Unlike its previous three installments, the fourth season of "Emily in Paris" is following recent Netflix tradition by splitting the episode count in half à la the streamer's other popular titles like "Bridgerton," "Stranger Things" and "You." The first five episodes premiered on Thursday, August 15, with the final five to come on Thursday, September 12.
Ahead of the part 2 premiere, series star Lily Collins — who plays eponymous heroine, Emily Cooper — gave some insight into how the new release structure affected how she approached her own performance as well as the rest of the cast.
In an August 2024 interview with Deadline, Collins revealed that the "Emily in Paris" cast and crew "filmed a couple of episodes out of order because we filmed this year in a fall, winter season," another first for the France-set series.
"We got to go to the mountains and have snow, and we needed to make sure that we had the best snowfall. So certain episodes that are in the second drop, we ended up filming before the end of the first drop."
That production schedule made things "kind of complicated," the actress told the outlet, "because we still as a cast, and even, I think, [creator] Darren [Star], we didn’t know how the season was going to end. We filmed going towards something, but there were always going to be new dramas involved, so we were navigating it as the characters were. We don’t always know the trajectory of the season when we’re filming it, so it makes it even more interesting for us and also keeps us on our toes."
However, despite adding an extra element of difficulty during filming, "knowing that it was going to be in two drops as we were filming was exciting because you get to lean more into these bombs being dropped, into the solid decisions you’re making," Collins added.
"You can play more into those knowing that then things are going to come your way to shift, and so you can play into those shifts more as well so the characters are believing their decisions as much as they’re believing their decisions until something else comes up, like, 'Wait, what?' It makes it really fun."
That knowing nature no doubt came up when dealing with the season's many cliffhangers, from Camille's baby situation (no spoilers here!) to who Emily Cooper will ultimately end up with, Gabriel or Alfie.
Speaking of, Collins also gave a little teaser about what's to come in that love triangle, or should we say love rhombus, now that a hunky Italian newcomer seems to be entering the picture in part 2. "I can’t speak too much on that. I can just say that there were paparazzi pictures that came out where you see that there is a new person that she’s in Rome spending time with, but I will say that Emily gets to go on a very fun Roman Holiday, and Emily wouldn’t be Emily without a little geometry lesson," Collins told Deadline.
Tom's Guide will keep you posted on all things "Emily in Paris" ahead of season 4 part 2, including behind-the-scenes tidbits, actor insights, character descriptions and on-set photos. In the meantime, you can catch up with Emily, Gabriel, Alfie, Mindy and the rest of the Paris crew by rewatching the show's first three seasons and season 4 part 1 with a Netflix subscription.
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