Lucien Laviscount lives life in the fast lane. It is the natural habitat for a globally famous young actor on the cusp of true superstardom. You’re filming a movie in Cape Town. Free weekend? Why not board a flight to watch some Formula E – in Miami? When the world’s at your feet, you might as well see as much of it as possible.
Take a breath. Zap across 20 hours and two continents, hop into a car and drive directly from the airport to the speedway where you shall alight, shake some hands, climb into another car and be zoomed around the track at 200mph by FE chairman Alejandro Agag. Visit the garages, tour the track (on foot this time), watch the race, do a photoshoot, conduct an interview in the car back to South Beach. Group dinner in a couple of hours? Let’s hit the gym.
Committing to such a schedule is one thing; enjoying it is quite another. Laviscount relishes every moment. He got this mentality from his parents, a pair of world-champion bodybuilders. “Don’t do something unless you’re going to do a hundred per cent,” he tells me as we drive down the freeway. “And when you think you’re doing a hundred per cent, you’re only doing fifty per cent. You can always go that much more. Push yourself.”
He’s pushed himself from his days as an unknown teen actor in the likes of Grange Hill and Coronation Street right up until his lead role in Netflix megahit Emily in Paris transformed him into a household name all over the world. He’s 32 years old and still pushing, harder than ever. “I think that’s the only way you can really sleep well at night. It’s the only way I can sleep well at night, knowing I’ve done everything in my day to take the next steps to make my dreams come true. It’s nuts. I’m living a ten-year-old’s dream at the minute, and I won’t let go of that dream.”
When the good people at Formula E invited us to Florida to shoot Laviscount at the Miami E-Prix, the decision was a no-brainer. One of the hottest names in the industry combined with the Sunshine State? Yes, please. A couple of reservations remained. Firstly, Laviscount was flying over from Cape Town – surely he might decide the trip was too arduous? ‘Don’t worry,’ we were assured, ‘He’ll make it. He loves Formula E.’ OK, but he’s arriving on the morning of the race – will he really be up for a photoshoot? Again, our concerns were assuaged. ‘He’s the most enthusiastic person you’ll ever meet. He’ll be up for it.’
So we booked a photographer – the brilliant Matt Pluz – and prayed there wouldn’t be any flight delays or unexpected tropical storms. (Never happens in Florida, right?) On Friday evening, we heard he was en route, presumably somewhere over the South Atlantic. Arriving at the track on Saturday morning, I was told he’d just touched down. Another hour, and our man finally materialised, hopping from one of the buggies used to ferry around VIPs, his smile even whiter than his vest. There’s no huge entourage: just his manager Claire and a young videographer filming some content for social media. Despite having essentially just stepped off a plane, he somehow looked box-fresh.
Let’s get the obvious part out of the way: dude is ridiculously handsome. Most famous people – keep this between us – most famous people are attractive, sure, but no more attractive than one of your attractive friends. If you met them at a random party, you wouldn’t immediately lose all power of speech. If Lucien Laviscount walks into a random party, the entire place falls silent. The only sound is shattering glass as the more overwhelmed people drop their drinks.
His looks are the first thing you notice. His energy is what leaves the impression. I’m not talking physical vigour, although obviously he’s no slouch in that department – watching him bound around the place after a transatlantic flight is enough to make Road Runner feel lethargic. I mean energy in the more spiritual sense of personality, aura, vibes. Put simply, there’s good energy and there’s Lucien Laviscount energy: broad smile, open arms, as warm and welcoming as a summer’s breeze.
We’re introduced in the Emotion Club, the fancy lounge where VIPs watch the race and tuck into the open bar. “Yes, bro!” he grins and pulls me into a hug like some long-lost relative. He greets everyone with similar enthusiasm, from suits to security guards. “What’s your name, bro?” he’ll ask. “I’m Lucien. Good to meet you.”
He has this trick when he realises someone has noticed him. He’ll wave at that person, flash his megawatt smile, and ask whether he can take a photo with them. Over the afternoon, I see him use this trick on several members of track staff. It’s very lovely, the way he removes any sense of awkwardness, immediately putting them at ease. Giving them the photo they want without making them ask the question.
“I’m part of an industry that only survives with people who support and watch what we do,” he says when I mention the photo trick. “If I can brighten up someone’s day for ten seconds or a minute, that’s a real superpower to have.”
The race is a thriller, the shoot is a dream thanks to Pluz’s skill and Laviscount’s gameness. Shoutout to the FE team who do a phenomenal job manoeuvring us around the circuit and even onto the track. It’s suggested I share the car back to South Beach, and we do the interview on the ride. Claire takes the backseat, the videographer goes up front; Laviscount and I get the middle pews. (Luckily, there’s a lot of car.)
We chat about FE for a while: his passion for the sport is genuine, strong enough to take him halfway across the planet for a single race. In the Emotion Club his gaze rarely left the big screen, and as the race reached its climax, he started shouting encouragement, living every corner. “I was a big race fan from birth,” he tells me. “So much of my childhood was Sundays with the family, Mum, Dad, my brothers cheering on Michael Schumacher.”
Photography by Matt Pluz
He’s convinced his local bar in Cape Town to start showing FE. “We’ve got all the bartenders, all the waitresses, the waiters all behind it. So they’ll be watching now in Cape Town, which is sweet. They just gave me a little shout.” His mum is another huge fan. “My mum’s as into it as I am!” He grins. “I just checked my phone now, my mum’s blowing me up. Lucien, did you see it?”
He loves the visceral thrill, the speed, but also the dedication, the craft, the teamwork. Dozens of people working together towards a common goal. “These guys can only do what they can,” he says, referring to the engineers. “Then the drivers go out on the track and it’s all down to them. I guess it’s like having a baby in a way. You do what you can, you teach them everything you can, you give them the best advice you can, and then it’s up to them to use it.”
Later in our conversation, he describes acting in a similar way: a single component of the collective. “All you can do is leave it all on the dance floor. You get on set, you do your thing and that’s it. And then you leave it, you put it to bed. As an actor, you’re such a small cog within the entirety of the production. You’re not there for the pre-production, the writing. You’re definitely not there for the editing, the post-production… You’re just there for a small part of it. To be a small part of that big picture is really special.”
That’s a remarkably communal mindset from the person whose name will ultimately adorn the billboard… “Ah man, it’s not my name,” he says. “It’s everyone. It’s my friends. The sofas I’ve slept on. It’s everyone who’s been part of my journey. That’s why I feel so passionate about what I do – the people who believed in me, I want to show them that I can do it.”
The print version
His father Eugene hails from Antigua, his mother Sonia is a northern redhead. They met through a bodybuilding contest, Sonia on stage, Eugene a judge, and would you believe it, he placed her second? A rare blemish on Sonia’s copybook. As Lucien says with obvious pride: “She was the first woman to win Miss Northwest, Miss UK, Miss Europe, Miss World, and Miss Universe in the same year.” Eugene was a two-time Mr Universe himself. If you’re building a body, you can’t ask for better pedigree.
He grew up in the Ribble Valley, the middle brother of three. “My brothers are cool,” he says. “They support me like no one else.” There’s Louis Lamar, Lucien Leon and Jules, the youngest named after a family friend possibly chosen for his lack of Ls. Lucien couldn’t pronounce his own Ls as a kid – “so I was Wucian Weon Waviscount, which was no fun!” Certainly it’s harder to envisage on a billboard.
This year, he’ll direct a short film based on his childhood. “It’s about two cousins, their different paths, and different choices.” He’s understandably reluctant to divulge details but says, “It’s kind of a snapshot of my childhood growing up in Burnley, the struggles that I went through, racism, and just finding my way in life.”
Being a mixed-race northern kid in the 1990s can’t have been easy. He was nine years old when race riots erupted in Burnley in June 2001. Typically for Laviscount, he prefers to focus on the positivity, and thanks to his parents, there was so much. “I had such an incredible childhood. I wasn’t aware of the things that were going on around us. We didn’t have much, we didn’t have much at all. But my mum and dad are fucking legends, man.
“People ask me, ‘How did you grow up?’ And I grew up with so much wealth. I grew up so wealthy because our house was full of love. I applaud my parents so much because we didn’t have what they’d have liked us to have. But we never went to bed without saying, ‘I love you.’ My mum and dad would always give me a hug and tell me how much they loved me.”
With hard work and perseverance, Eugene and Sonia convinced their sons anything was possible. “There’s nothing in this life that I don’t think I could have done if I put my mind to it. They filled us with so much belief.” It gave Lucien the confidence to pursue a career where, in his own words, “You have to be a little bit deluded.” Even after all his success, his parents still ensure he’s putting the work in. “Don’t get it twisted. My mum and dad are the first people to say, ‘Lucien, have you been to the gym? Are you eating right?’”
That career began in Marks & Spencer of all places. Ten-year-old Lucien was shopping with his mum in Manchester when he was spotted by a talent scout and invited to audition for an M&S campaign. At the casting, he was asked about his hobbies. “Football and kickboxing,” said Lucien. One of the casting directors requested a kickboxing demonstration. “Bro, I’m from Burnley, zero fucks given,” says Lucien, grinning at the memory. “I just roundhouse kicked the guy to the head!”
Clearly nobody liked that casting director because Lucien got the job, modelling a collection of boys’ clothes produced by David Beckham. The then-England captain attended the shoot and was impressed by the confident kid with the killer roundhouse. “He pulled me aside on set one day, and he was like, ‘Lucien, you’re quite funny. You should get into acting.’” Beckham’s assistant phoned a local drama school and arranged for Lucien to attend. Shortly afterwards, he was cast in a 2002 episode of BBC drama Clocking Off, and his acting career had begun.
I ask Laviscount whether he’d have become an actor without Beckham’s intervention. He shakes his head. “I would never have found my way into this game. I didn’t know anyone that was acting. This world didn’t exist to me. It was football, join the army or go to jail, basically. They were the options. So I’m so thankful, man. So thankful to be able to support my family and friends by doing something that I love. I’ve won! I’ve won in life!”
Photography by Matt Pluz
A few years ago, Laviscount and a friend were chilling at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. He spotted Beckham having lunch with Gordon Ramsay. “You’ve got to go over,” said his friend. Laviscount decided to wait until the pair had finished eating. (Probably for the best: I can’t imagine Ramsay loves having his lunch interrupted.)
He approached Beckham at the valet stand. “I just need to tell you, you changed my life. Thank you.”
“All right, cool,” said Beckham, a little surprised. “No worries.”
They shook hands, and Laviscount started walking off. Beckham called him back. “Can I ask – how do you mean I changed your life?”
The pair haven’t spoken since, although Laviscount is friends with Brooklyn so another encounter will surely happen one day. He still feels the ripples of their first, not merely from his career, but the firsthand knowledge of how one small act of kindness can change someone’s life forever. Simply smiling at a stranger on the street might make all the difference.
Perhaps, ten years from now, a stranger might approach him in a restaurant with a story of how he changed their life. He smiles at the thought. “You know what? That would make everything all worth it. Everything all worth it.”
Like everyone, Laviscount spent his twenties working stuff out. Who was he as an actor? A person? He flitted between film and TV, never quite landing on the breakout project. No regrets, of course. It was all part of the journey. “My twenties were about saying ‘yes’ to everything,” he says, “Taking on those experiences. Now I’m really at peace. I’m at peace with who I am, the man I’m becoming and the choices I make.”
He’ll struggle to make a better choice than auditioning for Emily in Paris. For the uninitiated, the series follows Emily, a beautiful American marketing executive who relocates to Paris, simultaneously charming and appalling the locals with her abrasive positivity and can-do spirit. Critics were initially sniffy, Parisians ran the gamut from amused to appalled, but the show proved a cultural juggernaut. Nearly 60m households streamed the first season, and the second became Netflix’s most popular show of 2022.
The only thing more colourful than Emily’s wardrobe is her love life. Enter Laviscount’s suave banker Alfie. He first appeared in season two and established himself as a fan favourite. Shadowing Laviscount around the racetrack in Miami, I saw multiple people out themselves to him as Team Alfie. Every time, without fail, his reaction is joyous: some variation on “Love that!” and the inevitable hug or high-five.
Famously, Alfie was only intended to grace a couple of episodes. Laviscount gelled immediately with the cast and crew. His supposed final scene received a round of applause from those on set. “I was happy because I’d been a small part of something that people would see,” recalls Laviscount. The applause was cut off by showrunner Darren Star. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why is everyone applauding? He’s not finished yet.”
Photography by Matt Pluz
He still isn’t finished: a fortnight after our interview, Laviscount is officially confirmed to return to season five. Many actors preparing to embark on their movie-star phase might decide to quietly sever ties with the fluffy TV rom-com, but Laviscount adores Emily and the enjoyment it brings to so many people around the world. “I love playing Alfie. I love going to set. That set is wicked! Every day, going onto that set is an absolute joy.”
Speaking of suave Brits, Laviscount is frequently tipped as a potential James Bond. His age is right, likewise his profile, and he’d certainly look the part. “If the discussion is there to be had, it would be incredible,” he says in the manner of someone who’s practised this answer a lot. You’d make a brilliant Bond, I tell him. “If you say so,” he smiles. “I’d be very honoured. I’d love to take the 007.”
What kind of Bond would he want to be? He cites Pierce Brosnan, the Bond of his childhood. “It would be cool to bring a little bit of that suave Bond back,” he says. “I just love all the action stuff, man. I’m training kickboxing four or five times a week. And if it’s not Bond, I love that kind of action-comedy world. I think that would be a good place to be for a minute.”
We’ve been driving for nearly an hour as we cross the MacArthur Causeway that joins South Beach to Downtown Miami. He’s out tonight, flying back to Cape Town tomorrow, filming for another project he can't yet discuss.
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Work takes him around the world but his father’s island of Antigua will always be his spiritual base. He spends as much time as possible there. “That part of my life is magnificent. The people, the energy, the food. It’s an escape from this rat race that I’m forced to be in on a daily basis – which I love, I love both sides of it. But going back to Antigua is a dream.”
He spends his days sailing, spearfishing, quite literally sitting on the dock of the bay. “I live like an 80-year-old expat!” He plays beach cricket; the great West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose is a cousin of his. He loves Perudo, a form of liar’s dice. “That’s my happy place, man. Playing dice with my friends, eating good food, playing good music, hanging out. That’s it.”
We end the conversation talking about connection and community. He spent much of his twenties feeling like he needed to take on the world alone. Only in recent years, has he realised a simple truth: it’s OK to rely on people. To accept help from those who offer it. “People are forgetting how to stay connected,” he says. “And it might be a text, it might be a call, but just take the time out to check in on someone and be there.”
His inner circle is small but tight. He compares people to trees. You are the trunk. Your immediate family, “the people who unconditionally love you”, are the roots. Friends are branches of varying strength and durability. And then you have the leaves: “People who come into your life for a season. You’ve got to let them go because holding onto things that aren’t good will rot the whole situation.”
We’ve arrived at the hotel. Time to leave Laviscount to the gym and maybe a brief moment of relaxation ahead of dinner. He hugs me goodbye and bounds up the hotel steps. Two girls, idling by the front entrance, nudge each other as he passes.
Another full day, the only way he knows how to live. “There aren’t many days I’m having a bad day. My bad days aren’t that bad because I create my own world on a daily basis anyway. I see the good shit instead of seeing the bad, and I have a little chuckle to myself.” Love and laughter? That’s Lucien Laviscount all over.
The 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Square Mile 200th Issue
Catch the Formula E climax in London over the weekend of July 26-27. More info here
