Emily in Paris ' Lucas Bravo Says He Wasn't Originally Cast as Gabriel
Originally appeared on E! Online
Lucas Bravo was initially told he wasnāt going to Paris.
Indeed, the Emily in Paris star, who has played Gabrielāa love interest vying for Lily Collinsā Emilyās heartāsince season one of the Netflix series, was almost rejected from the show entirely.
The 36-year-oldāwho had only appeared in smaller independent films prior to his Netflix castingānoted to People that Paramount initially ādidnāt want to take a chanceā on him because he ādidnāt have enough background.ā
Naturally, the budding actor decided to head off the grid upon hearing the disappointing news, and took a trip to the French island of Corsica.
āI wanted to be in a place where there's no service,ā he admitted to the publication. āI could just talk to birds, so to speak.ā
But soon, Bravoās solo endeavor was interrupted by a fellow hiker, who asked to borrow his cell phone to call his daughter, walking a 40-minute trip to an area with service. And when he returned, he had news.
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āHe told me, āYour phone was vibrating left and right when I got service, so you should check it out,āā Bravo recalled. āI was like, āNo, no, no. I'm here to forget this Emily Paris thing.āā
The next morning, though, Lucas checked his ā40 messages and 30 missed calls,ā and found pleasant surprise, noting, āIt was the casting director telling me, āWhere are you?āā
And so Bravo returned to Paris, and was swiftly called in to read again for Gabriel in front of Paramount producers, writers, the showās creator Darren Star and Collins.
āIt went super well,ā he gushed. āLily is very generous. When you dive into her eyes, it's really easy to be connected to her.ā
As for how Bravo was reigned back into the running? He found out that Star had āfoughtā for him and āwent against the studio,ā knowing the actor āwas the part from the beginning.ā
Of course, this isnāt the first time Star has expressed his confidence in choosing Bravo for the role.
āThe chemistry was undeniable,ā the Sex and the City creator explained to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. āHe just has this natural charisma and this twinkle in his eye and an amazing sense of humor. I just wanted to go with my gut.ā
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