Why Lucas Bravo Was Mostly Missing From 'Emily in Paris' Season 5 — And What It Means for Gabriel
Fans have been waiting all year for the Season 5 premiere of Emily in Paris, and now that it has premiered, it seems like the Lucas Bravo controversy has carried over from last season.
Viewers noticed that Bravo’s character, Gabriel, was missing from most of the latest season. It’s hard not to connect the dots that the 32-year-old actor’s outspoken comments about the direction of his character might have impacted his screen time this season.
Well, there’s actually a happy ending to this story. Even though Gabriel briefly turns up in Rome and later interacts with Emily (Lily Collins) to share some wise words, he’s not leaving the Emily in Paris landscape. Gabriel’s job on a boat in Greece isn’t going to take him away from his tumultuous relationship with Emily.
The show’s director and executive producer, Andrew Fleming, explained to Us Weekly that fans should view Emily and Gabriel’s relationship as a “journey.” Despite Bravo’s dissatisfaction with the writing, Fleming revealed, “At no point was Luke ever leaving the show permanently.”
Bravo’s filming schedule was limited this season because he had another project in production at the same time. “He did have a commitment. He had a movie that he was doing, so we worked around that,” said Fleming. So, there is no bad blood between Bravo and the writers — and spoiler alert — fans will likely see a lot of Gabriel next season because he poured his heart out to Emily in a letter at the end of Season 5.
While Fleming isn’t promising that the dynamic duo will end up together, he stressed the importance of Bravo’s presence.
“He’s important. He’s part of the DNA of the show,” Fleming summed up. “When he and Emily are in a scene together, something undefinable happens. They have this chemistry. They do. There’s just something about the two of them that’s very watchable.”
In September 2024, Bravo told SheKnows that he was not exactly happy about his character’s arc in Season 4.
“Reading the script this final season, it was like ‘I don’t really like what he’s becoming and where the storyline is going,’” he shared at the Paley Center’s Emily in Paris: The Magic Behind the Scenes event. “At the end of the day, I’m just an actor, and I’m here to say my lines.”
“He was more fun to play when he was cheeky, playful, and in love,” he added. “I liked part one [of season four] because he was reconnecting with Emily, it was fun to play, but part two was weird, I don’t understand him anymore, but we’ll see.”
Those remarks reportedly ruffled a few feathers with the cast and crew. “Everyone is so upset about the remarks he made. There is going to be a lot of tension,” a source claimed to Us Weekly in November 2024.
But it appears those tensions have been smoothed over. Gabriel is a background character in Season 5, but fans had better gear up for his return in Season 6.
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