The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
The French film industry yesterday reported bad news that shocked fans around the world: Gaspard Ulliel, who has starred in "The Biography of Saint Laurent", "The Long Marriage", "Young Hannibal" and other works, died in an accident at the age of 37.
The Young Hannibal
On January 18, local time, Ullier was at the junction of two slopes at the La Rochière Ski Resort in southern France, and unfortunately collided with another skier and suffered a serious head injury. Although he was sent to the hospital by helicopter for rescue at the first time, he was too seriously injured and died the next day. This is not the first time that a skiing accident has caused the world film industry to lose its talents. In 2009, 45-year-old actress Natasha Richardson suffered an accident while skiing in Canada and was also sent to the hospital after a head injury.
Born on the outskirts of Paris on November 25, 1984, Gaspard Ullier began filming at the age of thirteen or fourteen, starting from television dramas and television movies, and can be regarded as a child actor, all the way to adulthood. In 2003 and 2004, he was nominated for two consecutive César Awards for Best Newcomer Actor for two consecutive years for "Kiss the Man You Want to Kiss" and "The Grey-Eyed Boy", and finally won the award in 2005 with a wonderful performance in "The Long Marriage", when he was only 21 years old.
"The Long Marriage Contract"
However, it took him thirteen years to go from the César Award for Best Newcomer Actor to the next level and was crowned best actor in France. In 2017, Ullier played a seriously ill playwright in Canadian director Xavier Dolan's just the end of the world, for which he won the César Award for Best Actor.
"Just the End of the World"
In the thirteen years in between, he also starred in the modern romance film The Last Day and the epic film Jacques the Countryman, set in the French Revolution; played the tender count involved in a polyamorous relationship in the costume film Princess Montpensier; and starred in a short film by American director Gus van Sant in the platter film Paris, I Love You. In addition, in duras's novel of the same name, The Against the Pacific and the original thriller Primitive Reincarnation, Ullier played the role of the protagonist's son, playing with the old french film industry isabel Hupper and Jean Renault.
The Against the Pacific
Primal Reincarnation
Of course, in the past thirteen years, Ullier's most familiar works for overseas audiences are "Young Hannibal" released in 2007 and "The Biography of Saint Laurent" in 2014.
The young Hannibal is the fifth in a Hannibal film series, and although the box office is not very satisfactory, Ullier's new interpretation of this ogre image is very different from the past image created by Anthony Hopkins, which is very impressive.
"The Biography of Saint Laurent" was one of the two costume design master Yves Saint Laurent biographical films released in France that year, and the "Biography of Saint Laurent" directed by Bertrand Bonilro and the "Biography of Yves Saint Laurent" directed by Gary Lespe had their own wonderful highlights, the former won the opportunity to represent France in the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and received ten César Award nominations, the latter far better at the French box office than the former, and also received six César Award nominations. In the end, Pierre Nienet won the 2015 César Award for Best Actor for his victory over Gaspard Ullier for "The Biography of Yves Saint Laurent". However, when Ullier finally won with "Just the End of the World" two years later, his defeats included Pierre Nienet, who was shortlisted for "Franz". The two can be described as inseparable.
The Biography of Saint Laurent
After winning the César Award for Best Actor, Ullier became more and more diligent in taking over the role. In 2018, he has three works, "Eva", "The People and the King", and "The Borders of the World", and also participated in the performance of the French drama "Love Again" shot by Netflix.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, in the past two or three years, Yulier's works have not been many, and the films "Winter Journey" and "Especially" that have been filmed have not yet arranged specific distribution plans. Shortly before his death, streaming platform Disney+ had just released a promotional video for Marvel's "Moonlight Rider", in which Yulier played the villain "Midnight Man", who loved to steal art, and the series that will be released at the end of March this year has become the last memorial of his short life to the audience.
In addition to being an actor, Julier is also the darling of the French fashion industry, serving as a spokesperson for luxury brands such as Chanel and Longlong for many years, shooting many promotional advertisements, and is also a guest of honor at the annual Paris Fashion Week. This, of course, is not unrelated to his highly recognizable appearance— in addition to his handsome appearance, there is also the scar on his face. At the age of six, the mischievous Ullier was bitten hard by a Doberman while playing with it, leaving an indelible mark on his left cheek. Fortunately, this scar, which Ullier himself jokingly called "dimples", did not affect his career development, but made him more memorable, and it is no wonder that the French newspaper "Liberation" published yesterday wrote in the first sentence of its obituary: "That is the most famous scar in the french film industry." And now that he has died unexpectedly, I am afraid that this will leave an irreparable scar in the hearts of audiences around the world who like him."
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Yijia Xu