French actor Gaspard Ulliel is dead following a skiing accident in the Alps. He was 37.
An investigation is underway into Tuesday’s accident, which happened in the Savoie region of the Alps, the BBC reports. Ulliel was airlifted to a Grenoble hospital by helicopter. His representatives have yet to comment on his passing.
Local mountain police said they had been averaging five or six rescues a day in recent weeks according to ABC, owing largely to the snow having hardened. A five-year-old girl was killed in the Haute-Savoie region on Saturday (Jan. 15) after a skier collided with her.
A two-time César Award winner, Ulliel was known for roles in movies including Hannibal Rising, Saint Laurent, A Very Long Engagement (for which he won his first César, for Most Promising Actor), and It’s Only the End of the World (for which he claimed his second César, for Best Actor).
He is due to appear in Marvel’s hotly anticipated Moon Knight miniseries later this year, alongside Ethan Hawke and Oscar Isaac, on which photography is already complete. Additionally, Ulliel was the face of the Bleu de Chanel fragrance and starred in an advertisement for the brand that was directed by Martin Scorsese.
Ulliel, who worked with revered directors like Xavier Dolan and Gus Van Sant, is survived by his long-term partner, the French model and singer Gaëlle Piétri, and their five-year-old son, Orso. Tributes to the actor have been paid on social media, with film critic Caspar Salmon tweeting: “What a shock. R.I.P. to an actor of considerable magnetism, talent, and beauty, who had already carved out an impressive and varied career. What a loss. “
Journalist Douglas Greenwood said: “Gaspard Ulliel’s face felt ubiquitous when I was first getting into foreign films in my early teens; on fashion billboards too. Still think about his performance in It’s Only the End of the World a lot, how he carries and conceals its revelation. A strange and sudden loss.”
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