South African actress and model Charlbi Dean died on Aug 29. She was 32 years old. The actress who is best known for her role in DC Superhero series Black Lightning died of a sudden illness. She passed away at a hospital in New York.
She played the role of Syonide in the series and later also became known for her role in the award-winning film Triangle of Sadness. The film won the 2022 Palme d’Or in May. The actress starred opposite Harris Dickinson and Woody Harrelson.
The film has also been selected for the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival and will premiere in the United States on October 7.
It is a satirical dark comedy written and directed by Ruben Ostlund and tells the story of a cruise ship for the super-rich that sinks leaving the survivors trapped on an island.
Dean plays the role of fashion model Yaya who is stranded with the others.
At the festival before the film won the award she simply said that she had “already won.”
“I’m already at Cannes with the movie, that’s so unbelievable. Anything else is just a cherry on top at this point for me you know,” she had said.
Dean started modeling at the tender age of 6 and got her first role in the South African boarding-school comedy Spud opposite John Cleese and Troye Sivan. She reprised her role in the sequel and also later starred in films like Death Race 3, Inferno (2013), Blood in the Water (2016), Don’t Sleep (2017) and Porthole (2018).
She also appeared in Sherlock Holmes drama Elementary in 2017.
She has also graced the covers of the South African editions of GQ and Elle magazines and in 2008 she survived a car crash that broke her wrist, four ribs and elbow and left her with a collapsed lung.
Dean was engaged to Luke Volker a male model. Volker recently paid tribute to her saying that he “couldn’t be more proud” of her performance in Triangle of Sadness.
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