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Charlbi Dean at the Cannes Film Festival: Star of the winning film
Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
She was on the verge of her international breakthrough, and the well-known film critic of the »Guardian« called her a »rising star«.
But the career of South African actress Charlbi Dean ended abruptly with her sudden death at the age of 32.
Charlbi Dean died in a New York hospital on Monday.
She succumbed to a "sudden, unexpected illness," according to her agency.
Charlbi Dean, who first appeared in public as a model, had her greatest success as an actress at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
There »Triangle of Sadness«, the first English-language film by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, won the main prize, the Palme d'Or.
Dean plays Yaya, an influencer who is given a trip on an ultra-exclusive cruise ship.
Dean had a recurring role in the DC Comics film adaptation series Black Lightning, which ran on the CW from 2018 to 2021.
Charline Dean Kriek was born in Cape Town, where she grew up.
She began modeling as a child, and in the years that followed made numerous appearances on catwalks and magazine covers.
In 2009 she survived a serious car accident.
In 2010 she made her acting debut in Spud, the film adaptation of a South African boarding school novel, opposite Troye Sivan and John Cleese.
Dean also starred in a 2013 sequel.
In the social satire »Triangle of Sadness«, her Yaya forms a beautiful couple with the male model Carl (Harris Dickinson), who mingle with the international money elite on the cruise ship.
Woody Harrelson plays the captain, Iris Berben and Sunnyi Melles have supporting roles.
The German theatrical release is scheduled for October 13th.
At the festival Charlbi Dean said ahead of the film's award: »For me it's like I've already won.
I'm in Cannes with the film!
It's so amazing!
Everything else would just be icing on the cake for me.«
feb/AP
