‘Comfort is the enemy of acting’: Is Lucas Bravo pleased to get a break from Emily in Paris season 5 in this new HBO Max show?

Remember that IndieWire interview back in October 2024, where Lucas Bravo said he didn't want to return for Emily in Paris season 5 because it's "not fun anymore"? Well, I've been thinking about it a lot.

At the time, the actor (who plays Gabriel in the hit Netflix show) explained: "I tried for seasons to bring nuances, but we don’t have much liberty on set. We cannot change a word or an emotion. They know what they want, and we just have to comply. It makes me question if I want to be part of Season 5 […] because my contract ends at Season 4. I really want to see if Gabriel gets back to his fun, cheeky, playful, alive self.

"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.”

Fans immediately went into panic mode, but Netflix soon confirmed Bravo would return in the upcoming season. We're set to see a return to Gabriel's fun side, but his appearances will likely be few and far between. With Emily (Lily Collins) currently in Rome, this makes total sense.

However, I can't shake the fact that Bravo isn't fully happy in this role. In fact, I think he's having a much better time in his other big 2025 project, HBO Max's unsung gem The Seduction.

When I spoke to him about making a departure from Gabriel in the eyes of the public, his answer was incredibly revealing.

‘It’s nice to portray such a different character’ says Bravo on The Seduction and Emily in Paris roles

"What is nice, I would say, is to be given the opportunity to portray such different characters," Bravo tells me about his roles in Emily in Paris and The Seduction. "I think, as an actor, that's what you're looking for. You're looking for challenges. You're looking for things you haven't explored yet. You're looking to see what you're capable of.

"I think that comfort is the enemy of acting. When you start feeling established and too comfortable, [that's] when you stop offering interesting options and work. I don't have any actor friend that feels established."

It's an interesting statement in more ways than one, but I can't help wondering if this relates to how he feels about his time on Emily in Paris. It's easy to see how Gabriel's character has changed (perhaps for the worse) over the last few years, and Gercourt couldn't be more different from a mere love interest.

Gercourt is presented as our evil pantomime villain. However, I think it's a case of honesty – he isn't actually the most malicious, he's just not cloak and dagger about it. Regardless, he's the embodiment of the worst patriarchal traits in human form.

Bravo thrives in this role, and I think he turns in the best performance I've ever seen from him. Is it just a nice change or a real pleasure to break free from a hugely successful role where he hasn't been entirely happy? We won't know.

New episodes of Emily in Paris season 5 will be telling, though. Gabriel isn't seen in any of the trailers, so it's likely that he'll have next to no scenes while Emily lives it up in Rome. Is he on track for an exit in the as-of-yet unconfirmed sixth season so there's more time for projects like The Seduction? Time will tell.

Catch up on The Seduction on HBO Max in the US using the below deal:

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