Powered By Pixels
27 December 2021

Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée dies aged 58

27 December 2021

Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée 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 aged 58.

The filmmaker died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada over the weekend, his representative Bumble Ward said.

A cause of death was not immeadiately known.

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 Award nominations, including best picture.

McConaughey and Leto took home Oscars for best actor and best supporting actor, respectively, for their roles in the movie.

Vallee 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. His crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014’s Wild.

“They can move anywhere they want,” the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press.

Jake Gyllenhaal and director Jean-Marc Vallee (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

“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 Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards for both.

His producing partner for Dallas Buyers Club, Nathan Ross, said in a statement: “Jean-Marc stood for creativity, authenticity and trying things differently. He was a true artist and a generous, loving guy.

“Everyone who worked with him couldn’t help but see the talent and vision he possessed. He was a friend, creative partner and an older brother to me.

“The maestro will sorely be missed but it comforts knowing his beautiful style and impactful work he shared with the world will live on.”

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox