He was a magnetic Saint Laurent on screen and a moving writer at the end of his life. At only 37 years old, Gaspard Ulliel died on Wednesday January 19, following a skiing accident, ending a brilliant career that began more than twenty years ago.
- “The Lost”, by André Téchiné
The actor is only 19 years old when he turns The Lost, under the direction of André Téchiné, in 2003. He plays a delinquent on the run who, during the exodus of June 1940, takes under his wing two children and their mother, a disturbing young widow. With this role, a concentration of forces and injuries, he won his second nomination for the César for best male hope. The year before, it was in the same category with comedy Kiss whoever you want by Michel Blanc.
- “A long engagement Sunday”, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The third nomination for the César for best male hope will be the good one for Gaspard Ulliel. The young actor won the statuette in 2005 for A long engagement Sunday, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, in which he plays Manech, the fiancé of Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) who disappeared in 1917 in the trenches, whom the young girl refuses to believe is dead. In this blockbuster which made more than four million admissions, Gaspard Ulliel embodies a young man suspended between childhood and madness. His grace in this role is matched only by his freshness.
- “The Princess of Montpensier”, by Bertrand Tavernier
In 2010, he played Henri de Guise in The Princess of Montpensier, an ambitious period film by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Mélanie Thierry and Lambert Wilson. In this love story set against the backdrop of the religious wars of the 16e century filmed in cinemascope, he embodies with all the passion of his youth, the young cousin of the Princess of Montpensier.
- “Saint Laurent”, by Bertrand Bonello
It is with the Saint Laurent, by Bertrand Bonello, in 2014 that Gaspard Ulliel embodies his first role as a man, complex and powerful. After a year of work where he seeks to find the unique voice of the couturier, he delivers a dark and fragile character that makes him known internationally.
Nominated as best actor at the Césars, it is finally Pierre Niney who wins for the same role in another Yves Saint Laurent, by Jalil Lespert. But in this role – that of his life, he confessed – Gaspard Ulliel reached a splendid maturity.. “Gaspard was benevolence and kindness. Beauty and talent. Thoughts to his family », a tweeted, Wednesday, Pierre Niney.
- “Just the end of the world”, by Xavier Dolan
Louis, homosexual, successful author, finds his family after twelve years of absence to announce to them “his approaching and irretrievable death”. The shadow of his Saint Laurent nourished the composition of this serious and disturbing new role, this time directed by Xavier Dolan in 2016 in Just the end of the world. The young Canadian director films this prodigal son as an alter ego, a stranger among his family, blinded by family hysteria. He will win his second César, this time for best actor.
Canadian director Xavier Dolan shared his pain on Instagram on Wednesday, listing the actor’s traits: “Your discreet laughter, your watchful eye. Your scar. Your talent. Your listening. Your whispers, your kindness. It is your whole being that has transformed my life, a being that I loved deeply and that I will always love. I can’t say anything else, I’m exhausted, stunned by your departure. »
