Hannibal Rising, Moon Knight Star Gaspard Ulliel Passes Away At 37

Gaspard Ulliel, the French actor best known for Hannibal Rising and a co-star of the upcoming Moon Knight series, has passed away. CNN reports that Ulliel died after a skiing accident in southeastern France. He was 37 years old.

While American audiences best know him as a young Hannibal Lector in the 2007 prequel Hannibal Rising, Ulliel had a prominent career outside that, particularly in his native country of France. The actor began his career when he was still in school, with a role in the French TV film Une Femme En Blanc in 1997. After several roles on TV in the country, he made his feature film debut in 2001’s period action-horror flick The Brotherhood of the Wolf as Louis.

That role led to bigger things, as he won the Lumières Award for Most Promising Actor for 2002’s dramedy Summer Things. That role also got him nominated for a César Award, France’s national film award, for Most Promising Actor. He would be nominated again for the same award the next year for the drama Strayed and would win it in his third try with 2004’s A Very Long Engagement.

Ulliel went on to co-star in the critically-acclaimed 2006 anthology film Paris, je t’aime, appearing in the segment directed by Gus Van Sant. His role in Hannibal Rising came soon after. The film was not a hit or beloved, though Ulliel’s performance was generally praised as the best thing about it.

While he never had as high of a profile in the US as he did with Hannibal Rising, that may have been about to change as he played the role of Anton Mogart (aka Midnight Man) in the upcoming Disney+ MCU series Moon Knight, which arrives on March 30th. He also continued to be a big star in his home country, where he earned a Lumières Award for Best Actor for playing fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent 2014’s Saint Laurent. He also won a César Award for Best Actor in 2016 for ‘It’s Only the End of the World.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Ulliel. He will be missed.