The French actor Gaspard Ulliel has died at the age of 37 after a skiing accident.
The star of A Very Long Engagement and Hannibal Rising was hospitalised after the accident in the Alps. Ulliel was transported via helicopter on Tuesday to Grenoble but did not survive his injuries, according to the actor’s family and agent.
Local broadcaster France Bleu reported that Ulliel collided with another skier at a crossing point, suffering head trauma. It said the other skier was not hospitalized. An investigation is currently under way.
After some television work, Ulliel had a small role in 2001’s Brotherhood of the Wolf, alongside Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci. Acclaimed work in French films Summer Things and Strayed then led to the romantic lead in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement, opposite Audrey Tautou. The performance saw him win a Cesar for most promising actor.
Ulliel was then cast as young Hannibal Lecter in prequel Hannibal Rising, and as Yves Saint Laurent in biopic Laurent which scored him a Cesar nomination for best actor. He later won the award for Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World, which premiered at the Cannes film festival.
“Gaspard belonged to this new generation of actors who were making tomorrow’s French cinema,” festival director Thierry Fremaux said to Variety. “He was equally brilliant and talented. He gave a lot and we’ll always remember him.”
Dolan paid tribute on Instagram, writing that it was “painful” to be facing the news. “It is your whole being that has transformed my life, a being that I loved deeply, and that I will always love,” the film-maker wrote. “I can’t say anything else, I’m exhausted, stunned by your departure.”
Ulliel was also known for being the face of the fragrance Bleu de Chanel. He will next be seen as Midnight Man in the Marvel show Moon Knight with Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, the trailer for which was released this week. “We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of our friend and colleague Gaspard Ulliel,” a Disney spokesperson told Variety. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this time.”
Jean Castex, the French prime minister, paid tribute on Twitter, writing that Ulliel “grew up with cinema and cinema grew with him”.
The French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot has also spoken on television. “Such a brilliant actor who was reaped by the sickle of death at the peak of his career,” she said. “For almost 20 years, he was present in our lives with magnificent performances.”
He is survived by model-singer girlfriend Gaëlle Piétri and a son.