'Triangle of Sadness' star Charlbi Dean has that from-the-inside-out radiance of a 1990s supermodel

Charlbi Dean and I are strolling down La Croisette in Cannes, navigating the throngs of people and seemingly arbitrary barriers. The South African model-turned-actress is in town for the premiere of Ruben Östlund’s Palme D’Or-winning film Triangle of Sadness, in which she co-stars as, well, a model. As the breakout actress in one of the festival’s hottest films, her schedule is packed. So packed that we opt to chat as she travels on foot – in Dior heels, no less – from one press obligation to another.

Dean started as a model out of convenience, or perhaps a better word is necessity. She was a drama kid, attending theatre school in Cape Town, but dreams of making it abroad proved challenging. “Unfortunately when you’re South African, your passport is not the best for travelling,” she says. “So I had to wait a while to get a green card, before I could actually start acting.” In a laser-cut leather Dior skirt and white sleeveless shirt, she has the from-the-inside-out radiance of a 1990s supermodel.

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Though she’s appeared in South African film and television productions and a handful of American titles, Triangle of Sadness is undoubtedly Dean’s biggest career moment so far, one she hardly saw coming. “When I got the audition, I didn’t really pay it much mind. I was like, ‘What are the chances that I’m going to register on [Ruben Östlund’s] radar?’, which is probably a blessing in disguise, because I didn’t overthink it,” she says. “When I got the callback, originally over Zoom, I was like, ‘Oh great, now I’ve actually got a chance and I’m going to f*** it up’.”

She didn’t. There was a callback in Sweden, then another. It happened in “little increments” which helped Dean get used to the idea of actually landing the part.

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As far as first films go, it was a singular experience. The second act takes place aboard a yacht, amidst a luxury trip Dean’s character earned by way of her side hustle as an influencer. “We all took stuff for seasickness,” Dean says. “When you get off, you can still feel it moving.”

The cast, which includes co-star Harris Dickinson and the one and only Woody Harrelson, bonded over the course of filming. They even have a group chat dubbed “The Trianglers.”

While her experience on super yachts may be limited, there are other elements of the role that resonated. Dean plays Yaya, a model who, in an early scene of the film, walks the runway at Paris Fashion Week. I ask if she “models differently” as Yaya then she does, say, for our Vogue shoot. “You have a character in mind,” she says. “Whereas on a fashion shoot, you’re following the magazine’s vision for the day.”

Dickinson plays Carl, Yaya’s model boyfriend. Dean’s real life model boyfriend, Luke Volker, recently proposed (she said yes).

Related: 'Triangle of Sadness' star Harris Dickinson on fame, Cannes and being "scruffy"

Meanwhile, back in Cape Town, Dean’s family is appropriately proud, even if not everyone can totally wrap their heads around what it is she’s actually doing. “My little brother in South Africa is messaging me in Afrikaans being like, ‘All of my friends are asking about you’,” she says. “My aunt left me this really long voice note and she was like, ‘I’m so proud of you for doing Dar’.” Dean explains that her aunt meant ‘Dior’.

Here in Cannes, Dean is in a state of disbelief. “I’m constantly pinching myself,” she says. “I feel like I should be screaming all the time, but that would be inappropriate.”