The ‘Inner Worlds’ film series visits creatives in the places that inspire them

Best known internationally for her role as the formidable Sylvie Grateau in Netflix’s global hit Emily in Paris, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu reveals a more spiritual side to her personality when we meet in the greenhouse of Paris’s Jardin des Plantes, in the 5th arrondissement.

This year, Leroy-Beaulieu is the artistic director of the Oh La La! initiative at Art Basel Paris 2026 – a two-day rehang on Friday and Saturday of the fair allowing galleries to transform their booths with new and thought-provoking works. Under her direction, Oh La La! takes the theme ‘Myths and Legends’, with 45 galleries presenting artworks by Nina Childress, Leonora Carrington, Ed Ruscha, Diedrick Brackens, and many more.

Raised in Rome among her parents’ artist friends, Leroy-Beaulieu learned early on to seek out beauty and freedom. ‘I struggle with a world that’s too rigid and formulaic. For me, life is something much more fluid and dynamic,’ she says.

Reflecting on her relationship with art, Leroy-Beaulieu is struck by the way in which artists ‘position themselves in a place of ecstasy before something that transcends us.’ Drawn to nature, its unquestioned order, and what humans cannot see but only sense, the actress follows her intuition. ‘The invisible world calls me all the time, I know it exists, I don’t need proof,’ she says.

Discover more about the Oh La La initiative here.

‘Inner Worlds | Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu’ was produced by Art Basel in collaboration with Nowness.