Jean-Marc Vallée

Jean-Marc Vallee was a prominent Quebec-born filmmaker who achieved huge success in America for directing Matthew McConaughey in an Oscar-winning performance in "Dallas Buyer's Club" (2013). A native of Montreal, Vallee began making acclaimed short films during the '90s and quickly made a name for himself as a promising young director to watch. His debut feature, 1995's "Black List," was a huge hit in Canada and by the late '90s Vallee was directing low-budget films like "Los Locos" (1997) and "Loser Love" (1999) in Hollywood. Those films, however, failed to catch on with the mainstream public, and it would be several more years before Vallee achieved the same success from "Black List."

By the mid-2000s, however, after he directed the well-received family drama "C.R.A.Z.Y." (2005), Vallee was once again a hot commodity, and before long he was racking up various accolades for his next two films: "The Young Victoria" (2009) and "Café de Flore" (2011). Then in 2013 Vallee directed Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Academy Award-winning performances in the biographical drama "Dallas Buyers Club." The film earned additional Oscar nods, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, thus further cementing Vallee's status as one of the most acclaimed Canadian filmmakers of his generation.

Born and raised in Montreal, Jean-Marc Vallee always set his sights on making movies. He studied the craft at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Collège Ahuntsic in Canada, where he honed his filmmaking techniques while learning how to work with actors - a skill that would prove indispensable later on in his career. After graduation, Vallee began making French-language short films, including "Stéréotypes" (1991) and "Les Fleurs magiques" (1995), that were screened in Canada. His short films were noted for their cinematic beauty, as well as Vallee's skill behind the camera, and were well-received by Quebec's film community.

When it came time to direct his debut feature, the 1995 thriller "Black List," the praise for Vallee's filmmaking prowess only continued. In addition to being one of the highest grossing films in Quebec of that year, "Black List" went on to earn nine Genie Award nominations (the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars). Hollywood eventually took notice and in the late '90s Vallee directed two low-budget films, "Los Locos" and "Loser Love," that although skillfully directed, went virtually unnoticed to the American public. Undeterred, Vallee spent the next several years developing a film idea he had been working on since the mid-'90s called "C.R.A.Z.Y."

The film, a family drama set in '70s Quebec, was largely personal for Vallee, and upon its release in 2005 the critical adoration for Vallee was overwhelming. The success of "C.R.A.Z.Y." put Vallee on the radar of Martin Scorsese, who was producing a film about the early life of Queen Victoria of England. Impressed by Vallee's expertise as a director, Scorsese hired Vallee to direct 2009's "The Young Victoria." That film also proved to be a success, earning three Academy Award nominations and taking the Oscar home for Best Costume design. Vallee's biggest success in America, however, came three years later when he directed Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in "Dallas Buyers Club."

Both actors took home Oscar gold at the 2014 ceremony for their immersive performances, thus further establishing Vallee's already growing reputation as an actor's director. 2014 was also the year Vallee directed Reese Witherspoon in the outdoor biographical drama, "Wild." The film, based on the non-fiction best seller by Cheryl Strayed, premiered to rave reviews at the Telluride Film Festival, with Witherspoon receiving some of her best reviews since her Oscar-winning work on 2005's "Walk the Line." Jean-Marc Vallée died on December 25, 2021 in Quebec City, QC, Canada at the age of 58.