With the return of Emily in Paris, which is currently in its fourth season, Lily Collins is in the spotlight once more. The actress portrays Emily Cooper, the film’s title character, an American marketing executive who works and resides in Paris. For Collins, Emily is more than just a character; she feels the role has advanced her development both personally and professionally.
She told the Associated Press earlier this month, “With Emily’s growth, there’s come a real growth in myself within my role as an actor, but also as a producer.” “I feel more confident now, both as Emily and as Lily. Compared to Season 1, I’m asking more in-depth questions regarding the entire project.
Prior to her triumph in the Netflix series, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2021, the 35-year-old initially earned widespread attention for her performance in the 2012 movie Mirror, Mirror. Since then, Collins has starred in films including the 2024 horror picture MaXXXine and Warren Beatty’s romance drama Rules Don’t Apply (2016) and the Ted Bundy reworking of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019).
These are eight facts about the British-American actor that you may not be aware of.
Lily Collins started acting as a toddler
Collins began her acting career at the age of two, and in 1992, she landed her first role in the BBC series Growing Pains. In 1999, she did voice acting for the animated feature film Tarzan as her second endeavor.
“Acting was just something I like to do when I was younger. Like many parents, my parents would read stories to me before bed, and I would just sort of lose myself in this imaginary world of what the movie would look like,” Collins said to Shondaland in 2019. “And my dream evolved into becoming those people and taking others on that journey with me.”
Her father is musician Phil Collins
Regarding her father, Phil Collins, a well-known British musician, is Lily’s dad. Not only has Phil had a successful solo career, but he has played in bands such as Brand X and Genesis. In fact, the father and daughter worked together on Tarzan. The soundtrack of the film features songs written and performed by Phil. “You’ll Be In My Heart,” one of the most well-known songs from the film, was composed as a lullaby for Lily. Lily’s memoir claims that although she and her father had a falling out for a spell, Lily has since come to terms with his absence from her early life.
She had her big break in The Blind Side
In the 2009 film The Blind Side, Collins debuted on the big screen alongside Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock. She portrayed the adoptive sister of football player Michael Oher in the film.
Collins recently told Instyle that she learned the ins and outs of a Hollywood movie set thanks to Bullock’s performance and work ethic. She remarked, “I really understood how to better navigate that world by watching her and hearing the questions she was asking and the interactions she was having on set.”
Collins starred in the controversial movie To The Bone
Collins portrayed a teenage woman battling anorexia in the major role of the 2017 Netflix film To the Bone. The way eating disorders were portrayed in the film drew harsh criticism. Collins said she could relate to her role during the film’s promotion because she experienced an eating condition as a youngster as well.
At one point, Collins wanted to be a journalist
Collins had a brief interest in journalism, but she also knew she wanted to be an actor and began performing at a young age. She had her own column in the British magazine Elle Girl and wrote for Teen Vogue, Seventeen, and other magazines as a teenager. At the age of eighteen, she even covered the 2008 presidential election for Nickelodeon.
Collins continued on to the University of Southern California to pursue a brief degree in broadcast journalism, although she barely stayed until her sophomore year. Dropping out to pursue more prominent opportunities in acting was her decision.
She met her husband, Charlie McDowell, on set
On the set of filmmaker Charlie McDowell’s film Gilded Rage, in which Collins starred in 2019, the two became engaged. The next year, the two became engaged after they clicked right away. Following their September 2021 wedding, Collins and McDowell have had multiple red carpet appearances. In 2022, the duo collaborated once more on the film Windfall.
Collins is a published author
In 2017, Collins penned a memoir titled Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, in which she examines the major turning points and difficulties in her life. She discusses her prior emotionally abusive relationship and her battles with an eating condition in the book.
When you’re with someone like that, you constantly have this dread that even when you’re not together, they may control you in some manner, Collins told Teen Vogue. This is why she was anxious to write about it. “I don’t feel that anymore, but fear is one of the reasons I don’t want to end that relationship.”
She’s good friends with her Emily in Paris co-star Ashley Park
Collins gets along with her Emily in Paris co-star Ashley Park in real life in addition to their on-screen friendship. According to Collins and Park, their bond grew the moment they met on set and has continued to do so, as they told Canada’s National Post. Park remarked, “I do believe that the best friendships are ones that deepen rather than change.”
