Lucas Bravo is set to return as Gabriel for the fifth season of Emily in Paris. However, his notable absence from the newly released trailer has fueled speculation among fans.
Netflix unveiled the first look at its hit series on October 23. The teaser focused entirely on Emily’s (Lily Collins) romance with Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini) after her move from Paris to Rome at the end of Season 4.
Several key characters were missing from the trailer. Lucien Laviscount’s fan-favorite Alfie was absent, as was Bravo, 37, in his role as Gabriel.
Bravo addressed his non-appearance in an interview with E! News on October 24. "I would love to tell you something," he stated, adding, "I like not being in the trailer and that it generates conversation, and I’m going to keep the conversation going. I won’t say anything."
When asked if his absence hinted at Gabriel’s fate on the show, Bravo replied simply, "I don’t know. I’m not in it."
Despite the trailer’s omission, Bravo was previously confirmed to have filmed scenes for the upcoming season. Production for Season 5 began in May.
Gabriel’s Michelin-starred restaurant was one of the featured sets. Some scenes were also filmed in Rome following Emily’s job offer in Italy.
The actor’s current reticence follows previous public frustrations with his character’s trajectory. Bravo made headlines admitting he felt disconnected from Gabriel’s storyline.
"The ‘sexy chef’ was a very important part of me in the first season," Bravo told IndieWire in October 2024. He added, "We have been distancing ourselves season after season because of the decisions he makes and the direction they make him take."
Bravo stated he had "never been so far from him." He felt Gabriel "slowly became guacamole," criticizing the "narrative soufflés" and a perceived "lack of risk" on screen.
"In the first season, there was a lot of me in him," Bravo explained. "But when they made him a character alien to his environment, to the dynamic, always victimizing himself and completely lost in translation, without realizing anything around him and being manipulated by everyone, it stopped being fun for me to film."
He continued, "Or to see a character I love so much and who brought me so much, gradually turn into guacamole. I really moved away from him."
Bravo recalled trying to voice his concerns. "But there’s a limit to what I can do within a script," he noted. "For seasons, I tried to bring nuances, but we don’t have much freedom on set. We can’t change a word or an emotion. They know what they want, and we just have to comply."
The actor even hinted at potentially stepping away from the series. "It makes me rethink whether I want to participate in the fifth season, because my contract ends in the fourth," he said.
He expressed a strong desire for Gabriel to "be fun, mischievous, playful, and full of life again." Bravo described playing a "melancholic, sad, depressed, and lost character for three seasons" as no longer enjoyable.
"It’s a comedy, everyone is having fun around me, everyone is jumping, and I’m slowly sinking into who knows what," he concluded.
At the time, a source spoke to Us Weekly about the impact of Bravo’s frustration. "The show is Emily in Paris, not Gabriel in Paris," the source commented. "Everyone is very upset about the comments he made. There will be a lot of tension."
Emily in Paris will premiere its new season on Thursday, December 18, on Netflix.