“Emily in Paris” star Lucas Bravo spoke to the Times of London about becoming a “heart-throb” overnight.
He said that he doesn’t fit the label because he’s not “always a healthy, good-looking, ripped person.”
Bravo added that he has been typecast in shallow roles because of his looks.

“Emily in Paris” star Lucas Bravo told the Times of London that he doesn’t like the “heart-throb” label he was given after starring in the hit Netflix series.

The series follows the adventures of Emily (Lily Collins), an American marketing executive who gets the opportunity to move to Paris to provide an American perspective for a marketing firm. Bravo plays Gabriel in the show, Emily’s neighbor and main love interest.

In an interview with the Times of London, Bravo said: “I’m, like, this objectified overnight thing.

“I’ve been working for this for ten years … feeling like you’re going in the right direction … Then I was just like a heart throb overnight. It feels a bit rushed. Too much attention for the quality of work I provided. I think being famous is the worst thing that can happen to you. It’s just smoke. It doesn’t mean anything.”

The French actor added: “It made me very self-aware. Because when you think about that word and the people it encapsulates, you see always a healthy, good-looking, ripped person – and I’m not that.”

He continued: “I’m healthy, of course, but I can be overweight… All the little things that define who you are and make you human once you’re in that [heart throb] category are perceived like a flaw. And I don’t want to be perfect. I’ve been working against that. In France, they don’t want good-looking. They want broken faces.”

When asked whether ugly is a “male French ideal,” Bravo said: “It’s not even a question of ‘ideal.’ I think that character is always perceived with [physical flaws]. You can’t be aesthetically beautiful and be smart or have depth. I kept getting roles like the dumb gym teacher. It’s hard to break that image. I’m not complaining, of course, but it’s a reality.”

The second season of “Emily in Paris” is available on Netflix. Despite the show being panned by critics, it received nominations for both the Emmys and Golden Globes this year. Bravo told The Cosmopolitan last year that he partly understood the backlash from critics because the show was portraying “one single vision of Paris.”

Earlier this month, “Emily in Paris” star Collins told Glamour that the backlash gave the show an “opportunity to do better” in season 2.