Date of Birth

25 December 1984, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Birth Name

Gaspard Thomas Ulliel

Height

5' 9¾" (1.77 m)

Death

December 2022, La Tronche, Isère, France, skiing accident

Mini Biography

Gaspard Ulliel's dream had always been to direct a movie, and after completing his studies at the lycée (French high school), he majored in cinema at the University of Saint-Denis, and began his acting career.

He was born in Paris, to Christine, a stylist and runway show producer, and Serge Ulliel, a fashion designer. One of his first professional performances came when he was twelve, in the TV film Une femme en blanc (1997). During the following years, Ulliel continued working on television and was cast in short films such as Alias (1999). He played a young shepherd who was injured by The Beast in Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), and was then discovered by director Michel Blanc, who offered him a part in Summer Things (2002) which also starred veteran actress Charlotte Rampling. Ulliel then took summer stages at Les Cours Florent and was asked by director André Téchiné to star in Strayed (2003) as Emmanuelle Béart's over. His role as Manech opposite Audrey Tautou in A Very Long Engagement (2004) brought him to stardom. He was nominated thrice for Most Promising Male Newcomer at the César Awards (the equivalent of the Oscars in France) in 2003, 2004 and 2005; he won the last one. Ulliel's lead roles include The Last Day (2004), Jacquou le croquant (2007) and Hannibal Rising (2007), his first major English-language film.

He had a son with his former partner, model and singer Gaëlle Piétri, born in January 2016. They split up in 2020. Gaspard died on 19 January, 2022, in La Tronche, Isère, France, after a skiing accident.

Trivia

• Mother (Christyne Ulliel) is a stylist and runway show producer, and father (Serge Ulliel) is a fashion designer. He was an only child.
• The scar on his left cheek was the result of a doberman's attack when Gaspard was 6 years old. He attempted to ride the dog like a horse and he hit Gaspard's face with his claws, which left him with a little scar that looked like a dimple. Gaspard used to say that the scar helped to express feelings in his acting. His scar was used as a plot device in several films, but he considered the most memorable scene the one featured in A Very Long Engagement (2004), where Audrey Tautou's character runs her finger across Gaspard's scar when they're saying goodbye to each other when he's leaving for the war. Ulliel's obituary in the French newspaper ''Libération'' described him as having the "most famous scar in French cinema".
• Was in a relationship with Cécile Cassel from 2005 to 2007; with Jordane Crantelle from 2008 to 2011; and with Gaëlle Piétri from 2013 to 2020. He was never married and was single at the time of his death.
• Spoke fluent English, which he learned as a child when he attended the bilingual school École Jeannine Manuel in Paris. He also learned Hebrew for the film Ultimatum (2009).
• Voted #12 in Elle (France) Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll (June 2007).
• The directors whom he highly admired are Tarkovsky, Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, Chris Marker, João César Monteiro, Gregg Araki and Michael Cimino.
• He enjoyed listening to: Reggae, Rap, Soul, Jazz, Rock, Kanye West, Herbie Hancock, The Temptations, Nick Drake, The Stones and Prince.
• Was the face of Longchamp, a French leather and luxury goods company, along with Kate Moss. [2008]
• Attended the University of Saint-Denis in Paris, where he studied cinema.
• In 2007, he appeared on the cover of the January-issue of French Vogue with Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes.
• Was a fan of Sufjan Stevens and Prince.
• Some of the books he liked are Henry Miller's "Sexus" and Robert Frank's "The Lines of my Hand".
• Owned a Vespa and a Triumph Bonneville Thruxton motorbike.
• He was close friends with actress Audrey Tautou and actors Jérémie Renier and Louis Garrel.
• Appeared in 3 films with his close friend Jérémie Renier: Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), A Heavenly Vintage (2009) and Saint Laurent (2014). Renier was also one of the pallbearers at Ulliel's funeral.
• Became a father for the first and only time at the age of 31, when his then-girlfriend Gaëlle Piétri gave birth to their son, Orso, on January 12, 2016. Orso is a typical Corsican name (Pietri was born in Corsica) and means "bear" in Italian. Ulliel and Pietri broke up in 2020.
• Fell in love with Jeanne Moreau at six years old while watching Jules and Jim (1962) on TV.
• Was a fan of Italian actress Monica Vitti and considered her the most beautiful woman in the world.
• Walked the runway for Dior Homme Autumn/Winter fashion show entitled "Luster", on January 27, 2003.
• Was an amateur photographer and wanted to be an architect and jazz musician. He even tried to play the saxophone as a child for a year or two, but he gave up because he thought he didn't have talent for it. He also played the piano and performed the final theme from Cinema Paradiso (1988) on piano in an interview for the French TV show 'Story Classique' on OCS Géants in November 2018.
• His hobbies included skiing (which he started as a kid), surfing, swimming and horse riding.
• Was a fan of Asian and Brazilian films.
• His androgynous look in films such as a Strayed (2003) turned him into a gay icon, as well as his performances in Paris, je t'aime (2006) and Saint Laurent (2014).
• Attended the launch of France's first gay TV channel, Pink TV, on October 25, 2004.
• His favorite actors were Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anthony Hopkins, and Patrick Dewaere.
• His great-grandfather, Raoul Ulliel (1889-1943), was a bronzesmith who served in the military during World War I. Gaspard played a World War I soldier in A Very Long Engagement (2004).
• His first audition for an American film was for a Sofia Coppola film, but he couldn't remember which one when he recalled it in an interview for Madame Figaro in September 2019.
• During his acceptance speech at the César Awards in 2005, he dedicated his award for Most Promising Actor for A Very Long Engagement (2004) to director Richard Dembo, who had passed away 3 months before the ceremony and had also directed Ulliel in Nina's House (2005).
• He was known for being elegant, humble, discreet, kind and friendly.
• Was an early "Internet boyfriend" in the mid-2000s and Tumblr darling in the 2010s.
• In order to prepare for his role as cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising (2007), director Peter Webber sent Ulliel off to a medical school in Prague to attend a real autopsy, so that he could see what it's really like when bodies are cut up. Webber thought Ulliel would be horrified by it, but he came back from the medical school saying he wanted to go back the next day, because he came in during the last week of lesson when the bodies were so destroyed that they didn't look real and he couldn't imagine that he was looking at a real human body, so he asked if he could go on the first day of the next session to see the fresh bodies.
• Featured on The Washington Post's "What's In and Out for 2007" list in the "In" category in January 2007.
• Learned how to ride a horse for the role of Henry I, Duke of Guise in The Princess of Montpensier (2010). He also did his own stunts in the film.
• Was a fan-favorite fan-cast for the role of Edward in Twilight (2008), and for the role of Remy LeBeau/Gambit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Voiced Jack Frost in the French version of Rise of the Guardians (2012).
• Lost 12 kilos (around 30 pounds) to play fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent in Saint Laurent (2014).
• His favorite on-screen kiss was with Louis Garrel in Saint Laurent (2014).
• Became a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.

Trademarks:

• scar on his left cheek that looked like a dimple
  

Quotes

• I began at twelve years old, but in fact I began really by chance. It was a friend of a friend of my mother's who was opening an agency, and she was looking for young kids. And so I entered the agency, but more by curiosity than real passion. And at first I had some small parts in TV movies - in fact my parents didn't want me to miss school, so I was working just once or twice a year. And I had a really regular progression - and this is really pleasant, I think - because I had small parts in TV movies, then bigger parts in TV movies, and then small parts in films. And I think this allows you to get...experience of the set and to get familiar with [the process]. And as I had a really slow progression, I think it really helped me to stay lucid and not get carried away.
• [when asked if he thinks the scar on his left cheek was a factor in his casting in Hannibal Rising (2007) - interview for RadioFree on January 26, 2007] Many people talk about this scar, and a few directors before [Peter Webber] were seduced, if I can say so, by this scar. I'm going to phone the surgeon and thank him for it. [laughs] I was six years old and a dog was sleeping in a garden, and I just jumped on his back like I would have done on a horse. And so he just hit me with his claws, and that made a nice little scar. But it looks like a dimple. It's nice, and it might help, sometimes, to express feelings in my acting. I'm not really conscious about this because I can't really see my face when I'm acting.