Charlbi Dean of ‘Triangle of Sadness’ dies before TIFF2022

Director Ruben Östlund‘s Triangle of Sadness was picking up steam heading into the film festival season. Especially, after winning the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The sudden death of South African model/actress Charlbi Dean at the of 32 has shocked the industry as she was truly coming into her own. Dean plays a celebrity fashion model Yaya who plays the girlfriend of actor Harris Dickinson. The couple who boards the ship for the ultra-rich descends into chaos.

Dean died in a hospital in New York on a Monday from an unexpected illness.

She made her acting debut in the 2010 film “Spud,” an adaptation of a popular South African novel about a boys’ boarding school starring Troye Sivan and John Cleese. She reprised her role in a 2013 sequel.

No one is more shocked than director Ruben Ostlund who posted a tribute to her on Instagram.

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A post shared by Ruben Östlund (@ruben_ostlund)

Dean also had a recurring role as the assassin Syonide on the DC Comics television series Black Lightning, which aired on the CW from 2018 to 2021.

At the festival, before the film won the award, Dean told The Associated Press, “For me, I’m like, I’ve already won. I’m already at Cannes with the movie. That’s so unbelievable. Anything is just a cherry on top at this point for me, you know?”

Triangle of Sadness is set to make its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2022.