Brigitte Macron makes Emily in Paris cameo appearance

The wife of President Emmanuel Macron features in the second instalment of season four of the comedy, which airs on Netflix on Thursday.

The show - centred on a Chicago woman called Emily Cooper, played by British-American star Lily Collins, who moves to the French capital - has won fans but also drawn criticism for portraying a stereotypical image of Paris.

But Mrs Macron, 71, has lent it her ringing endorsement, by playing herself in a short scene in which she poses for a selfie with Emily in a restaurant.

Collins says the idea for the cameo, first reported this week by Elle magazine, was spawned when she and the show's creator Darren Star met Mrs Macron at the Élysée Palace in December 2022.

The first lady is mentioned in season one of the show, when she shares Emily’s Instagram post expressing disappointment that the French word for vagina, le vagin, is masculine.

"She is a big fan of the show and took the mention of her in season one with great humour," Collins told Elle.

"This scene in season four is a wink, and shooting with her was both an honour and a real joy."

Star, meanwhile, said Mrs Macron had "great talent" when appraising her performance.

In the scene, Emily (Collins) approaches Mrs Macron as she sits with two other women in a restaurant.

The first lady waves away her security guard as Emily explains she is the person behind the Instagram account Emily in Paris.

Lily Collins and Emily in Paris creator Darren Star attended a Rome premiere for the latest series on Tuesday

After a short exchange, Emily takes a selfie with Mrs Macron and posts it to Instagram, with the post including the hashtag #makeiticonic, a slogan from President Macron's drive to attract foreign investors to France.

Netflix confirmed to AFP that the first lady wore her own clothing "with no particular instructions given to her" by the series known for its fashion.

Collins was quoted as saying Mrs Macron had "actually asked us" to appear in the show, "which was wild".

But the Élysée has reportedly briefed media outlets in France that the request in fact came from the show's producers.

Mrs Macron has some background in drama. That was the subject she was teaching at a secondary school when she first met the future French president, a member of the class, in 1993 when he was 15. They married 14 years later.

She also briefly appeared in the show Vestiaires, a French comedy series following two disabled swimmers, in 2018. Earlier this year a French production company announced it was creating a six-part series about her life.

First airing in 2020, Emily in Paris has attracted criticism for its fantastical portrayal of life in the city, from beret-wearing bon vivant lifestyle to sanitised, Instagrammable scenes, while avoiding issues including rubbish, crime and social conflicts.

Star has defended the show, and said it was intended to be a "love letter to Paris", seen through the eyes of Emily.

"The first thing she is seeing is the clichés because it's from her point of view," he explained, speaking in 2020. "I wanted to do a show that celebrated that part of Paris."

The latest series has attracted some scathing reviews, with the Telegraph complaining of "yet more tedium" and "terrible outfits", but Collider applauded a "jaw-dropping finale" after a "chaotic second act".

-BBC