Emily in Paris season five has finally released on Netflix, and the show’s resident “sexy chef”, Gabriel, is back, despite the fact that Lucas Bravo, who plays him, previously wanted to quit the series for a pretty savage reason.
Lucas Bravo has played Gabriel, Emily’s main love interest, since season one. But after years of on-again, off-again drama, Gabriel’s constant back-and-forth started to feel exhausting, and it turns out Lucas felt exactly the same way. The actor later admitted he seriously questioned whether he wanted to return after season four.
So, why did Lucas Bravo want to leave Emily in Paris?
via Netflix
After season four aired, Lucas Bravo spoke very honestly about his frustration with Gabriel’s character arc. In an interview with IndieWire, Lucas admitted he had grown distant from the character, saying, “I’ve never been so far away from him.”
He explained that Gabriel had become unaware, passive and constantly stuck in victim mode, something he found difficult to enjoy playing.
“As they made him kind of unaware of his surroundings… always victimising and always being completely lost in translation, it kind of became not fun for me.”
Lucas also told The Hollywood Reporter that he felt Gabriel needed to “get his s**t together”, adding that after several seasons of playing someone “melancholic, sad, depressed and lost”, it stopped feeling like a comedy at all.
At one point, he even joked that watching Gabriel’s storyline unfold felt like seeing a character he loved being “slowly turned into guacamole”.
The frustration wasn’t just talk. Lucas revealed that his contract ended after season four, meaning season five was not a given. He admitted his issues with Gabriel’s direction made him genuinely “question” whether he wanted to return. He also said actors on the show have very little creative freedom, “We cannot change a word or an emotion. They know what they want, and we just have to comply.”
So, with his contract up and his character heading somewhere he didn’t enjoy, leaving was very much on the table.
So why did Lucas Bravo stay?
via Netflix
Despite all that, Lucas did return for season five, but it wasn’t because of big behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Show creator Darren Star revealed that there were actually no long discussions at all. “No conversations at all, actually,” Darren told The Hollywood Reporter. “He just wanted to be part of the season and trusted me that he’d be happy.”
This time, Gabriel was sent on his own journey, separate from Emily, both emotionally and literally. Darren explained that season five simply wasn’t about Emily and Gabriel as a couple.
“There wasn’t really room in the story for Emily and Gabriel,” he said. “But he’s been part of the fabric of the show since the beginning, so it’s a character I didn’t want to see disappear.”
Emily in Paris season five is available on Netflix. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.
