Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler is breaking down how “Beautiful Ruins,” Ashley Park‘s impactful music performance in the most recent, fourth season of Emily in Paris, came to be.
Wexler, whose eponymous Freddy Wexler Company also produces television and film and acts as its own record label and publishing company, has been involved with the show since season two. The 38-year-old created the viral song “Mon Soleil,” which Park performed in the second season. Wexler’s company also acted as the record label for the latest season’s soundtrack.
“My role before season four was really to bring one original song per season to life, which Darren Starr would sort of just seamlessly weave into the storyline,” Wexler tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a unique experience to write and produce a song for a diegetic series where the song actually plays such a critical role in the story itself.”
“Beautiful Ruins,” much like “Mon Soleil,” has gained traction amongst fans of the Netflix streaming series. Wexler notes that the song, despite the fact its a ballad, which he says is harder to break through, is actually outperforming “Mon Soleil” in organic growth.
“Aside from the song, and aside from Ashley’s performance and voice, I really think a large part of this is a huge part of this is Darren’s vision and writing, and then the director Andy Fleming, his direction,” Wexler says.
“Beautiful Ruins” was recorded during a 36-hour trip to Rome. Wexler credits his wife for the push to go. “I know that sounds ridiculous, that I would even be thinking of not going. I have three kids, at the time, under five, and the whole trip was 36 hours from L.A.,” he explains. “But my wife said, ‘Are you insane?'”
He admits she was right. “It was a whirlwind trip, but honestly, it was a vacation I didn’t know I needed,” he said.
Below, Wexler breaks down how “Ruins” came to be and his relationship with the show’s creator and Park.
Can you talk about “Beautiful Ruins?” How much of the song comes from your own life, or is it just what Darren tells you the song should be inspired be?
Darren called me one day with this idea for an original song. It was for the end of season four. The setup was that both Emily and Mindy, so Lily Collins and Park, were newly single and a bit heartbroken. In the scene, Ashley’s character is also sort of working on a song that she hasn’t quite finished. As she and Emily are walking around Rome, Emily mentioned something about the beauty of the ruins and it sparks an idea for Mindy. Darren told me all of this, and he wanted the song to find hope and empowerment in sort of looking at these ruins. That was the initial conversation we had. It was clear he wanted it to be a real power ballad because Ashley can sing a real power ballad. She’s one of the few who can really just nail that. Then he sent me the scene, and I was able to latch onto certain keywords and descriptors, and that was sort of it.
Darren and I have a very clear communication, so I understood after those two calls and reading the script an idea of what he wanted. Elliah [Heifetz] and I worked on a whole bunch of ideas. When I collaborated with Elliah on one of them, in my gut, I felt that that was the one. Sometimes you just know. “That feels right.” I said to Darren, “Can you talk, can you?” And he was in Paris, it was late. I said, “I got to play this for you.” I played it over Zoom, and he loved it.
He always has notes, he has really good notes. There was some background parts that he found distracting that he didn’t like and structural change. But, by and large, we left that call feeling like, “Okay, we have it, we can refine it.” I have the real benefit of having worked with Ashley on other songs, especially “Mon Soleil.” I have a pretty good feel for her voice, where it sits best, the keys that work and how to really showcase her dynamic range. I used all of that to produce “Ruins” in a way that I thought would resonate with her, and it did. I was a little nervous because I spent a lot of time on the production, which is a risk before showing it to the artist who needs to sing it.
Can you share how you were introduced to Starr and got into the show, since you and Park were friends?
Ashley and I were introduced by an agent that we both share who just said, “You guys should just meet generally. I think you’d like each other.” And we did. We hit it off. We had this amazing Zoom that felt like we’d been friends for ages, and we discussed various projects. Emily in Paris never came up. It was more so film and TV, television projects that I’m producing, not just the music for, but the actual movies or shows. We were discussing things that could be cool for her, areas that she’s interested in.
At some point, I got a message “You’re going to hear from Darren Star.” I thought, “Cool, that guy’s a legend.” We spoke. He said, “I want to introduce an original song for the character, Mindy [Park’s character] this season, and I’ve listened to a bunch of your work. I think you’d be a great fit for the show.” Then at some point Ashley was like, “Hey, I’m the reason that Darren called you.” And I was like, “Well, thanks. That’s awesome.” But since then, Darren and I have built our own friendship. Darren is a great friend now. I have so much respect for him.
I went back to Rome a second time for the season four premiere and representing not just as the writer and producer for the record but as the record label for the soundtrack. It was surreal. Darren’s really created a family with Emily in Paris. The cast and the crew and Netflix have all been so supportive of each other, of me. It’s quite rare to see how kind of close knit this group is. It was really cool. A moment that stands out was when [Netflix co-CEO] Ted Sarandos came up to me at the after party and he said, “I love the song Mindy sings at the end of the season, and I know you were a part of it.” That’s something I’ll never forget. You could tell the passion Netflix has for the show. That premiere was incredible. I don’t know, it was just like a palpable passion that everyone had, from the fans, to the cast, to Netflix. I just thought it was sort of remarkable that the guy who runs this whole company paid attention to this song in the episode. It was, I guess, memorable enough that he made a point to tell me that, to mention it.
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