Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée dead at 58

Jean-Marc Vallée, a Canadian best known for directing the Oscar-nominated film Dallas Buyers Club and Emmy-winning HBO series Big Little Lies died suddenly at his cabin outside Quebec City. He was 58.

Vallée’s demise was reported on Sunday (Dec 26) by entertainment website Deadline and confirmed on Twitter by his representative Bumble Ward.

“Still in shock over the news that Jean-Marc Vallée has died,” Ward said, adding that he was thoughtful and kind “while still being a creative genius.”

Vallée’s Hollywood breakthrough came with the 2013 Aids drama Dallas Buyers Club, which won Oscars for actors Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

The movie was based on the true story of homophobic drug addict Ron Woodroof, played by McConaughey, who smuggles much-needed but unapproved medication into the United States to distribute to other Aids patients.

Vallée’s recent win as a director came from HBO series Big Little Lies starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Zoë Kravitz. The show won eight Emmy awards in 2017.

He directed Demolition, a 2015 drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal, about a New York investment banker coming to grips with his wife’s sudden death.

Vallée had at the time called Demolition his most “rock and roll” film, both for its pulsing soundtrack in a film otherwise punctuated by silence, and its often provocative and offbeat portrayal of grief.

Vallée, who hailed from Montreal, forayed into the features film industry with his 1995 thriller Black List.

He is survived by two sons.