Quebec Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée Dead at 58

[LaLuna 12,732]

Quebec filmmaker and producer Jean-Marc Valleé, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died. He was 58.

His representative Bumble Ward said Sunday that Vallee died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City over the weekend.

Vallee was acclaimed for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, directing stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal over the past decade.

He directed Emily Blunt in 2009's The Young Victoria and became a sought-after name in Hollywood after Dallas Buyers Club, featuring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture.

Nicole Kidman (L), Shailene Woodley (centre) and Reese Witherspoon (R) star in Big Little Lies. (HBO/Bell Media)

He often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras and gave actors freedom to improvise the script and move around within a scene's location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's Wild.

"They can move anywhere they want," the filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. "It's giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don't need to cut performances. Often, the cinematographer and I were like, 'This location sucks. It's not very nice. But, hey, that's life."'

He re-teamed with Witherspoon to direct the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017, and directed Adams in 2018's Sharp Objects, also for HBO. Vallee won DGA awards for both.

https://www.cbc.ca/arts/valleé-won-an-emmy-for-directing-the-hit-hbo-series-big-little-lies-1.6298686

This is so incredibly sad and a huge loss for my province, he was one of our most important and most acclaimed directors. He will be missed.

[Bradley 55,040]

I have always cited his work as a demonstration of some of my favourite genres.

There's something magnetic about the psychological world he creates in his characters that just draws me in:

Demolition, Big Little Lies, Sharp Objects, Dallas Buyers Club...

I remember saying if Gaga was to star in an Emmy-worthy role, it'd be so cool if the role was like Amy Adams's in Sharp Objects. A lot of filmmakers turn to the past to tell "good stories" and I've always felt that there are fewer and fewer contemporary settings in award-winning/nominated movies, and Jean Marc Vallee's settings are always contemporary, which I particularly appreciate.

[thatfoxyfeeling 12,027]

Damn this is really sad, Big Little Lies was so good and Wild is such a vibe with Reese. 

[Guest]

Wow crazy how unexpected death is, can come anytime, make the best of this life 

[Meat 18,960]

Rest in peace

[weed 67,139]

A talented soul, a one in a million point of view. RIP to him <3 

[djBuffoon 11,646]

Super talented filmmaker. Tragic. 

[Fanta 5,019]

OH MY GOD!!! This is horrible! I was just binging Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects with my my family, and you never stop being in awe at his incredible vision. This is such sad news. May he Rest In Peace, the world lost a great talent.

[LaLuna 12,732]

I highly recommend his movie C.R.A.Z.Y., surely it's available somewhere in English or with subtitles. One of the greatest movies to ever come out of Canada.