Collins scratches itch to travel with ‘Emily’
‘Sesame Street’ tackles racism in TV special
Lily Collins definitely had a perk working on her latest project: She lived in Paris for four months while filming the Netflix series “Emily in Paris.”
Created by Darren Star (“Sex and the City,” “Younger”) , the new series which debuted earlier this month follows Collins as a woman from Chicago who gets sent to Paris to be in charge of social media for a luxury brand company.
Her character, Emily, has an eye for what will pop online and snapshots of her posts and clever captions often appear on screen. (Emily’s puns, by the way, are a fun callback to Carrie Bradshaw’s writing in “Sex and the City.”)
Collins says apart from the writers and directors and one other cast member (Ashley Park of Broadway’s “Mean Girls”), the crew was French. They even found themselves experiencing the city through her character’s eyes.
“We had access to so many incredible locations,” said Collins. “It was so wonderful to experience that with the camera crew and everyone behind the scenes because they were going, ‘I never thought I’d have access to this either,’ so everyone was having these wideeyed moments together.”
Collins sometimes felt oddly in sync with her fishout-of-water character, like the time she lost hot water in her rented apartment — just like Emily.
“I kept saying to everybody, ‘Are you guys doing this to me on purpose to make me have empathy for Emily? Because I already do. I need hot water.’”
The series isn’t all croissants and cafes (although there is plenty of that). Emily also has a lot of work to do to be accepted by her French colleagues. They don’t appreciate that she isn’t fluent in their language, believe she speaks up when she should stay silent, and her enthusiasm is off-putting.
Emily is willing to take in her criticism and try to evolve, and Collin appreciates that.
“I feel like that’s what we’re all doing right now. We’re educating ourselves and learning and growing and being forced to look at ourselves in the mirror, while also hopefully doing that for other people in a loving way,” she said.
“There’s a lot of hard conversations, I think, that we’ve all had to have recently with ourselves, with our friends, with our families, whether about current events, voting and Black Lives Matter. As long as we’re open to learn and educate ourselves and also lovingly do the same for others, that’s how we grow.”
The show also has great fashion, which is a hallmark of Darren Star productions. He’s once again enlisted the famed “Sex and the City” and “Younger” costume designer Patricia Fields to outfit Collins and her co-stars. A highlight is when Emily wears a sweater decorated with the Eiffel Tower to her first day at work.
“What would you do if you knew that you were going to a country where that was like the iconic symbol?” reasoned Collins. ”Emily’s like, ‘I’m going to wear it.’ And that’s just so what Emily does. It’s just so endearing and it makes you laugh.”
Added Star: “It captures her enthusiasm for wanting to be there and sort of her tone deafness for how it will be perceived.”
The irony isn’t lost on Collins that the series is premiering at a time when travel is down or impossible because of the pandemic.
“It’s so strange because I look at the episodes and as I’m talking about my experiences in Paris, there’s a sadness, right? Because it’s like, ‘Wow, that was the world before everything that happened in the past five, six months happened.’ It’s a really interesting time for it to come out. But I think it’s right. I think it was meant to come out now.”
Star hopes the series encourages people to explore the world, when it’s safe to do so.
“Americans have a big country and we don’t travel as much as everybody else does around the world and I hope this show inspires people to do that.”
“Sesame Street” has always pressed for inclusion. Now in the wake of the national reckoning on race, it’s going further — teaching children to stand up against racism.
Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — will later this month air the half-hour anti-racist special “The Power of We” and hopes families will watch together.
The special defines racism for younger viewers and shows how it can be hurtful. It urges children who encounter racism or hear someone else be the victim of it to call it out. “When you see something that’s wrong, speak up and say, ‘That’s wrong’ and tell an adult,” 6-year-old Gabrielle the Muppet advises.
The special, composed of little skits and songs in a Zoom-like format, will stream on HBO Max and PBS Kids and air on PBS stations beginning Oct. 15.
In one animated skit, a Black Muppet is told by a white Muppet that he can’t dress up like a superhero because they’re only white. Though hurt, the Black Muppet nevertheless refuses to stop playing superheroes, saying they can come in all colors. The white Muppet soon apologizes. “Racism hurts and it’s wrong,” is the message.
In the song “How Do You Know?” racism is dealt with head-on. “Hey, Elmo, how would you feel if I said, ‘I don’t like you ‘cause I don’t like the color red?’” sings Tamir, a Black, 8-year-old Muppet. Elmo responds: ”Elmo wouldn’t care what you said ‘cause Elmo is proud, proud to be red!” It concludes with the lines: “Speak up. Say something. Don’t give in.”
“We believe that this moment calls for a direct discussion about racism to help children grasp the issues and teach them that they are never too young to be ‘upstanders’ for themselves, one another, and their communities,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice president of creative and production at Sesame Workshop, in a statement.
Current and former Sesame Street human cast members Alan, Charlie, Chris and Gordon take part in the special, alongside celebrity guests Yara Shahidi, the star of “grown-ish;” “Hamilton” star Christopher Jackson; and Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day.
Viewers are offered tips to help their communities unite, including chalk drawings, making positive signs and going to sing-a-longs. When outside, all the puppets wear masks, even the letter puppets. The special concludes with the slogan “Listen. Act. Unite.” (AP)