There’s no movie magic involved in bringing the gorgeous scenery of Paris to the screen in Emily in Paris. It’s clear in every single frame that this show is made in the City of Light — there’s no faking those breathtaking Parisian surroundings.
Executive producer and director Andrew Fleming says that’s on purpose. “We do a lot of different locations. We don’t go and just sit somewhere,” he tells Tudum across the Agence Grateau conference room table during a late April visit to the Emily in Paris set. “We go somewhere and shoot a scene, we go [to] another place and shoot another scene. It really is a tour of Paris, this show.”
It’s the final week of filming in France for Season 4 before production packs up to live la dolce vita in Italy (which you’ll see on-screen in Part 2, out Sept. 12). At this point, Fleming — who, like Emily, has basically had to learn how to speak French on the job — has been directing scenes in both French and English for the better part of four years.
“It’s an interesting challenge,” he says. “One of the best ways to learn French is to direct scenes in French. It’s interesting from a directorial standpoint because it allows you to forget about the language and just focus on [the actors’] behavior, which is really what you’re looking for.”
Fleming is the man on the ground in Paris — and, this season, in Rome — helping to keep things running smoothly. The conversations with creator Darren Star about the series started long before they even filmed the pilot. “We’re really in sync,” Star tells Tudum. “We have a shorthand. He gets it without me even having to say much, and I know that when the script goes into his hands, he’s really executing my vision, and he’s also bringing his vision to it.”
This season, the black-and-white ball in Episode 3 is the biggest set piece in Part 1 and required a lot of coordination. “It got my creative juices flowing more than any other,” Fleming says. “There were so many aspects to it: this idea that it was black-and-white, that it was masked, that we’re shooting in the Baccarat museum — [which is] honestly one of the most beautiful places in Paris — that it had a couple of dance numbers. It had some visual effects in it, and there’s an element of magical realism.”
But the highlight, he says, is that there are major dramatic events that happen at the party and move the story forward. “It was a big sequence, and it was very, very satisfying to see it all come together in the editing room.”
Part 2’s set piece is a trip to Rome, which Fleming had to work on while filming the early episodes of the season. “It’s been a challenge, but a fun challenge, to have to sneak off to Rome and scout a lot of locations in a very short period of time. I’ve been there twice over the past two months.”
A new country means a new language — which has made Fleming appreciate his adopted home of Paris even more. “So, I go to Rome, and I’m in a van with people who only speak Italian, and I have no Italian,” he says. “I was like, ‘I can’t wait to go back home to France where I can understand what everybody’s saying, and I have my house.’ Paris can be very intimidating, and I think it was intimidating coming here the first season. But I feel very at home in Paris now.”
And so do his actors, with whom he’s grown close. Lily Collins, who plays the titular character, tells Tudum: “He’s a guiding force for me in finding Emily — the highs and the lows, the amount of sparkle that Emily shows in certain scenes. I’m always like, ‘Do I tone it up? Tone it down?’ He really makes me feel so comfortable and safe as the character and helps me navigate through all of the intricacies of these bombs that are dropped. He just is the show to me, and I adore him.”
In addition to the striking views of the Seine and the cozy courtyard of Emily’s apartment, this season will travel beyond the borders of the French capital. Star says fans can expect many exciting new locations in Season 4, from the foot of the snowy Mont Blanc to a whole new European country. “This season just goes way above and beyond. We’ve filmed in Megève in the French Alps, the home of Camille’s family’s ski chalet. We’re at the French Open. We’re in Chantilly, the polo grounds. We’re in Rome. We’re in the Italian countryside.”
Want to take your own Emily Cooper–approved tour of Paris? Check out Season 4’s most iconic filming locations below.
On any given day in Paris, fans from around the world visit this small square near the Panthéon that serves as the exterior of Emily and Gabriel’s cozy apartment building. And it’s not just TV magic — across the square is the restaurant that serves as the exterior of Gabriel’s (Lucas Bravo) pride and joy, L’Esprit de Gigi.
“This show has been so amazing and different from most series I’ve done,” Fleming says, because “we do much more location shooting.” Like, for example, at the famed Basilica atop Montmartre with sprawling views of the entire city.
Early in Season 4, work takes Emily and her friends (and colleagues) to the French Open. Lucien Laviscount, who plays Emily’s sometimes-beau Alfie, teases, “They’re on centre court at Roland Garros, and it’s epic.”
There’s a reason so many famous painters have depicted this bridge — because it’s one of the most picturesque sites in Paris and stunning for a romantic stroll across the Seine.
The Agence Grateau holiday party takes place at the posh Hôtel Plaza Athénée, which transforms its courtyard into a luxe chalet-themed winter wonderland at Christmastime.
Le Crazy Horse Saloon or Le Crazy Horse de Paris, the Parisian cabaret venue known for its nude revues, has hosted celebrity performers from Pamela Anderson to K-pop star Lisa of Blackpink — and, this season, Mindy Chen. “I’ve gone to Crazy Horse like five different times. I love it,” Ashley Park, who plays Emily’s roomie/bestie, tells Tudum.
When Emily lands in Rome for a weekend getaway with new Italian beau Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini), she immediately hops on the back of his Vespa for a tour of the city’s most famous sights. But in front of the Colosseum, Marcello encourages her to view those sights through her eyes, not her phone.
Marcello introduces Emily to the Roman tradition of tossing a coin into the famed Baroque landmark. Using your right hand and tossing the change over your left shoulder can bring different luck depending on how many you use: One coin means you’ll come back to Rome someday, two means you’ll return and find the love of your life, and three means you'll get married. Don’t worry, the coins are periodically collected and donated to charity.
Emily’s hotel of choice in Roma is a glitzy, five-star establishment on Via Veneto, the famous street that served as inspiration for Italian cinema classic La Dolce Vita.
Mindy has a post-breakup burst of inspiration in this small square located in Rome’s Jewish Quarter and performs an original song while Emily looks on. “It was so cinematic,” says Collins of the scene. “It was so stunning. Anytime they film Emily watching Mindy, I cry. It doesn’t matter if I’m supposed to laugh, I literally cry. And there’s just so much genuine emotion involved that you really get to see in those moments how deep their friendship goes.”
