Charlbi Dean has died aged 32.
The ‘Triangle of Sadness’ star passed away after suffering a sudden illness in New York City.
Dean was born and raised in Cape Town, became a model at 12-years-old and made her film debut in the 2010 flick “Spud” with the singer and former YouTuber, Troye Sivan.
Following this, she was a recurring star in the CW series “Black Lightning” from 2018.
The news of the model’s death, which was confirmed by Variety, comes amid the Palme D’Or winning film making its way around the film festival circuit, including Cannes, Toronto and New York.
In the Ruben Ostlund-helmed satire, Dean starred as Yaya who was invited on a yacht vacation that goes wrong alongside Woody Harrelson and Harris Dickinson.
Her other projects include “Death Race 3: Inferno”, “Blood in the Water”, “Don’t Sleep” and “Porthole”. Through her modelling work, she graced the covers of the South African editions of GQ and Elle.
Her fiancé Luke Volker, a model, reacted to the tragic news of her passing on Instagram, saying he “couldn’t be more proud” of her and performance in “Triangle of Sadness”.
Playwright Jeremy O’Harris tweeted: “This is absolutely devastating. Charlbi Dean was such an exciting performer to me after seeing her in Triangle of Sadness.
“Her work had a vulnerability and intellect a lesser actor would have denied the character. A true talent and sending love to her family.”