It seems like Emily In Paris’s Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) might not be chasing Emily (Lily Collins) to Rome in Season 5. During an Oct. 29 interview, Bravo voiced his dissatisfaction with his Emily In Paris character, Gabriel, and seemingly hinted that he might not return for Season 5 of the Netflix hit series. So we wonder: is Bravo leaving EIP? Here’s what we know so far.
Fans who witnessed Emily and Gabriel’s on-and-off again relationship were left on the edge of their seats during the finale of Season 4, as many are wondering where Season 5 will lead the fictional couple’s relationship. With Gabriel’s epiphany of wanting to get back together with Emily after she moved to Rome for her job and her new beau, Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini), it’s no surprise that fans were expecting to see more of Gabriel in the upcoming season.
Emily In Paris was confirmed for Season 5 in September 2024 by Lily Collins and Netflix. The creator of the series, Darren Star, told Tudum that Emily’s relationship with Marcello will be explored in Season 5. But, will Gabriel still be around?
In his Oct. 29 interview with IndieWire, Bravo expressed his sentiments about the evolution of his character. Bravo said that fans saw Gabriel “being slowly turned into guacamole” and that he “really grew apart from him.”
The French actor explained he closely resonated with his character in Season 1, but slowly began to grow apart from him. “There was a lot of me in him,” Bravo said. “But as they made him kind of unaware of his surroundings, of the dynamic, always victimizing and always being completely lost in translation and oblivious to anything that is happening around him and being manipulated by everyone, it kind of became not fun for me to shoot.”
He added, “The ‘sexy chef’ was very much part of me in Season 1 and we grew apart season after season because of the choices he makes and because of the direction they make him take. I’ve never been so far away from him.”
Unfortunately, Bravo doesn’t have the freedom to change his lines or the dynamic of his character. However, he hopes to see Gabriel get back to his “fun” and “cheeky” side. But until that happens, Bravo’s not sure if he’ll be returning for Season 5.
“It makes me question if I want to be part of Season 5 […] because my contract ends at Season 4,” he said. “Because three seasons playing melancholic, sad, depressed, and lost is not fun anymore. It’s a comedy, everybody is having fun around me, everybody is jumping around, and I’m just slowly sinking into god knows what.”
Despite his uncertainty of returning for Season 5, Bravo would still like to see this plotline take place in the upcoming installment. “I hope for my sake that they [Emily and Gabriel] get together, because it’s way more fun to shoot lovely scenes and cheeky scenes and fun scenes than just being desperate and melancholic for five months,” Bravo told People in a September 2024 interview.
Although the Emily In Paris actor loves the show and working with his castmates, it’s clear that he’s ready to see his own character grow.
In an interview with SheKnows, Bravo was asked if his character, Gabriel, is the villain of Emily In Paris. Impressed by the question, he said, “Reading the script this past season, it was like, I don’t really like what he’s becoming and where his storyline is going.” He continued, “I don’t think he’s the villain, but he definitely has trouble understanding the dynamics, and naively thinks he’s the victim. But he needs to own up to his mistakes and man up a bit.”
It’s safe to say that fans feel the same. One fan commented on Tiktok, “Wow. I can’t believe how honest he was about it. He gets it”. Another fan wrote, “I love how Lucas Bravo isn’t even Team Gabriel 😂💞 also we love the honesty.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what Emily In Paris has in store for Gabriel. Like Bravo, I hope it’s a fresh angle for Gabriel.