December 17, 2021, 05:23 PM
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As many television junkies would know, Netflix's most popular comedy series of 2020 "Emily in Paris" will return with a second season on Dec. 22.
"Emily in Paris" follows main character Emily Cooper, a marketing executive from Chicago, U.S., as she navigates work, friendships and romance in Paris.
Played by actress Lily Collins, Cooper also (unrealistically) gains lots of followers online as she journals her time in Paris on her Instagram account.
Now, here's where I add a disclaimer: I, like 58 million other households worldwide who also watched the series, completely enjoyed the first season and am looking forward to binge the second season (I guess I am ringarde).
Not only is it a mindless watch with a relatively easy-to-follow plot, but it is also great escapist entertainment where I lived the Parisian lifestyle vicariously through Cooper during these times.
While she was scoffing down pain au chocolat, I was spreading Nutella on almost-expired bread. Close enough.
However, I did agree with critics who pointed out that the series shows an unrealistic image of Paris and how social media works.
Dives more into French culture
In a Zoom call with Collins (!!!) at 7am Singapore time, no less, she assured us at Mothership that "Emily in Paris" will "dive more into the French culture and language" in Season 2.
Giving us a hint into what to expect from the second season, she added:
"There's a lot of subtitles with the actors speaking in their native language which was really, I think, important for the show. Emily goes to French classes more, she gets inspired by French cinematic icons and fashion.
I think you can only really do that in Season 2, when the whole premise of the show is a girl who is a fish out of water and in season two she gets more acclimated. I think we always knew we were going to head there if we got to a second season, so we finally get to see it."
Excuse her French
Another thing to know about this Cooper character is that she's an American who was sent to work in a boutique marketing firm in Paris, while knowing little to no French.
In "The Netflix Afterparty" interview, Collins revealed that she grew up knowing how to communicate in French but the lack of practice made her less confident in the language.
At the time, the actress also said that her ability "got worse" as she was playing her character in the show.
Clarifying that her French didn't really get worse but just "didn't get any better", Collins told Mothership that before the first season, she hoped she could practice more but it was difficult "to not know [French] as Emily and know [French] as Lily".
However, she has since put in more effort into learning the language during the four months she spent in Paris while filming the new season.
Collins said,
"So season two, I actually made more of an effort to separate the two (her character and herself) and really practised on set with the crew and some of the cast. Also, when I was out with my husband on weekends, I started to order in French and translated menus and signs. I think it definitely has gotten better but if we go to Season 3, I'm going to really make a promise to myself to mainly try to speak French on the weekends."
Expect some Dynamite
So what else can you expect from the upcoming season? Some song segments from Mindy, perhaps?
Co-starring in "Emily in Paris" is singer-actress Ashley Park who plays Mindy Chen, a former nanny, an aspiring singer and a good friend of Cooper.
Speaking to Mothership, Park revealed that she only had two days to choreograph "Dynamite" by BTS with choreographer James Aslop via Zoom.
"I believe it was just two to three days before the scene and we were on Zoom for a little bit. I did it in my living room with a lamp post and fake chair and James did it on their end."
Park added:
"I realised the stage is so small, so I had to re-choreograph everything to fit on the small stage so we did that the day before. That was a little bit crazy, but I was so grateful for James because I wouldn't have been able to do that on my own."
Exciting.
The second season of "Emily in Paris" will stream on Netflix from Dec. 22, 2021.
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