The laughs at Alpe d’Huez Comedy Festival resounded less than usual on Wednesday January 19. On the third day of this 25th edition, the announcement of the death of Gaspard Ulliel of course affected all festival-goers. The actor died at the age of 37, following a skiing accident which occurred on Tuesday, while he was on vacation at the Domaine de la Rosière (Savoie). A tribute was paid to him on Wednesday evening at the Alpe d’Huez Festival.
Before the screening ofIrreducible, the new comedy by Jérôme Commandeur in competition this year, Christophe Beaugrand (the master of ceremonies) and Thierry Fremaux (the director of the Lumière Institute in Lyon and general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival) went on stage to pay tribute to Gaspard Ulliel. Spontaneously, the public began a long standing ovation, facing the large portrait of the actor displayed for the occasion (see slideshow).
Before that, at the microphone of Purepeople.com, Jérôme Commandeur had simply commented: “There are no words. Just think of him very hard and say thank you.” Also featured in his film Irreducible, Pascale Arbillot she added:It’s tragic, but for me, there was no need for that for him to be a legend, someone rare. He was in life, I admired him enormously as an actor, as a person. Its rarity was precious and it’s terrible for a lot of people tonight. We are in a festival, we will pay tribute to him.”