French Actor to Play Designer Yves Saint Laurent in New Biopic

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There are have been a number of documentary films about arguably the most famous fashion designer of all time -- Yves Saint Laurent, or YSL, as he's become known. But now there will be a biopic, to be directed by Bertrand Bonello in France, starring French actor-model Gaspard Ulliel, Women's Wear Daily reports.

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The film, called Saint Laurent, will start shooting spring 2013. French writer Thomas Bidegain, who worked on Rust and Bone and A Prophet with director Jacques Audiard, is also working on Saint Laurent.

Ulliel is a much bigger star in France than the U.S., but you might recognize his handsome scruffy face: His visage graces the ads for Chanel Blue, a mens' fragrance advertised everywhere, and he's been in the campaign for more than one year and a half -- and he starred in Hannibal Rising as the young Hannibal Lector, and last year's French historical drama The Princess of Montpensier. Ulliel is actually as much a model as an actor at this point; he also appeared in a campaign for Longchamp alongside Kate Moss. 

There's a lot of interest on the Saint Laurent brand right now; first, it being renamed "Saint Laurent" from the former YSL by new creative director Hedi Slimane. Then, there's the first collection by Slimane -- spring 2013, which was shown in Paris in October. Loved by many, dismissed by some. Its fate will be decided by retail when it hits the stores in February and March. We've got to wonder who'll design the clothes/costumes for the film; they will no doubt be on-the-money copies of famed original YSL collections.