Lily Collins on living her ‘dream’ in the West End, returning to London, and Emily on Ice!

Lily Collins‘ dream has come true – she’s making her West End debut!

In Barcelona, Collins plays an American tourist visiting the Catalan capital on a hen, sorry, bachelorette party. She meets an older local man (Álvaro Morte) and finds herself in his apartment. Our critic called it an: “enigmatic drama”, saying – without spoiling too much – that the play “starts as a romantic comedy, tips into sentimentality and then emerges the other side as something more moving, tentative and strange.”

Written by Bess Wohl and directed by Lynette Linton, Collins confessed “[Barcelona] originally had an offer for something in New York, and I asked our writer if she could hold out and see if we could get into the West End first, because it has always been my dream. She graciously said yes and now we’re here!”

Talking to WhatsOnStage on opening night, she said: “Being on stage is a whole medium that I have always wanted to be part of. It’s a very specific community, and you either get the opportunity or you don’t. So I’m going with the flow and trying to seize the moment.”

Born in Guildford before her family relocated to the States, Collins is glad to be back in London: “I love that you can go to Hampstead Heath on the Overground and literally feel like you’re in the countryside with rolling hills and you can breathe easy,” she says, “I love the open air and taking our dog off-leash. [London] feels very unapologetically itself and non-judgemental and I love that.”

When she’s not in London in Barcelona, Collins can often be found in France. The star of Netflix’s Emily in Paris – whose last series ended in Rome (are we keeping up?) – Collins laughs easily at the thought of her character, a stylish and optimistic American marketing whizz navigating the city of love, landing in the UK: “I want Emily to go on the Eurostar, that’s my pitch. She needs to go to Big Ben, I’m sorry she just does.”

That awkward moment when you’re making your West End debut and you get locked in a bathroom on stage – Lily Collins shares her Theatre Gone Wrong story! pic.twitter.com/e8xGR5fVBj

— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) October 31, 2024

The Netflix show features musical moments across the four series, mostly from co-star Ashley Park, who earned a Tony Award nomination for originating the role of Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls on Broadway. “[She’s] the one telling me what it’s like on stage!” Collins coos, the friendship as strong off set, “She’s the genius at work.”

While fellow Netflix show Stranger Things has already transitioned triumphantly to the stage, Collins has slightly different ideas for Emily. “We always joke it could be Emily on Ice, a little ice skating musical… I love Emily. Whatever Emily does, I’ll join!”

Watch out, Disney!