Isn’t Chasing Fame – He’s Chasing Feeling
WRITER: Patrick Grady
Lucas Bravo is a refreshingly chill guy. Though he may be known as the misunderstood, brooding chef Gabriel from the show everyone (and their mother) first binged back in the lockdown days – Emily in Paris – he’s now looking beyond job security, in pursuit of a career that feels wholeheartedly successful.
The French actor joins me on a spontaneous Zoom call where he spills the beans on the show that put him on the map, the projects he’s been a part of in between seasons and offers a peek into the kind of person he is behind the scenes — all while eating his breakfast on a rare grey day living right under the Hollywood sign (which he kindly attempted to show me… still waiting on that picture, Bravo.)
It’s abundantly clear, he takes the whole fame thing in his stride. Unfazed, even, by the madness constantly encircling his industry. For him, satisfaction lies not in the spotlight, but in the quiet privilege of being able to work on projects that strike something deeper – something true. As he puts it, “I don’t want to feel safe. I want to feel alive.”
As for what’s next? Don’t stress, ‘hot chef’ will be gracing our screens once more and in Bravo’s eyes, he’s hoping to bring back the very charm and charisma that made us all fall for him in the first place. In the meantime he’s got some things up his sleeve that will keep us all on our toes.
Patrick Grady: Hi Lucas, how are things in LA?
Lucas Bravo: Gloomy – but always nice to be here. I used to live here, I moved when I was 18, stayed for five years before moving back to Paris.
PG: Wow. So you actually lived in LA – how did you find the industry compared to Paris?
LB: When I first moved here, I wasn’t in the industry at all. I just moved because I wanted to experience a different culture and speak a different language.
PG: What about LA was calling your name in particular?
LB: I always wanted to go to New York, but a friend of mine had a friend in LA. I was in law school in Paris, and he was like, “Do you wanna come to LA, and we’ll just stay there for a week and see how it goes.” I just never left. I liked it that much. I guess there’s the magic of LA – mostly what it used to be because I feel like it has changed a lot. But also I was 18 and it was my first experience of freedom and being away from home without having to justify any of my actions. I was kind of intoxicated by the idea of being free in this crazy city.
PG: Now that you are acting. Would you be tempted to move back at any point?
LB: I might. I come back pretty often for press and also to see my partner. She’s in LA, so I tend to visit a lot.
PG: Looking back, when did you know acting was it for you?
LB: I think first as a kid, it’s as close as it gets to playing doctor and nurse, you know, and getting paid for it. Life is a game and this is the game within the game and it’s just fascinating because it’s the only job where you get to play human, while actually living. Also, it was quite therapeutic because as a kid I was traveling a lot – my father was a professional soccer player and would be transferred a lot. So every city I would visit, I had to reinvent myself. At a certain point, it just became an emergency. Because when you look for a part – when you’re looking for a character – you also use tools that you then can apply to yourself to know who you really are.
PG: So did you first start navigating the industry while in Paris?
LB: I started in Paris with improv class. Which I loved. I’m an introvert and was very, very shy, so to have the occasion to be on stage and be humiliated on a daily basis? It really made me. Now, fear is more of an indicator where I’m supposed to go. I really rely on it. I started in Paris; I was in a commercial agency, so I would do commercials to pay the rent. Little by little, little role by little role, until the big break with Emily in Paris.
PG: Do you remember exactly where you were when you found out you landed Emily in Paris?
LB: I was in my kitchen having breakfast like I am now. I got a call from the casting director and I remember feeling very peaceful. I thought to myself – if I had gotten this news five years back, I would’ve jumped everywhere and called everyone. But, you know, I feel like life doesn’t give you what you want unless you’re ready to receive it. I wasn’t [necessarily] ecstatic about getting the role. It was more like, “Okay, so now I’m getting a chance, let’s make something out of it – because getting it is not enough.” I remember putting some music on and I went for a five hour walk through Paris. I wanted to look at everything and everyone through that different prism. The prism of everything’s going to be fine for a while. It’s one of the happiest memories of my life.
PG: That’s a really lovely and refreshing way of looking at it! Did you know much about the project at the time?
LB: I had read episode one and I knew that Darren Star was involved. I was a big fan of Sex And The City. I knew that Lily Collins was in it. I was a big fan of Lily – I really love her movie To the Bone. I was also aware it was the first time Paris was going to be filmed from an American perspective. I wasn’t sure how accurate it was going to be – but I knew it was going to be beautiful.
PG: Now that we’re approaching season five – can you believe people are still obsessed with the show? What do you make of its success?
LB: I’ve hardly digested season one. It’s the fifth season and sixth year because we started in 2019 and then there was covid. It’s crazy how time flies. Typically it’s five months to film a season. It’s very demanding. It’s like half a year with that one character. By the time the season ends, you’re like, ‘Who am I? What do I do in my free time? Who are my friends?” Emily has taught me a lot about the industry and about myself. It’s the best school I’ve ever had. Definitely.
PG: We left Gabriel in a pretty inconclusive way in the last season. What do you, as Lucas, hope he’s able to find in the next season?
LB: I just hope he finds peace. He’s been on a journey for a while. He has been intertwined with a lot of dynamics that weren’t necessarily his own. He’s been in the middle of a lot of crossfires and I just hope he finds peace. In the first seasons he was kind of cheeky and happy and I hope he finds his smile back.
PG: You’ve obviously done other projects since and in between – are you excited to continue to play roles beyond ‘hot chef’?
LB: Emily in Paris has made a lot of noise because it’s on Netflix, so it’s international and there’s a lot of visibility, which I’m beyond grateful for – but for me it’s just one project. As an artist, I want to challenge myself. I want to explore different things. I want to do a western, I want to sword fight, I want to go to space. It’s a game and I want to play it fully.
PG: Working alongside huge names like George Clooney and Julia Roberts – do you ever feel intimidated or are you able to completely compose yourself?
LB: Once you’re on set, you have to get into character, so you forget about all that. But I have to say – when I first stepped on Ticket to Paradise in front of Julia and George, that’s the first time I was completely starstruck and intimidated. Luckily, they happened to be the nicest, kindest people I’ve ever worked with. The most generous – they really take it upon themselves to make everybody comfortable. And when you have examples like them, you just want to perpetuate that.
PG: I read that you badly injured your shoulder when you were filming Freedom. How did you keep going? Because you continued filming didn’t you?
LB: It was a big scene where I’m like falling backward into a big giant inflatable mattress. They wanted to do a test to see how I fall in between the scenes, so they made me climb a few stairs. It was super high but It looked okay once I was up there. I was supposed to jump and kind of fall on my back, but I messed up my jump and started plummeting head first. So, I put my hands first to protect me, and my shoulder just went straight back. Then I had to shoot the rest of the movie for a month with a hanging shoulder, which was crazy because I had so many action scenes.
PG: Wow, that sounds so intense. If something like that were to happen again, would you continue filming or would you take a little breather?
LB: I would. I don’t really care about injuries. I care much more about the truth of what I’m shooting and the character and what I can bring to him beyond feeling safe. I don’t want to feel safe. I want to feel alive. We redid that jump, it was the last scene we shot. I really prepared myself for it. I warmed up correctly and worked out a lot beforehand. I really wanted to succeed. I think I jumped about 16 times in a row that time. They were like, “Okay, that’s a wrap. The movie’s wrapped,” and I was like, “No. Just one more. Just one more.”
PG: Ten years down the line – what do you want people to think of when they hear the name Lucas Bravo?
LB: He was a good man, and he never left anyone behind. I just want to be there for the people I love and ultimately want people to have empathy and consideration. It’s not so hard. I wish that was sexy again, you know, to be just kind.
PG: Couldn’t agree more. Where can we expect to see you in the coming months?
LB: I have a movie coming up in Canada with bears, which I’m excited about. I’m heading out in April, for a month to get accustomed to the little cubs. Then we start shooting for two months. Then I’m doing a Second World War movie in Paris, and then I might do a Western. I don’t know yet. We’ll see. I’m having a lot of fun.
PHOTOGRAPHER / DIRECTOR Theo Gosselin
CAMERA ASSISTANT Jules Pandolfi
DRIVER / CAR Lasko Show
DOP Gwendal Peron
FASHION DIRECTOR Justin Hamilton
STYLING ASSISTANT Lorna Lane
STYLING ASSISTANT Rhia Kapoor