There's a moment early in the first season of "Emily in Paris," Netflix's colorful fish-out-of-water comedy about a bright-eyed American marketing executive abroad, when our protagonist's frosty, intimidating, effortlessly chic Parisian boss, Sylvie Grateau, called out the heroine's cliched behavior — and arguably established herself as the show's most interesting character.
"You come to Paris, you walk into my office and you don't even bother to learn the language," Sylvie, played by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, says to Emily. "You treat the city like it's your amusement park. And after a year of food, sex, wine and maybe some culture, you'll go back to where you came from."
Sylvie is definitely not always the boss you want to have, but with Leroy-Beaulieu's finesse, the layers underneath her cool facade have made her a compelling, if somewhat inscrutable, antagonist. Armed with a raised eyebrow of judgment that can single-handedly deflate American cheerfulness, Sylvie struts around Paris in slitted skirts, plunging necklines and sky-high heels, embodying the sophistication and blase elegance of the ultimate Frenchwoman. She is feared and revered — but she is good at her job without losing her identity to it.
