203 / INTERVIEW THE SOLITUDE OF FASHION “SAINT LAURENT WAS VERY LONELY. HE WAS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF QUARANTINE, FAR AWAY FROM THE GRACEFUL IMAGE THE WORLD HAS MADE OF HIM” 012
Interview / Gaspard Ulliel French actor Gaspard Ulliel has received international acclaim for his parts in war epic Un long dimanche de ançailles and thrilling Hannibal sequel Hannibal Rising. Now the 30-year-old star is portraying one of history’s greatest fashion designers in controversial biopic Saint Laurent. “Every person dealing with fame ends up feeling lonely at some point.” How did you make such a complex, and surely quite intimidating role your own? “I did as much research as possible, as any other would have done. There are a lot of photos, but not much archive footage or sound archives. Yves wasn’t comfortable in interviews and most likely Pierre Bergé [longtime business partner of Yves Saint Laurent – ed.] protected him. I re-read The Beautiful Fall as well as the major biographies about his life. As I knew the people who had recently bought it, I had access to his apartment on Rue de Babylone. Then came the time to put all that as far as possible behind me. The lm is ction, it would be a shame to try to chronicle every detail and fact. That’s why, deep down, I am not displeased not to have met the members of his circle. That way, I felt free to try to understand Yves in general.” What was the most striking aspect about him you wanted to portray? “It was very complex. He was born depressed, he had this sickness. He was already on medication really early in his life. He was constantly going up and down, up and down. He was always ghting with contrasts and paradoxes. In the end, Saint Laurent was very lonely. He was in a constant state of quarantine, far away from the graceful image the world made of him, based on his creations and ideas.” Saint Laurent had his struggle with the commercial part of the fashion world. Do you see some similarities with the lm business? “It is an important theme in this lm. We go beyond Saint Laurent, beyond the biopic. It is about the artist and his creations. And of course there are similarities with the world of lms. It is both about the colliding of creativity and the commercial goals inevitably coming with an industry.” You are an international movie star, put in the spotlight all the time. Can you relate to him on a personal level? “Yes, it is the same. When you are dealing with fame, there is going to be a point you can feel really lonely. There are constantly people around you, but you can’t really exchange any ideas or words with most of them. Because you never know if they have any hidden agenda, you don’t really understand if they are sincere or not. So to protect yourself, you decide to estrange and remove yourself from people around you. I think it is even a stronger feeling for an actor. Because our job is to articially recreate reality.” What is your rst personal recollection of Yves Saint Laurent? “For me, the rst images were in his later life. When he was really old and tired, it was not a really bright image.” Can foreigners understand his importance to the French? “I don’t think so. For the world, he is a really important designer. But for France, where fashion culture is even more important, he is an icon, a hero. He is one of the French geniuses of the last century.” Have you always been interested in fashion? “I wouldn’t say I am really into fashion. But I live in Paris and both my parents work in the fashion industry. When I was a kid, my mother always liked Text Robbert Blokland 203 013