Lily Collins and Ashley Park are, by their own admission, not okay. Twinning in hard-shouldered black blazers with gold buttons (Lily’s full-length and paired with oversized jeans and clogs; Ashley’s cropped, embellished and worn over a black mini and stilettos), their feverish excitement – at being reunited, and celebrating the release of the eagerly awaited fourth season of Emily in Paris , the Netflix hit which made them household names back in 2020 – is contagious, even over Zoom. But, they’re also surprisingly emotional.
Yes, Darren Star’s air-light soufflé of a rom-com is a full-blown romp – a frequently improbable, head-spinningly fizzy cocktail of love triangles, eye-popping fashion and bonkers marketing campaigns – but the road to its latest instalment has been sombre to say the least. At the very start of the year, Park, the 33-year-old Tony, Grammy, SAG and Critics’ Choice Award nominee also recently seen in Beef , Joy Ride , Only Murders in the Building and Girls5eva , found herself hospitalised after a case of tonsillitis developed into critical septic shock. She was still in recovery when she flew to Paris to resume filming, only a month behind schedule.
Collins, the 35-year-old Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, who’s also appeared in the likes of Mank , Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile , and Les Misérables , is a close friend of Park’s offscreen, too, and remained by her side for the duration of the shoot. Recover she did, thoug.