After a serious skiing accident, the actor Gaspard Ulliel died today at age 37.
With a look worthy of Alain Delon, Ulliel had charmed French cinema since the beginning of his career. He first gained acclaim for his role as Manech in A Very Long Engagement (2004), opposite Audrey Tautou; the following year, he won the César Award for most promising actor for the same role, and 12 years later, the César for best actor for his moving performance in Xavier Dolan’s It's Only the End of the World. Here, Vogue pays tribute to Ulliel and looks back at nine films that made him a darling of French cinema.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo1/9Jacquou le Croquant (2007)
In Ulliel’s first major film, directed by Laurent Boutonnat, we find him playing Jacquou, a young peasant from Périgord who transforms his desire for revenge into a fight against injustice.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo2/9A Very Long Engagement (2004)
At the end of the First World War, Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) clings to her intuition. Although informed that her fiancé, Manech (Ulliel), died in the trenches of the Somme, she is convinced that the young man she loves is alive.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo3/9Hannibal Rising (2007)
How is a monster born? Traumatized by the Second World War, during which he witnessed the murder of his little sister, the young Hannibal Lecter (a disturbings Ulliel) gradually sinks into a sociopathic madness, guided by his cannibalistic impulses.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection4/9The Princess of Montpensier (2010)
When she published her short story The Princess of Montpensier in 1662, Madame de Lafayette pioneered a new form of storytelling that took the history of France as its plot. More than three centuries later, Bertrand Tavernier adapted her love story between Marie de Mézières (Mélanie Thierry) and the Duke of Guise (Ulliel), in the France of Henri IV.
How to Watch: Buy on Amazon.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo5/9Saint Laurent (2014)
In Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, Ulliel delivers an intense interpretation of the eponymous designer—a workaholic who drowns in parties, drugs, and one-night stands to forget his demons.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo6/9The Dancer (2016)
Directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto, The Dancer looks back on the extraordinary life of Loïe Fuller (Soko)—creator of the Serpentine Dance—and her competitive relationship with Isadora Duncan (Lily Rose Depp). Ulliel plays the Count Louis d’Orsay, who takes an interest in Fuller after seeing her perform.
How to Watch: Stream on YouTube.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo7/9It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
After 12 years away, a young writer returns to his native village to announce to his family that he will soon die. Between Ulliel, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye, and Léa Seydoux, Xavier Dolan brings together a prestigious cast; and for his role as the melancholic hero, Ulliel earned the César for best actor.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo8/9One Nation, One King (2018)
One Nation, One King considers the French Revolution through the portraits of multiple men and women, united for the same cause: to make the very young National Assembly a breeding ground for progressive ideas. Adèle Haenel, Ulliel, Izia Higelin, Louis Garrel, Laurent Lafitte and Céline Sallette make up the all-star cast.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
Photo: Alamy Stock Photo9/9Sibyl (2019)
Here, novelist-turned-psychoanalyst Sibyl (Virginie Efira) meets Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young actress impregnated by her castmate (Ulliel), who is in a relationship with the director of the film they are shooting. Increasingly fascinated by her patient, Sibyl gets far too involved in Margot’s tumultuous life.
How to Watch: Stream on Amazon.
