Gaspard Ulliel Quotes

Marion Cotillard. I'd say... Even if it was quite brief, we shared a few scenes on Xavier Dolan's film [It's Only the End of the World]. She gives a lot to her scene partner.

Biggest regret: Being compelled to stop my cinema studies to work as an actor. Even though I’m so passionate about acting today, after high school I was so eager to become a filmmaker. Still in my mind today...

Moreover, like everyone, I think, injustices make me angry, even if I am not attached to a particular cause, that I am not campaigning for an association. Sometimes I blame myself, because in my position, I should probably be able to speak for something. But marking my choice is difficult for me. From global warming to child abuse to poverty, my head is spinning. You know, I'm a bit of a nihilist, or at least I define myself as an entropy: for me, the mess in our world is only getting worse. Yes, I know, I say this when I had a child, which is still a huge message of hope. It's a paradox, I know.

I love music. My secret dream has always been to be a jazz musician. I tried the saxophone for a year or two when I was younger, but unfortunately I had to face the fact that I was not really talented !

I’m not really a model. When I’m doing a photo shoot, I’m not playing a part. I’m just trying to be myself.

It's a huge upheaval. What was of extreme importance yesterday seems trivial today. Fatherhood brings you back to something very concrete, fills a void you weren't necessarily aware of, gives you a reason to live.

Chanel is the greatest fashion house in France, but I was hesitant when they first asked me. I thought it could be risky for me to do a fashion campaign. I'm not like Brad Pitt or Gerard Depardieu, who already have established themselves as actors - I'm just starting. I didn't want to be known as a Chanel model, over an actor, but I told myself it was the perfect project. Chanel is classy and highly respected. I like being associated with a fragrance more than I think I would with clothes, it's more abstract you know?

I wasn’t directly connected to Marty. It’s the Chanel people who phoned me saying they were interested in working with me on a campaign. We had a lot of discussions about it. At the time, they hadn’t chosen a director. One day, they came to me with the idea of asking Martin Scorsese and of course I said, ‘That’s a great idea. I would be the happiest man in the world to work with him.” So that’s how we ended up working together. I pinched myself on the set every day—“Yup. I’m not dreaming.” [Laughs] It was really great because Chanel gave Marty and me total freedom. He works so precisely and you can see that his team loves him so much that they work really hard. Marty knows exactly what he wants, how he’s going to get what he wants, and knows when he has it. This shoot only lasted 4 to 5 days.

I am one of the actors who think that inactivity can be beneficial, it allows you to allow yourself to let go, to go deeper into yourself, to question yourself and to refocus.

I love living intense situations, which leave their mark and enrich existence. The birth of a child totally changes the perception of the future. With my son Orso, a Corsican name, like his mother Gaëlle Pietri, I filled a void I didn't know existed.

I have to thank my surgeon who did a great job. It [his scar] almost looks like a dimple. When I was maybe 6 years old, I stayed at my parents’ friend’s country house in France and they had this huge dog. The dog was sleeping on a tree and I jumped on his back like I was riding a horse or something. The dog wasn’t aggressive or mean, but it was just totally surprised when I did that and he tore up my cheek with his big paw. But it’s true, maybe the scar helped me in some way because it adds something to my face. It’s very interesting because it’s asymmetrical. It’s like a dimple that I only have on one side of my face. Many directors have used it for scenes in their films. The most memorable one was in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement where I’m kissing Audrey Tautou and she runs her finger across the scar. [Laughs]

I am very thankful to the dog. All of the directors love this scar.

Paris or New York? Both. Being raised in Paris, I dream of New York, but if I had been raised in New York, I would dream of Paris.

Since I became a dad, my life has been turned out completely differently. From then on, I try to devote time and energy to my son. On set, I am far from him physically but also in my head. Between these periods, I therefore devote all the time he needs to him.

I think one really memorable experience for me was on a film called Strayed by André Téchiné, a great filmmaker in France. That was an experience where I learned the most because he wouldn’t leave me alone, even for a second, between takes. [Laughs] He was really focused on his actors and that was really wonderful. I was really young at the time and that was a really important film for me.