# Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu
**Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu** (born 1963) is a French actress known internationally for playing Sylvie Grateau, the sharp-tongued marketing agency boss in the Netflix series *Emily in Paris*, and previously for the comedy *Trois hommes et un couffin* (1985) and the series *Call My Agent!*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0503800/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0503800/) |
| Film debut | *Surprise Party*, Roger Vadim, 1983[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) |
| Breakthrough | *Trois hommes et un couffin* (1985), César nomination for most promising actress[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) |
| Signature TV roles | Catherine Barneville in *Call My Agent!* (2015– ); Sylvie Grateau in *Emily in Paris* (2020– ); Madame Ritz in *The Crown* season 5 (2022)[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/) |
| Family | Daughter of actor Philippe Leroy and designer Françoise Laurent[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) |
| Brand work | Ambassador for L'Oréal Paris in France[4](https://numero.com/beaute/interview-actrice-philippine-leroy-beaulieu/) |
## Early life
Leroy-Beaulieu spent her childhood in Italy, where her father, the French actor Philippe Leroy, worked extensively in Italian cinema; her mother, Françoise Laurent, was an interior designer who later designed jewelry, handbags, scarves, and knitwear for Dior[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) • [5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/). At sixteen, against her parents' wishes, she left to study acting in Paris[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/). As a teenager she worked in commercials for pocket money, spent two years in acting school, and took small film parts in her early twenties[6](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/want-play-la-parisienne-heres-how).
## French film career
Her screen debut came in [Roger Vadim](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-vadim)'s comedy *Surprise Party* in 1983[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu). Two years later she played Sylvia, a distraught single mother, in Coline Serreau's comedy *Trois hommes et un couffin*, a runaway hit in France that was later remade in America as *[Three Men and a Baby](https://www.edgepedia.org/three-men-and-a-baby)*; the role brought her a César nomination for most promising actress[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu). She reprised the role of Sylvia in the 2003 sequel *18 ans après*[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/).
Through the following decades she worked steadily in French and European cinema, often in supporting roles. Her credits include [Andrzej Wajda](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrzej-wajda)'s *Les Possédés* (1988), *La Révolution française* (1989, as [Charlotte Corday](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlotte-corday)), *Neuf mois* (1994), *La belle verte* (1996), *TGV* (1997), *Vatel* (2000), and Jean-Jacques Annaud's adventure film *Deux frères* (2004)[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/philippine_leroybeaulieu). She also crossed to American television early: in 1984 she starred in the CBS miniseries *Mistral's Daughter*, a French-American production filmed in the South of France with [Stacy Keach](https://www.edgepedia.org/stacy-keach), Stefanie Powers, and Lee Remick. She has said this was her first crossover success, and also the last English-language series she starred in before *Emily in Paris*[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/philippine-leroy-beaulieu-emily-in-paris-season-4-interview).
## Television and international recognition
**Call My Agent!** Her career revived with *Call My Agent!* (*Dix pour cent*), the [France 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/france-2) comedy about film-industry agents, which launched in 2015. She played Catherine Barneville, the wife of the firm's most senior agent, Mathias Barneville, whose extramarital affairs break down their marriage[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu) • [5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/). The series became a word-of-mouth Netflix hit during the pandemic[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/philippine-leroy-beaulieu-emily-in-paris-season-4-interview). She has said she is no longer interested in playing victim characters like Catherine[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu). The show's popularity also led to her first title role, as a police commandant in the France 3 series *Agathe Koltès*, which ran for two seasons[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/).
**Emily in Paris.** For *Emily in Paris*, created by Darren Star, casting director Juliette Ménager was asked to find an actress for Sylvie, described as the most challenging of the French roles to cast[6](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/want-play-la-parisienne-heres-how). Leroy-Beaulieu has said she was not what the showrunners initially had in mind, but that she saw in Sylvie a toughness reminiscent of [Bette Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/bette-davis), an actress she had long admired[9](https://www.salon.com/2022/12/21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu/). The series debuted on Netflix in October 2020, with Leroy-Beaulieu presiding over the Paris marketing agency Savoir as a foil to [Lily Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-collins)'s earnest Emily Cooper[10](https://time.com/7011375/emily-in-paris-appreciation/). Sylvie became a fan favorite, and the role brought Leroy-Beaulieu worldwide exposure at an age when, by her own account, she feared being forgotten[11](https://www.kering.com/api/download-file/?path=Women_In_Motion_Talks_in_Cannes_Philippine_Leroy_Beaulieu_05232023_25c6f97986.pdf). She has continued in the role through subsequent seasons, including the fifth, set partly in Rome[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/) • [12](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2025/12/20/emily-in-paris-season-5-on-netflix-her-weekend-in-rome_6748689_30.html).
**The Crown.** In 2022 she appeared in the fifth season of *The Crown* as Madame Ritz, the wife of the hotelier César Ritz, in the episode covering the story of the Ritz hotel[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu).
## Off-screen work
In 2025 she was named a new ambassador of L'Oréal Paris in France, a role she said surprised her and which she has used to speak about the place of women in society[4](https://numero.com/beaute/interview-actrice-philippine-leroy-beaulieu/) • [13](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9k85yk). She has also worked as a producer, with credits including the upcoming film *100 Days*, directed by Carlos Saldanha, in which she plays Asa Frieberg Klink[14](https://www.vogue.fr/article/philippine-leroy-beaulieu-interview-egerie-pomellato) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/).
## References
1. [Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0503800/)
2. ["'Emily in Paris': Sylvie actor on Season 3, feeling 'exposed'", Los Angeles Times, 21 December 2022](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-12-21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu)
3. [Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu : Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/filmographie/)
4. ["Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, ambassadrice L'Oréal Paris se confie", Numéro](https://numero.com/beaute/interview-actrice-philippine-leroy-beaulieu/)
5. [Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu : Sa biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-13612/biographie/)
6. ["Want to play La Parisienne? Here's how", The Business Times](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/want-play-la-parisienne-heres-how)
7. [Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/philippine_leroybeaulieu)
8. ["Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Can't Understand Why People Are So Obsessed With Sylvie in 'Emily in Paris'", Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/philippine-leroy-beaulieu-emily-in-paris-season-4-interview)
9. ["'Emily In Paris' star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu: 'It's so much fun to play a villain'", Salon, 21 December 2022](https://www.salon.com/2022/12/21/emily-in-paris-philippine-leroy-beaulieu/)
10. ["Emily in Paris Is Ridiculous, But It's Not Stupid", TIME](https://time.com/7011375/emily-in-paris-appreciation/)
11. [Women In Motion Talk, Kering, Cannes, 23 May 2023](https://www.kering.com/api/download-file/?path=Women_In_Motion_Talks_in_Cannes_Philippine_Leroy_Beaulieu_05232023_25c6f97986.pdf)
12. ["'Emily in Paris,' season 5, on Netflix: Her weekend in Rome", Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2025/12/20/emily-in-paris-season-5-on-netflix-her-weekend-in-rome_6748689_30.html)
13. [Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu interview, Marie Claire / Dailymotion](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9k85yk)
14. ["Sa carrière, l'émancipation féminine, son rapport à l'Italie… Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu se confie à Vogue", Vogue France, 19 February 2025](https://www.vogue.fr/article/philippine-leroy-beaulieu-interview-egerie-pomellato)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › French actors › Surnames E to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license