In a tragic incident, French actor Gaspard Ulliel, star of Marvel Studios' upcoming television Moon Knight series, died following a ski accident in the French Alps on Wednesday. He was 37. AFP has reported that the Cesar-winning actor had been skiing in the Savoie region when he crashed into another skier and sustained injuries to his skull leading to serious brain trauma after which he was immediately transported in a helicopter to a hospital in Grenoble on Tuesday. An investigation is underway into the accident, AFP has reported. Ulliel is survived by his 6-year-old son Orso and girlfriend Gaelle Petri, a French model and singer. A funeral service will be held for the late actor on Thursday in Paris. 

Celebrated by many as one of France's best-known actors, Ulliel has worked with several critically-acclaimed filmmakers in Europe and other countries over the course of his career. He started acting at the age of 12 in an uncredited role in the French television film, Une Femme En Blanc (A Woman in White). After making appearances on several TV films, shows, and shorts, he also landed roles in Michel Blanc’s Embrassez qui vous voulez, Christophe Gans’s Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Jean-Paul Salomé’s Belphegore: Le fantôme du Louvre, which garnered him a lot of popularity. In 2003, Ulliel landed his first lead role opposite Emmanuelle Beart in André Techiné’s Les Egarés and starred in his first English-speaking role four years later in Peter Webber’s Hannibal Rising as the young Hannibal Lecter, including portraying fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic Saint Laurent. 

Hannibal Rising director Peter Webber paid his condolences to Ulliel on Twitter saying, "Shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Gaspard Ulliel at such a young age in a skiing accident. I have such fond memories of working with him all those years ago on Hannibal Rising. Rest in peace, dear friend." Xavier Dolan, who directed the French actor in It’s Only The End of The World, posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram and wrote, "It’s unbelievable, absurd, and so painful to even think of writing these words. Your discreet laugher, your caring gaze. Your scar. Your talent. Your listening skill. Your whispers, your kindness. All these personality traits that emanated from a shining softness. Your whole being transformed my life, a being that loved deeply and that I will always love. I can’t say anything more. I feel drained, shaken by your (death)." 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Gaspard Ulliel was cast as Anton Mogart / Midnight Man in Marvel Studios' Moon Knight series alongside Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke and is scheduled for a DisneyPlus Hotstar premiere on March 30, 2022.