Surprising news: Guillaume Depardieu — son of Gerard — has died from “complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia” in a Paris hospital. He was just 37.

For most of his acting career, Depardieu played broody, volatile types; if you had to cast the role of Scowly McSneerington and Romain Duris wasn’t available, he’d be your guy.

I’d been led to believe his performances were simply an extension of his personality, but recently — specifically, in Jacques Rivette’s “The Duchess of Langeais” (released in Toronto earlier this year) and Pierre Schoeller’s “Versailles” (which I saw at Cannes), he’d been hinting at deeper layers beneath the brooding volatility.

And now, the hints are all we’ll ever see.

“The Duchess of Langeais” was released on DVD in August. If you have a couple of free hours, bring it home and toast its star, who died just as he was on the verge of escaping his famous father’s shadow.