoir, where Emily arrives from Chicago.
Like Samantha, she is demanding, glamorous and speaks her mind – but despite being frosty to Emily, is warming to her by the end of season two.
More Girl Power comes in the form of Emily’s pal Mindy Chen, a Chinese-Korean nanny played by Ashley Park, who wants to become a singer without the help of her rich family back home.
Her frenemy is Parisian Camille, played by Camille Razat, who is the girlfriend of her love interest. After Camille rumbling Mindy’s affair with her man, she’s surprisingly civil.
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But a new face in series three is Sofia Sideris, played by Melia Kreiling, who is a beautiful Greek artist who quickly falls into a passionate affair in Paris.
Lily said: “This season has everything I love from the first two seasons, elevated to an even higher level.”
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