The 23-year-old appears to love Eminem and Givenchy and has appeared in 3 films – with director Barthélémy Grossmann declaring she’s anything but a nepo baby.

We first met Emily Cooper during the height of the pandemic – just when we needed that glamorous Parisian pick-me-up the most. Now, four seasons (and several handsome love interests) later, there’s finally a new troublemaker in town. And her name is Genevieve.

Lily Collins and Thalia Besson in Emily in Paris. Photo: @bbr.image/Instagram

Played by 23-year-old Thalia Besson, Genevieve quickly throws a spanner in the works. So, who is Besson, and why does that surname sound familiar …?

Thalia Besson plays Genevieve, a key new character in Emily in Paris

Thalia Besson is stylish both on screen and off. Photo: @vecchio_paris/Instagram

By now, EIP fans are familiar with Emily’s prickly boss, Sylvie Grateau, who rekindled her romance with husband “Laurent G” in season three. What we learn in season four, however, is that Laurent has a daughter who’s been living in America, and who’s now decided to come to Paris to try to get her first job in fashion. Enter Besson as the sweet, inexperienced Genevieve. No spoilers, but let’s just say she’s not quite as sweet as she initially appears.

She is the daughter of controversial film director Luc Besson

Thalia Besson as a kid with her controversial dad, Luc Besson, back in the day. Photo: @thaliabesson/Instagram

Francophiles and cinephiles alike will know her surname right off the bat, because Thalia Besson is the daughter of acclaimed French screenwriter-producer-director Luc Besson. The 65-year-old Frenchman is best known for his action films like The Fifth Element with Milla Jovovich and Taken with Liam Neeson, but he’s been making acclaimed movies since the 1980s.

In 2018, his career was derailed after actress Sand Van Roy accused him of rape. He was cleared of all charges last June.

She is the eldest of three siblings

Thalia Besson with her siblings Mao and Sateen Besson at the Dogman premiere in Paris, France, in September 2023. Photo: Getty Images

Thalia is the eldest of Luc Besson’s three children with his fourth wife Virginie Silla, who he is still married to. She has two younger siblings, Sateen and Mao. Thalia also has two older half-sisters, Shanna and Juliette, as a result of Luc’s earlier marriages.

A young Thalia Besson with her mum, Virginie Besson-Silla. Photo: @thaliabesson/Instagram

Shanna’s mum, Maïwenn Le Besco, was just 12 when she first met Besson, per The Washington Post, and gave birth to Shanna when she was 16 – a fact that’s been seen as highly problematic over the years.

She started out in fashion, but switched to acting

According to Le Parisien, Thalia studied fashion and design in Paris before moving to New York to take drama classes.

Thalia Besson enjoying some downtime. Photo: @thaliabesson/Instagram

To date, she has only appeared in three movies. One of those was Arthur, Malédiction, which was written by her dad. However, the film’s director Barthélémy Grossmann assured Le Parisien that she’s no nepo baby. “I’m the one who told Luc: ‘I want to see your daughter,’” he told the outlet. “When I discovered photos of Thalia on social networks, I found that, physically, she corresponded to my princess [in the film].”

She loves Eminem and Givenchy

Thalia Besson posing in front of a Givenchy logo. Photo: @thaliabesson/Instagram

Thalia’s social media pages feature more than one reference to Eminem. Her current profile pic on what appears to be her Instagram account – which is currently unverified – is of none other than Marshall Mathers, and other references are scattered throughout, from a photo of a pair of underpants with Eminem’s face on, to posters of the rapper.

Her other love is clearly Givenchy. “If you don’t treat me like @givenchy, I don’t want it,” she wrote below a photo of herself trying on clothes in the store this April, where she said she received the “princess treatment”.

Last year, she wore Givenchy to support her father at the Venice Film Festival in August, and then at the premiere of his film Dogman in September.

She’s trying to rally support for Palestine

Thalia Besson has spoken up about her support for Palestine. Photo: @thaliabesson/Instagram

The links in her Instagram bio lead to three different GoFundMe pages raising money to help beleaguered families in Gaza escape the war. She also took a pen to a sign that said “Stop Talking About Palestine” and wrote “Don’t” in front of it. Posting the photo on Instagram and prompting her 21,000 followers to donate to the causes in her bio, she added simply: “Small things count. Do what you can.”