Nikki Sermak August 31st, 2022 - 4:35 PM
South African born actress and model Charlbi Dean Kriek died this past Monday at the age of 32.
Dean was set to appear in the upcoming film Triangle of Sadness, which won the highest honor at Cannes Film Festival this year, the Palme d’Or. A representative for Dean said she passed from an “unexpected and sudden illness” in New York City. The actual illness is unknown.
Active on social media, tributes have been pouring out for Dean and how her career impacted them with one commenter writing, “Rest in Peace beautiful. You didn’t know me but you were my big role model. Thank you for inspiring me.”
Another commented, “Been following your career since I was a teen and would see you in the local South African fashion magazines. So sad to see you go so soon. Life sometimes doesn’t make sense. Rest in peace.”
In her film, Dean plays the model Yaya, who is a rich guest on a luxury super yacht where things go terribly wrong. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May of this year.
Dean wrote on her Instagram acknowledging the film’s win at the festival, calling the team behind the film “family” and detailed that she had “the best year” during production, accompanied by some behind the scenes photos from set in Sweden and Greece.
Triangle of Sadness is set to release in the U.S. on October 7th.
