Gay&Night-ZiZo Februari 2015

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
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