How To Be An American In Paris (And Not A Cliché)

"You hear that a show takes place in Paris, and immediately you think of a million clichés. But never for one second [in ours] do you hear the sound of an accordion." We were chatting with Jordan Rountree, who makes his TV debut alongside CHLOË SEVIGNY, DREE HEMINGWAY, Adam Brody, and Carrie MacLemore in The Cosmopolitans, Whit Stillman's new pilot, premiering today on Amazon. The show centers around a clique of American expats very much like the New Yorkers of Stillman's 1990 classic, Metropolitan––except with parties replacing deb balls and chambres de bonnes (maids' rooms) as the new cramped UWS apartments. What hasn't changed are the sincere, articulate characters fond of ballroom dancing (but to French reggae, not accordions!) and debating what makes a true Parisian/New Yorker.

But even as The Cosmopolitans embodies expat stereotypes, it sometimes skewers them. "You have girlfriends with names like Clémence?" Chloë Sevigny asks a group of American men, eyebrow cocked cattily. In fact, Clémence has just dumped the sentimental Hal, played by Jordan. (Anglo men are famously easy to push around, remarks the Italian.) The incident rings somewhat true for Jordan, who lived in Paris until the age of 14 and returned after high school to study theater. "I first got my heart broken by a French girl at age six. It's like the playbook is in their DNA," he told us. Isn't it the femme fatale just another one of those clichés, though, alongside its counterpart the dragueur, or incessant male flirt? Well, it's a little complicated. "French lovers make a lot of noise, but they're really trying to say they care about you. It's a defense mechanism." In other words, romance prevails in the end––apropos for a Whit Stillman project.

Check out the PILOT of The Cosmopolitans on Amazon Instant Video today––comments and ratings decide whether the show will get picked up as a series.

Chloë Sevigny on the set of The Cosmopolitans. Photo by David Koskas/Amazon Studios

Adam Brody, Carrie MacLemore, Jordan Rountree, Chloë Sevigny, Adriano Giannini, and Freddy Åsblom. Photo courtesy of Whit Stillman