Samantha Weinstein, a Canadian actress best known for voicing several well-known cartoon characters and portraying Carrie in the 2013 adaption, has passed away.
She was 28. Weinstein died on May 14 at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital, surrounded by her loved ones, according to her family’s Instagram post. She allegedly passed away from ovarian cancer.
“After two and a half years of cancer treatment, and a lifetime of jet setting around the world, voicing a plethora of cartoon animals, making music, and knowing more about life than most people ever will, she is off on her next adventure,” they captioned the post, sharing a series of photos of Weinstein smiling in front of a galactic backdrop.
Weinstein began working in the entertainment business at the age of six. Throughout her childhood and teens, she appeared in a number of films, such as The Rocker (2008), Jesus Henry Christ (2011), and the 2013 Carrie adaptation with Chlo Grace Moretz. She was a talented voice actress who also voiced several characters in other well-known animated series, including Clara Tinhorn in Dino Ranch, Sloan Plunderman in D.N. Ace, and Jalopi in Kingdom Force.
Samantha’s dad David Weinstein confirmed her death in a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday.
“We’re overwhelmed with the outpouring of tributes to Samantha,” he said. “She led a very full, charmed and authentic life. She was very passionate about her art and worked up until her last days voicing animated characters and living as full a life as she possibly could.”
He also shared that the photos posted on Samantha’s unverified Instagram on May 15 were created by the actor herself to be used in her farewell post. The photos show her smiling and floating among the cosmos.
“After two and a half years of cancer treatment, and a lifetime of jet setting around the world, voicing a plethora of cartoon animals, making music, and knowing more about life than most people ever will, she is off on her next adventure,” the post reads.
Last July, Weinstein penned an article for the website LoveWhatMatters about receiving her cancer diagnosis, falling in love, and her experience coming out as non-binary.
“Something I’ve learned in the 18 months since I was first diagnosed, is the worst things in the world can turn out to be incredible blessings wrapped in sandpaper,” she wrote. “Getting cancer is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, but in the strangest of ways it has also been the best thing.”
“I’m still living with cancer, and with my parents since the future is uncertain (on the bright side, we’ve never been closer!). I continue to work in my dream career as a voice actor,” she continued. “I have more love in my life and for myself than I ever could have imagined, and I see every day as a gift.
There are still days where I can’t stop crying – I’m in pain, or my thoughts get the better of me – but I’m learning to let my loved ones help carry the load. Okay, so maybe saying cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me is a bit of a stretch, but it certainly isn’t a witch’s curse either… and if it is, then that witch certainly has a sense of humor.”
