Sacré bleu! Malcolm McDowell says he’s not a fan of Emily in Paris, even though his daughter-in-law Lily Collins is the star of the show.
“To be honest with you, it’s not my kind of thing, and Lily knows that,” McDowell told People recently.
McDowell is related to Collins through the marriage of filmmaker Charlie McDowell, his son with ex-wife Mary Steenburgen. Collins, the daughter of musician Phil Collins and former teacher Jill Tavelman, married the younger McDowell in 2021, and the spouses welcomed their first child via surrogacy earlier this year.
Despite his distaste for Emily in Paris, McDowell only had rave reviews for Collins. “I’m the biggest fan of my daughter-in-law. I think she’s absolutely one of the great actresses,” the Clockwork Orange actor said. “She has such a beautiful quality. … As far as I’m concerned, when she’s on the screen, there’s nobody else on it, because she’s not only a good actress, but she has a beautiful quality.”
Plus, McDowell says Paris owes his daughter-in-law “a great debt” for bringing in so much tourism. “I’m sure [it] has gone up so much from people in the United States watching and going, ‘Yeah, let’s go to Paris,’” he said.
Emily in Paris has ventured out of the City of Light and even out of the country of France in recent seasons, however. Season 4 took the action to Rome while Season 5 — the production of which was just halted after the death of an assistant director — is filming in Venice.
The show’s fifth season will start streaming on Thursday, December 18, while Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Sylvie Grateau), Ashley Park (Mindy Chen), Lucas Bravo (Gabriel), Samuel Arnold (Julien), Bruno Gouery (Luc), William Abadie (Antoine Lambert), Lucien Laviscount (Alfie), Eugenio Franceschini (Marcello), and Thalia Besson (Genevieve) returning alongside Collins.
“Now the head of Agence Grateau Rome, Emily faces professional and romantic challenges as she adapts to life in a new city,” Netflix says in a synopsis of the fifth outing. “But just as everything falls into place, a work idea backfires, and the fallout cascades into heartbreak and career setbacks. Seeking stability, Emily leans into her French lifestyle, until a big secret threatens one of her closest relationships. Tackling conflict with honesty, Emily emerges with deeper connections, renewed clarity, and a readiness to embrace new possibilities.”
Emily in Paris, Season 5 Premiere, Thursday, December 18, Netflix