Jean-Marc Vallée death: Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon lead tributes to filmmaker

Oscar-nominated director was found dead at his cabin in Quebec City, Canada

Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Nicole Kidman have paid tribute to Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, who died this weekend. He was 58.

On Monday (27 December), Vallée’s publicist Bumble Ward confirmed that the Oscar-nominated director had died suddenly at his cabin outside Quebec City in Canada.

The New York Post reported Vallée died on 25 December after suffering a heart attack, but this has not been confirmed by officials.

The director of hit films and TV shows like Dallas Buyers Club and Big Little Lies, Vallée worked with top actors such as Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, and Jake Gyllenhaal over the course of his professional career.

After news of Vallée’s death broke, there was an outpouring of grief on social media.

McConaughey, who won an Academy Award for his role in Dallas Buyer’s Club, remembered Vallée as someone with a “gentle hand and heart” who “didn’t romanticise life as much as he saw life romantic”.

He wrote: “From the struggle to the pain to the wink and the whisper, love stories were everywhere in his eyes.”

McConaughey’s Dallas Buyer’s Club co-star Jared Leto said Vallée changed his life with the 2014 movie, calling him a “filmmaking force and a true artist”.

Big Little Lies actor Reese Witherspoon said her heart was broken by Vallée’s passing.

Witherspoon’s co-stars Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley also posted touching tributes to Vallée online

Writing that she was “forever grateful” for her time spent with Vallée, Kidman added: “He was at the centre of my creative universe and I can’t overstate his significance to me.”

Woodley posted pictures of the late filmmaker on Instagram, accompanied by a caption that read: “Saying you will be missed is a massive under statement. you gave the world, and my tiny world, the treasure of feeling less alone and more alive.

In the wake of Vallée’s death, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “Jean-Marc Vallée’s passion for filmmaking and storytelling was unmatched - so too was his talent. Through his work and with his art, he left a mark in Quebec, across Canada, and around the world. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and fans as they mourn his sudden passing.

Filmmaker Tanya Lapointe shared a tribute to “crazy diamond” Vallée from her husband, fellow Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve on Instagram.

Vallée is survived by his children, daughter Émile and son Alex.