On the Thursday, June 11 episode of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” French singer, actress and television personality Elsa Esnoult will reprise her role as Fanny Greyson, a character first introduced in the French series “Les Mystères de l’Amour” (aka: “Love in Paris”).
In the episode, Fanny arrives in Los Angeles seeking a fragrance partnership with Forrester Creations, but of course, with tensions remaining high between two feuding fashion houses (and families) – the Logans (Logan) and the Forresters (Forrester Creations), will their ongoing power struggles and shifting alliances fuel even more drama, witnessed by Fanny? You’ll just have to tune in to find out!
In the meantime, Soap Opera Network recently spoke with Esnoult about her return to the long-running half-hour drama series, in which she detailed what it was like being at the show’s new digs at Sunset Las Palmas Studios, spending time with her family in Los Angeles and how Fanny on “The Bold and the Beautiful” differs from the character on “Les Mystères de l’Amour.”
First things first: Esnoult’s return to the Los Angeles-based studio was a family reunion of sorts, as she considers the show’s cast and crew an extension of her real-life family. “Each person on the show is so kind and generous, and they let you take your place, and it’s really kind and rare, and honestly, it was an incredible experience for me. It was a pleasure, and I feel really lucky to be there with them.”
Since 2023, Esnoult has made multiple appearances on the soap opera, which recently celebrated its 39th anniversary. Her road to the show started with the show’s interest in having a French-speaking character interact with the cast, and the appeal of a crossover between the American series and a French series was something producers couldn’t pass up.
While her character is essentially the same on both shows, there are some differences in how she is portrayed. A singer through and through, Fanny is more about rock and roll in her French iteration, while on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” she is more focused and wants to sell her perfume.
“The real difference is [on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’] I have the impression she’s close to Thorsten Kaye [Ridge Forrester],” notes Esnoult of her character’s interests in America, though that differs a bit from her French iteration, where she’s “a little bit charming” in America, but in France, she’s married. She has her husband. “It’s fun to play, and it’s cool. And moreover, I love Thorsten, I love Katherine [Kelly Lang, Brooke Logan]. I love Heather Tom [Katie Logan]. They’re friends, and I love them.”
Esnoult was already a fan of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” having grown up watching it, so when she got the call to appear on the show, it was a dream come true, but also emotional.
“I watched this show when I was really, really young with my grandmother, and nowadays I don’t have her anymore. And it was her favorite series,” she recalls. “She watched it in France. She watched it every day. So I had the impression, the first time I came into the studio, that she was the one who told me, like an angel in the sky, ‘Now it’s your chance. You are in my favorite series. So my little girl, go, go, go. It’s your time. And have fun and continue your passion and continue to grow.’ It was really a gift, a gift, a gift.”
Esnoult will primarily share scenes with the aforementioned Thorsten Kaye, Katherine Kelly Lang and Heather Tom, and her character is in for a surprise when she interacts with the three as their characters’ family drama continues to unfold, Esnoult previews. “There are some problems between some characters in the families,” she says, explaining that Fanny quickly picks up on the tension as she tries to sell her perfume line.
Looking forward to what the future holds, Esnoult revealed that while she was in Los Angeles taping her appearance on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” she was also in town working on the vertical series “Elsa in L.A.,” which marks her first English-speaking role in the fast-growing digital format. She’ll be playing a French singer who’s out to conquer the second-largest city in the U.S. The project also stars vertical series veterans Cayman Cardiff, Alissa Filoramo and Javi Luna.
“I feel incredibly lucky to be working with such a talented and amazing team, and we’re having so much fun together!” she said in an Instagram post in April during filming. “I can’t wait for you to discover this new story and take you with me into this American world.”
Esnoult also got to spend time with her real-life family, marking the first time she was in the area with her husband and their eight-month-old baby, telling us, “Because it was their first time, I wanted to show them the most famous places. We went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. We walked so much in the street, and my husband, who loves Los Angeles as much as I do, told me, ‘Okay, please, we won’t go back to France. We stay here.’ So yes, we will love L.A. so much. I brought them to the studio with me to watch me play with my friends from ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’ So it was magic.”
