Who is Thalia, Luc Besson’s daughter who steals the show in Emily in Paris?

“Wait, don’t move. It’s Brigitte Macron. Behind you.” In season 4 ofEmily in Paris released on Thursday, September 12 on Netflix, a certain Geneviève appears seated at a table with the heroine of the series, before seeing the first lady of France. And the two young women pose with Emmanuel Macron’s wife. If the scene marked the spectators, one detail escaped many of them: the interpreter of Geneviève is none other than Thalia, the daughter of Luc Besson and the producer Virginie Besson-Silla, married since 2004.

Advice from Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu

In the show by Darren Star, the young woman plays the stepdaughter of Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), who has just arrived from New York to build her career in Paris. And the famous Geneviève could well play the party pooper between Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and Emily (Lily Collins). If Thalia Besson already has a prolific career under her belt, her arrival in the series is a real spotlight for her. During filming, she was also able to benefit from the wise advice of the woman who plays her stepmother on screen.

Also read“She wanted to be seen on screen”: Lily Collins talks about Brigitte Macron’s presence in season 4 ofEmily in Paris

“She had never been on a set as intense as that one,” Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu recalled to TF1. “Everyone is very professional, so it’s true that she was a little nervous at first. But very quickly, she found her feet in a wonderful way.” Before adding: “On screen, it’s very, very good. I was really happy to see the result it gave. She’s someone who has very good instincts.”

A prolific career

Thalia Besson is not, however, a newcomer. At the age of 23, she has already played in two of her father’s films. At 15, she was in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). Before appearing in Arthur, cursein 2022. The following year, Thalia Besson also starred in the thriller Dangerous Waters. On her Instagram account with 20,500 subscribers, the young woman, who is also a model, also shares her photo shoots, and reveals that she signed her first editorial in Beautiful Magazine.

On the social network, she also offers her subscribers a behind-the-scenes look at two films she directed, the release dates of which are currently unknown. She also reveals images of her trips to Senegal and Botswana, of her idol Eminem, and vintage photographs of her and her parents. “I love you more than the Moon and the Sun,” she writes about her father, whom she recently accompanied on several red carpets.

Media Hurricane

In 2023, the young woman thus set foot on the red carpet of the Deauville American Film Festival, where the director presented his feature film Dogman. She was then alongside her mother, her younger sister Sateen, 21, and her little brother Mao, 19. The previous month, she had already posed with her family on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. Born on August 1, 2001 in Paris, the woman who grew up between the French capital, New York and Los Angeles, is indeed very close to her clan – including her two half-sisters, Juliette (Anne Parillaud’s daughter) and Shanna (Maïwenn’s daughter).

She would therefore have experienced the accusations made by actress Sand Van Roy against Luc Besson as a blow to the head. In 2018, the latter filed a complaint for rape against the filmmaker. “My family did nothing, and despite my betrayal they always believed in my innocence and always supported me,” the director declared in 2023, to Paris Match . My wife and five children are wonderful. It’s up to me today to deserve their love.”

An article in which Virginie Besson-Silla spoke about the effects of this controversy on her family. “It was of course very violent for the children,” she explained. Mao was 12, Sateen 15 and Thalia 16. They were immersed in the Me Too movement and did not understand what was happening to them.” Since then, the Court of Cassation dismissed Sand Van Roy’s accusations in June 2023 and decided not to admit her appeal. The actress, however, indicated that she was “continuing the current procedures” and intended to “appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.”

Season 5 ofEmily in Paris

An episode that Thalia Besson has never publicly mentioned. The latter continues her rise, and will soon officiate in the romantic comedy When I’m Ready and the horror movie Triton. Not to mention that she could well appear once again in the cast ofEmily in Pariswhich will be entitled to a season 5, as announced by Netflix, on Monday, September 16.