News feed
Frenchman Gaspard Ulliel earned his acting stripes playing a young Hannibal Lector in 2007’s Hannibal Rising, Saint Laurent in 2014’s Saint Laurent, as Louis in Xavier Dolan’s 2016 film It’s Only the End of The World, and was poised to play thief Midnight Man in the new Marvel series Moon Night on Disney+. His good looks saw him work with CHANEL as an ambassador for 12 years.
Tragically, Ulliel lost his life on January 19 following a horror skiing accident in the French Alps the day prior. Local broadcaster France Bleu reported that Ulliel was helicoptered to hospital with a skull injury, after allegedly colliding with another skier at a crossing point on the slopes. While the second skier is reportedly uninjured, police and Ulliel’s agent have not provided any further information.
The mountain police service serving the site of the accident said it has been tending to five or six rescues per day in recent days as the snow had hardened.
Ulliel is survived by a six-year-old son, Orso, and his model girlfriend, Gaëlle Piétri whom he has reportedly been with since 2013. Prior to her partner’s accident, Piétri posted footage of the couple’s son skiing. “And just like that…BAM. 6 years already! Happy birthday to the love of my life,” she captioned the video.
Lots of film industry types have offered up tributes to the late star. Marion Cotillard and Ulliel’s It’s Only the End of The World co-star wrote about the “love and light that emanated from you. “Oh how I loved to know you,” she wrote. “You were, and you will remain – because you leaving us is so immense and so deep – a wonder of a man.It hurts so bad to know you are gone. Thinking of all you loved and always will. Travel in peace.”
The film’s director, Dolan, posted as well. “This is unimaginable, senseless, and so painful to even think about writing these words,” he wrote. “Your discreet laugh, your attentive eye. Your scar. Your talent. Your listening. Your whispers, your kindess. Every feature of your person was actually made from a sparkly sweetness. It’s your whole being that transformed my life, a being that I loved deeply, ad I will always love. I can’t anything else, I’m drained, ringing by your departure.”
