Lily Collins

Lily Collins helped shape a cultural shenomenon. What's more: she made it look easy.

“Whether it was through writing, or even as far back as high school and being a teen therapist, I really just wanted to listen to other people talk and tell their stories and communicate and help, help them come up with the answers themselves and help them use their voice and tell their story…I love the idea of giving other people an opportunity to be at the forefront of a story.” “I got dates, I got an editor, I got a publishing house, and then I wound up booking three jobs back-to-back and had to write it all over the world.” “The first movie I did, I was 20 years old and I’m now 33. “I’ve always loved the idea of producing, before I even knew what the word ‘producing’ meant,” she says. Whether you’re fantasizing about actually leaving your life behind and starting anew thousands of miles away or are simply looking to start a new chapter—“It’s almost like when you’re a kid and you got to a new school and are just like, ‘Well, I guess I’ll see what happens,’’’ Collins remarks—simultaneously enjoying the excitement of novelty while also conquering its sidecar of difficulties is an inescapable part of the human journey. And so while the show’s plot mirrors (and somewhat fuels) a very literal and physical move into a new place, so too is it relatable to anyone starting a new chapter, or dreaming of doing so. Such spikes are regularly seen after incidents of gun violence in the U.S., signaling that, sadly, people are looking to leave for fears of safety (there was also a 22 percent jump in traffic after the January 6 Capitol riot) or the loss of rights. “I read the pilot and thought, I would want to watch this,” Collins says over Zoom. The polar opposite of a Francophone, she blunders her French, is the catalyst for cringe-worthy cultural clashes (“Emilie” stems from the Latin word for “rival,” after all), meets and falls for supermodel men who play the roles of chefs or bankers, wears head-turning outfits, gathers a gaggle of friends and, over time, adjusts to life after being cast out to sea on her lonesome. But while Emily in Paris is silly, colorful, hilarious, and heartfelt, how did it become one of the most-streamed shows of all time? “A lot of husbands would come up to us and say, ‘I started watching it for my wife but I think I wound up watching it quicker than she did.’” “But when we came back to Paris, people were recognizing us, and the age didn’t matter—it could be 10 years old all the way up to one’s grandparents’ age.” And while Nielsen reported that 77 percent of season two viewers were female, (hence the shenomenon), and I’d love to think of the show as being for the girlies and the gays, we’re not alone.