Lily Collins: I'd love an Emily in London spin-off
· BBC NewsYasmin Rufo
BBC News
Reporting from
Duke of York's Theatre
She’s eaten croissants by the Eiffel Tower, drunk espressos outside the Colosseum and now, could it be time for fish and chips on the London Eye?
Emily in Paris star Lily Collins has told the BBC she is keen for an Emily in London spin-off as it "would be so fun".
Collins, 35, has been living in London for the past few months while preparing to make her West End stage debut in Barcelona.
The romantic thriller sees Collins play an American tourist who has a one-night stand with a handsome Spaniard, played by Money Heist's Álvaro Morte.
Talking after the opening night of the show, Collins tells me she thinks her Emily in Paris character, Emily Cooper, would love London.
"She would definitely go to Portobello Road and buy some antiques, obviously visit Big Ben and toy shop Hamleys.
"She would also definitely try and get into Buckingham Palace," Collins says, adding that Emily would love to have tea with the King and would "try and get the guards to smile but I'm not sure she'd be able to do that".
The Netflix romantic comedy series follows the life of American marketing executive Emily Cooper as she works at a marketing firm in Paris. In season four of the show Emily moves to Rome to open a new office.
The hit series has been renewed for a fifth season, but the location for filming is yet to be announced.
Cooper's potential love for London is somewhat based on Collins's own thoughts about the city, which she says really "feels like home".
You might imagine the A-lister has been enjoying the finer things London has to offer, but it seems it's the simple pleasures she likes the most.
"I love the Tube but most of all I love sitting on the front of a double-decker bus and looking out of the window.
"I don't even have a plan on where I want to go, I just sit there and see all the sights and people."
'Just try and have fun'
Collins, who will be performing eight West End shows a week for several months, says she relaxes by "walking the dogs with my husband on Hampstead Heath".
"I go there so often, it really is huge and it actually feels like countryside even though you're in London."
A walk in nature is not the only thing Collins does to relax; she explains that her pre-show routine includes listening to dance music.
"My make-up takes a while to do so I just sit in my chair with very loud dance music on - usually it's Dua Lipa, Lizzo kind of music - but I'm trying to switch it up a bit at the moment."
Her co-star Morte, 49, says his pre-show ritual involves some very silly dancing.
"I begin dancing behind the set as the audience come into the theatre," he says, adding that he loves being nervous.
"I use the nerves to prepare myself to be connected to the audience, and in Spain we have a saying that the day you go on stage without feeling nervous is the day it will be a bad show."
The Money Heist actor, who is from Madrid, says when he plays the role of the arch-villain professor in the Netflix show his aim is to "enjoy every minute of it and once the plan is set, just try and have fun".
'Remarkable'
Bess Wohl's play has received mixed reviews from critics.
The Times's Clive Davis, external awarded Barcelona two stars, saying Collins "struggles to bring her character to life", while City AM's Adam Bloodworth, external wrote that the actress "can’t save the bland two-hander", also giving the show two stars.
Completing a set of two-star reviews, the Guardian's Chris Wiegand, external found the performances "agreeable" but said it was "hard to invest in either character".
Other critics have been more enthusiastic. The Telegraph's Claire Allfree wrote, external that Collins was "one to watch", adding that she and Morte "elevate a rather dated two-hander into something properly affecting", giving a three-star rating.
Fiona Mountford from the i, external awarded the play five stars, calling it "one of the best things I’ve seen on stage all year" and praising Collins's performance as "remarkable".
Barcelona plays at the Duke of York's Theatre until 11 January