Repose En Paix, Gaspard Ulliel – France’s Greatest Fauxmosexual & My Biggest Celebrity Crush

News broke early Wednesday morning that Gaspard Ulliel, one of France’s greatest actors had died tragically at the age of 37 in a skiing accident. The face of Chanel’s Bleu de Chanel was holidaying in Grenoble, France when he collided with another skier. Here is a rundown of my favorite Queer roles by Gaspard Ulliel.

In the first slot, is without a doubt, his role in 2006's Paris, Je T’Aime. This was the first time I ever saw Gaspard Ulliel, and he became a major crush in my young gay identity. I was watching Paris Je T’Aime, and he was playing the shaggy haired, wine-drinking French boy of the same name who was speaking words of absolute existential poetry that a young American, Elie (Elias McConnell), didn’t understand. I had just come out of the closet about a year prior, and I was still forming my sexual interests, types, and proclivities, and one thing became very clear: I was extremely into shaggy-haired, wine-drinking French boys named Gaspard. Filling out a tank top wonderfully and with a mystical sense of sensual ennui, Gaspard was exactly what I wanted, and I needed to know everything about him. In just 5 minutes of screen time I was absolutely smitten.

Next up was his 2014 turn as iconic French fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent, in the biopic Saint Laurent. His subtle capturing of the lithe and femme Laurent was a big turn from the scruffy boy with shaggy moptop in Paris, Je T’Aime. Not only that (and forgive the crassness given his recent departure), but we see a number of full-frontal nudity scenes with Ulliel, and mon dieu he was as hung as he was beautiful. The pure, raw, sexual essence of this man shone through stunningly, and he captured YSL brilliantly.

Then, there was his last few years as the face of Bleu de Chanel. While a cologne ad is not fundamentally gay, it is a cologne ad…by Chanel…starring Gaspard Ulliel. That checks enough boxes for my Queer ass. And I guarantee you, there are thousands of young homos out there who are watching these ads with the same thirst and excitement I had scanning the pictures in the underwear aisle in Kohls when I was little.

Finally, I’m including his acclaimed turn as a young Hannibal Lecter in 2007’s Hannibal Rising, because as the Hannibal canon evolves, the character has solidified itself as some of the strongest Queer horror fiction out there today. His role as the psychopathic, cannibalistic murderer garnered him critical acclaim. Ulliel let the word knew that not only did he have some major acting chops, but that he also exuded pure sexual energy, even if that energy was, ya know…focused on killing and eating people.

In real life, Ulliel was straight; but he played so many Queer roles so beautifully and authentically, that as far as I’m concerned, he’ll always an honorary family member (Andrew Garfield could never). Gaspard won the 2005 César (the French equivalent to an Academy Award) for Meilleur Jeune Espoir Masculin (Best Rising Young Male Actor) for his role in Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement). In 2017, he won another César, this time as Meilleur Acteur (Best Actor), for his role in Juste Le Fin du Monde (It’s Only the End of the World).

Repose En Paix, you gorgeous, brilliant man.

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