Kris Kristofferson in 5 iconic roles

From A Star is Born to Blade, a look back at some highlights of the filmography of the actor who died at the age of 88.

He has left more of an impact on the history of country music than that of the 7th art (three Grammys compared to a Golden Globe), but we should not minimize the career of Kris Kristofferson at the cinema. It was off to a flying start, before being cut down in mid-flight in the early 1980s following a magnificent failure (we'll talk about it again below), then finding a second wind, thanks in particular to Marvel, at the end of the 20th century. century. And, casually, his journey is amazing. The proof by five.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)

Peckinpah continues his disenchanted examination of the Western with this elegy for two idols of the Wild West: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The first is played by the backpacker James Coburn, the second by Kris Kristofferson who found his height a leading role there. Punctuated by the music and the presence of Bob Dylan, Kristofferson's body searches for a place to survive with dignity. Beautiful and tragic at the same time, flamboyant and tired, Kris the Kid falters in slow motion. Kristofferson will reunite with big Sam for Alfredo Garcia and The Convoy.

A star is born (1976)

Between Bradley Cooper and James Mason, there was Kris Kristofferson. A star is born has continued to be reborn since 1937. The version seventies sees our Kris, shirt open and mane blowing in the wind, rolling his athletic body over Barbra Streisand. The duo coo while singing along. Because here it is the disenchanted world of the music industry which replaces that of cinema. Kristofferson received a Golden Globe for this performance which combined his two passions. Above all, he had the heavy burden of making people forget in the mind of Streisand, also producer of the film, her first choice for the role of the rockstar: Elvis Presley.

Heaven's Gate (1980)

Kristofferson will forever remain the star of the greatest flop in cinema history, Heaven's Gatewhich sank a studio (United Artists), almost stopped the career of its director, Michael Cimino, and seriously damaged the actor's popularity in Hollywood. However, he is impeccable in the skin of the enigmatic sheriff James Averell, making Isabelle Huppert's heart capsize in the unforgettable waltz of Ella against the backdrop of Conquest of the West. A cursed western masterpiece to be enjoyed in a long version.

Lone Star (1996)

In this tortuous and inherently late western, Sayles properly probes the dark side of an America that would like to see itself still radiant. Result, in all this chiaroscuro it is a corpse which embodies this lost vitality. Kris Kristofferson, legendary murdered sheriff, is resurrected thanks to flashbacks from a film that the singer-crooner haunts with her presence that we were wrong to believe was soothing. Kristofferson is nothing like a gentle, insolently relaxed angel. Here is a lawman consumed by evil. KK's last big role

Blade (1998) and Blade 2 (2002)

Mentor of the Diurnambule, the half-man, half-sucking vampire hunter played by Wesley Snipes, Abraham Whistler is his exact opposite: an old lame white guy where Blade is a sexy, fighting black guy. An ideal role for Kris, 62 years old, at the twilight of his career, more “old cowboy on the verge of death” than ever… except that the unexpected success of the film gave a real boost to his film (he made nine films between 98 and 99). So much so that Guillermo Del Toro even had to resurrect it to Blade 2 four years later.