Charlebi Dean, the actress and model who won the top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and played the lead role in the satirical film “Triangle of Sodness,” due for release in the fall, died Monday in Manhattan. she was 32 years old.
The hospital death was confirmed by a representative from her public relations agency. The cause was not disclosed.
The Triangle of Sadness, an English-language satire on the super-rich by Swedish film director Ruben Ostlund, stars Dean and Harris Dickinson as models on board a failed luxury liner. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and will screen at both the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival in September. Independent Studio Neon plans to release the film to theaters on October 7th.
The New York Times critic Manohra Dargis wrote that the film was a “frank and ugly infusion of class politics” that “had severely divided critics”.
In an interview promoting the film, Dean welcomed such a polarized response.
“I hope people leave the theater wanting to talk about it and discuss it,” she said. “These are my favorite movies. Movies that make you move your head, get a little pissed off, make you laugh or cry.”
In a statement posted on Instagram, Ostlund called Dean’s death “shocking and tragic”.
“Charlbi had an attentiveness and sensitivity that lifted the spirits of his colleagues and the entire film crew,” he wrote.
Charlbi Dean Kriek was born on February 5, 1990 in Cape Town, South Africa to Johan Kriek and Joanne Muller. In 2008 and her 2010, she appeared on the covers of the South African editions of her GQ and Elle magazines.
She appeared in her first feature film role in 2010, playing a popular boarding school student alongside Troye Sivan and John Cleese in the movie Spud. From 2018 to her 2021, she played her Syonide, a villain with deadly marksmanship skills, in her CW network superhero drama Black Lightning.
She is survived by her parents. her brother, Alex Muller;and her fiancé, a South African actor and model Luke Volker.