Charlbi Dean, the South African model and actor who had a breakout role in the 2022 Palme d’Or-winning Triangle of Sadness and recurred on the CW’s Black Lightning, died Monday in New York City of an unexpected sudden illness.
She was 32. Deadline has confirmed her passing. Until her co-starring role opposite Harris Dickinson and Woody Harrelson in the celebrated Ruben Östlund film, Dean was best known for playing Syonide, a recurring character on The CW’s DC Comics-based series Black Lightning. Triangle of Sadness is an official selection of the upcoming Toronto Film Festival and has been selected for the 2022 New York Film Festival. Acquired by Neon out of Cannes, it’s set for an October 7 theatrical release in the U.S.
In the film, Dean plays model Yaya, one of the uber-rich guests invited for a cruise on a superyacht helmed by an unhinged captain (Harrelson) that ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island.
Born Charlbi Dean Kriek on February 5, 1990 in Cape Town, Dean began modeling at age 6 and got her screen start in the 2010 South African boarding-school comedy Spud, starring John Cleese and Troye Sivan from writer-director Donovan Marsh. She reprised her role for the 2013 sequel and went on to appear in the films <Death Race 3: Inferno (2013), Blood in the Water (2016), Don’t Sleep (2017) and Porthole (2018).
After guesting on a 2017 episode of CBS’ Sherlock Holmes drama Elementary, she was cast in the CW’s Black Lightning as Syonide, an orphan-turned-assassin who was trained by Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III). Dean appeared in nine episodes of the series’ first two seasons, form the 2018 pilot to the first episode of Season 2. (Deadline)
