France’s first lady Brigitte Macron has made a cameo appearance in the hit Netflix series Emily in Paris.
Season four sees Emily, played by Lily Collins – the daughter of British pop star Phil Collins – head off to Rome for new adventures.
Mrs Macron, 71, who taught drama to the now French president Emmanuel Macron when they first met at his secondary school, features in episode seven, which was released on Thursday.
In the scene, Emily is seen approaching Mrs Macron in a restaurant to ask her for a selfie.
Brushing aside her security guard, the first lady is happy to oblige and says: “Emily, it’s you!” She then tells her friends: “I follow her on Instagram”.
After Emily says how much she adores France, Mrs Macron replies: “And my country loves you, Emily.”
Emily then takes a photo of herself, her friend Genevieve and Mrs Macron, and adds the hashtags #FirstLadiesWhoLunch and #makeiticonic – a slogan from President Macron’s drive to attract foreign investors to France.
The programme – which is centred on a Chicago woman called Emily Cooper who moves to the French capital – was Netflix‘s most-watched show in 2020.
However, as well as loyal fans it has also attracted plenty of critics for portraying a stereotypical image of Paris.
Collins told Elle magazine, which first reported the cameo, that the idea for Mrs Macron’s guest appearance came about after she and the show’s creator Darren Star met the first lady at the Élysée Palace in December 2022.
Mrs Macron is mentioned in the first season of the show, when she shares Emily’s Instagram post expressing disappointment that the French word for vagina, le vagin, is masculine.
‘Big fan of the show’
Collins told Elle: “She is a big fan of the show and took the mention of her in season one with great humour. This scene in season four is a wink, and shooting with her was both an honour and a real joy.”
Discussing her performance, the actress added that Mrs Macron had “great talent”.
Netflix told the news agency AFP that the first lady wore her own clothes in the fashion-centric show, “with no particular instructions given to her” by show bosses.
While Collins has said Mrs Macron asked to appear in the show, the Élysée has reportedly briefed media outlets in France that the request came from the show’s producers.
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It is not Mrs Macron’s first venture into the world of TV.
She appeared briefly in a French comedy series about two disabled swimmers – titled Vestiaires, which translates as changing room – back in 2018.
Earlier this year, French production company Gaumont announced it was creating a series about Mrs Macron’s life called Brigitte, Une Femme Libre.
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The six-part series, which will air in 2025, “traces the romantic trajectory of the first lady,” according to the show’s synopsis.
Part two of season four of Emily In Paris is streaming on Netflix now.
