Why Lucas Bravo Almost Didn't Play Gabriel On Emily In Paris

Anyone who's watched Netflix's original series "Emily in Paris" — which was created by Darren Star ("Younger," "Sex and the City") and stars Lily Collins as the titular Emily in the French capital — is familiar with Lucas Bravo, who plays the show's infamous "hot chef" Gabriel. As it turns out, the actor almost lost out on the pivotal part because the studio behind the series was hoping for a more established performer.

As Bravo exclusively told People in September 2024, he wasn't cast as Gabriel right away. To cope with the disappointment of losing such a huge opportunity, he ran away to Corsica. Because the show didn't "want to take a chance on" an actor without "enough background," Bravo said, "I wanted to be in a place where there's no service, and I could just talk to birds, so to speak."

Okay, but as we all know, Bravo does play Gabriel, and he has since "Emily in Paris" began its run on Netflix in October 2020. So what changed? It all has to do with Star's influence and Bravo's determination (and a lack of super-established names who also happened to be French and have the accent and language skills required for the role).

According to Bravo, a fellow hiker exploring the remote Corsican wilderness asked to borrow his phone to "call his daughter," but that the task would require that hiker to walk nearly an hour to find cell service. When the stranger (thankfully) returned, he explained that the phone had been buzzing non-stop. "He told me, 'Your phone was vibrating left and right when I got service, so you should check it out,'" Bravo recalled. Still, the actor decided to stay off the grid: The whole reason he went somewhere without cell service, he told People, was to get away from "the whole 'Emily in Paris' thing."

Thankfully for his career, Bravo changed his mind and decided to check his phone the next morning ... only to discover 40 text messages and 30 missed calls. "It was the casting director telling me, 'Where are you?'" But the role of Gabriel had been cast and was about to start filming, so when Bravo returned, heread for other potential love interests for Lily Collins' Emily.

Eventually, though, Bravo — who ended up reading Gabriel's lines as a stand-in, an experience he called "a bit harsh" because the whole situation was "still an open wound" — did a chemistry read with Collins. Sparks flew. "It went super well. Lily is very generous," he said. "When you dive into her eyes, it's really easy to be connected to her."

Maybe the funniest part of Lucas Bravo's road to "Emily in Paris" is the actor's admission that, when the show's creative team asked why they couldn't reach him when they asked him to come back, he gave a rambling answer. "I was like, 'I was in the mountain with this shepherd making goat cheese,' and I was so uncomfortable I talked about goat cheese for 10 minutes," Bravo recalled to People, saying he was convinced he hadn't gotten the role. He was wrong, though: The very next day, he got a call telling him that he'd start filming "Emily in Paris" in just two days' time.

As far as Bravo is concerned, showrunner Darren Star is responsible for his nabbing the role of Gabriel. According to Bravo, Star "fought" because he "thought [Bravo] was the part from the beginning" and "went against the studio." Star basically confirmed this to the Los Angeles Times in a profile of Bravo. "We brought him back and he read with Lily — the chemistry was undeniable," Star told the paper. "He just has this natural charisma and this twinkle in his eye and an amazing sense of humor. I just wanted to go with my gut."

Bravo's feeling about Gabriel have changed over the years since he was cast: In 2024, he said he was questioning if he wanted to be part of the upcoming fifth season "because my contract ends at Season 4. I really want to see if Gabriel gets back to his fun, cheeky, playful, alive self. Because three seasons playing melancholic, sad, depressed, and lost is not fun anymore." Fear not, Gabriel fans: Bravo will, indeed, return as Gabriel in Season 5, which will drop in its entirety on Netflix on Thursday, Dec. 18.