At 58, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu is relishing her return to hype, on the crest of the
Emily in Paris
wave .
In the skin of Sylvie Grateau, the rough boss of the young American parachuted into the capital, she quickly eclipsed the heroine by her style and her caustic aura.
A return as a revenge for the one who was revealed in 1985, in
Three men and a basket,
by Coline Serreau.
Could she have guessed that in 2020 she would find true glory in a Netflix series?
Born in Rome in 1963, Philippine spent part of her childhood in Italy, where her father Philippe made a career in cinema.
At the age of 11, her parents divorced and the teenager moved to Paris with her mother, and became interested in theater.
She took classes at a drama school for two years before embarking on the ruthless world of cinema.
"Leaving the Tomb"
After a few small roles in advertisements or French productions, the young actress joined the cast of the film
Three Men and a Couffin
by Coline Serreau.
Her role as Sylvia (definitely) allows her to obtain a César nomination for best supporting role.
She then goes on filming, but remains quite discreet.
Flag
by Jacques Santi,
Natalia
by Bernard Cohn,
Nine months
by Patrick Braoudé,
Two brothers
by Jean-Jacques Annaud and even
De Gaulle
by Gabriel Le Bomin... Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu made her way through the film industry without finding the mainstream success of Coline Serreau's film.
Years pass and the actress is denied roles because of her age.
It was not until 2015 that a TV series offered him the beginnings of glory.
Director Cédric Klapisch offers him to play Catherine Barneville in
Ten percent
broadcast on France TV and available from Netflix.
“I was at that moment in the life of an actor when you say to yourself: “Am I going to have to stop?”.
When Cédric Klapisch chose me for this role, I told him that he was raising me from the grave,” she confided in an interview with the
Daily Mail
.
Read also »
When she does "a Sylvie": Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu dares the transparent dress in the front row
In video, "Emily in Paris" season 2, the trailer
Cigarettes and freedom
Her role in
Ten percent
offered her her first return to the spotlight, but it was in the role of Sylvie Grateau, in the
Emily in Paris
series , that Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu would reveal herself completely. While the character had been written, at the beginning, for a younger woman, at 58, the actress seizes it without batting an eyelid, or being afraid of the many clichés that surround her. Sylvie or the French woman seen by the Americans: scathing, who smokes, goes out with a married man, and is ready to do anything to keep her independence and her status. But beyond the parody, the character hides a certain reflection on age and sexism. "From the age of 40, we are good to throw away," she exclaims in the third episode of season 2. Before proving the opposite.
Read also »
"Nothing is right", "ridiculous": the Parisian clichés of "Emily in Paris" mocked in France
Regardless of the vexation felt by French viewers, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu slips into the skin of the fifties, without fear of showing her body or appearing with a lover younger than her.
“It was fun to play him and realize that we have to own our age and just love him for who he is,” the actress said in an interview with
Glamor UK magazine.
.
“A world where people cannot grow old is a dangerous world.
I recently had a discussion about this with my daughter who is 30 years old.
She said to me, "Mom, I don't want to live in a world where women can't age."
I think it's important to really own this issue of aging and not make it an issue, not make it something that we can't talk about.
There is no guilt or shame in getting old.”
The Emily in Paris dressing room
The Emily in Paris dressing room
Cashmere and wool blazer, Barrie, €1,550.00.
For sale on barrie.com.
Barrie / Photo Press
The Emily in Paris dressing room
Gancini calfskin belt, Salvatore Ferragamo, €330.00.
On sale at ferragamo.com.
Salvatore Ferragamo / Photo Press
The Emily in Paris dressing room
Wool blend scarf, Acne Studios on 24S, €240.00.
For sale at 24s.com.
Acne Studio / Photo Press
The Emily in Paris dressing room
Beret with veil, Maison Michel, €590.00.
For sale on michel-paris.com.
Maison Michel / Photo Press
The Emily in Paris dressing room
The Emily in Paris dressing room
The Emily in Paris dressing room
The Emily in Paris dressing room
The Emily in Paris dressing room
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9 pictures
"Play something other than a mother or a grandmother"
After the pressure suffered during her career regarding her age, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu seeks to free herself from this question.
“Getting old for a woman is something other than just being horny!
To grow old for a woman is to have a knowledge, a depth, a wisdom, a will to transmit which is really precious”, she says in an interview for
Ouest France .
.
And this wisdom she seeks to transcribe in the character of Sylvie, in particular by giving certain advice to Emily or by taking matters into her own hands when the management of her company is about to be completely turned upside down.
“I'm so happy to have Sylvie, because I can play something other than a mother or a grandmother.
This is slowly changing, thanks to people like Meryl Streep who fought for better roles,” the actress told the
Daily Mail.
Read also »
“The Last Day of Fuckability” or the revolt of actresses over 50 in Hollywood
A younger audience
Thanks to this character, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu meets a new audience, young and international. Broadcast on Netflix, the series particularly captivates teenagers and fans of romantic comedies. The main actress Lily Collins attracts a community she already knew thanks to her roles in
Love, Rosie
,
The Mortal Instruments
or
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
where she plays alongside Zac Efron.
Reckless, daring, the character of Sylvie seduces an audience who would like to resemble this strong and independent woman. From there to becoming a “role model”? Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu qualifies in any case its position of “privilege” and “great responsibility”, during an interview for
Harper's Bazaar.
"It's nice to pass on his feminine knowledge and life experience." This experience allows her to talk to younger people about what she has experienced and to pass on to them what she knows. "You know how hard it is when you turn 45 or even 40 and people start saying to you, 'Get off the stage.' But there are so many things we can do and pass on. We have a lot to teach the younger ones”.
And this admiration the actress can see her through social networks.
On Tik Tok, videos of Sylvie are scrolling to catchy music with hashtags like “#queen” or even “#fashionicon”.
The American influencer Cat Quinn decrypts the Instagram of the actress or gives advice for dressing like her character in the series.
"I'm really touched by these 20-year-olds who are interested in the character of Sylvie and leave incredible comments on Instagram," she confided in an interview for
Page Six
.
Listen: the editorial staff podcast
A "fashion icon"
To play the perfect Parisian fifties, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu had to equip herself with a crucial element: a wardrobe worthy of the name.
Obviously for the one who grew up in the fashion world thanks to her mother who worked for Dior.
There she meets women of power, intransigent, from whom she was able to draw inspiration to create the character of the boss of the Savoir agency.
“It was a pleasure to create a coherent puzzle of all these fragile and defensive personalities, because in fear of losing their power with the passage of time.
The competition is very tough”, she told us during an interview in December 2021.
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu plays Sylvie Grateau in the series
Emily in Paris.
netflix
Philippine works her look all in pencil skirts and vertiginous heels, collaborating with costume designer Patricia Field. “Sylvie reminds me of Carine Roitfeld, the former editor-in-chief of French
Vogue
who religiously wore this uniform, even in the snow,” she explains to the
Daily Mail .
.
"It may have been subconscious, but when we designed the costumes, we were more inspired by classic Hollywood actresses, like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Ava Gardner."
And this inspiration appeals to the public who quickly consider Sylvie Grateau as a fashion icon.
Since then, the actress dares everything on the red carpets!
On Wednesday January 19, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu appeared at the Ami Paris fashion show in a tight and completely transparent green dress.
An outfit that Sylvie would not have denied.
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