Carrie star Samantha Weinstein dies aged 28: Actress passes away after ovarian cancer battle
Carrie actress Samantha Weinstein has passed away at the age of 28 after a two and a half year battle with ovarian cancer.
Her death on May 14 was confirmed Global News Canada by the star’s father, David Weinstein, who paid an emotional tribute to the Canadian star.
He said, “Sam was actually a living embodiment of a ray of sunshine.
“She was so full of positive energy, anyone who ever met her would say she just lit up every room she entered.”
Her mother, Jojo Tindall-Weinstein, said Samantha “changed everyone’s life.”
RIP: Carrie actress Samantha Weinstein has passed away at age 28 after a two and a half year battle with ovarian cancer
Tragic loss: Samantha’s family posted a heartbreaking photo announcing her passing
“And I know that sounds very dramatic, but people are very serious when they say that. Her contagious, positive attitude has really changed the way other people live.’
Samantha’s loved ones also posted two gorgeous photos of the star posing against a celestial backdrop – announcing her passing.
The message read: “Hello from the other side. Sam passed away at 11:25 a.m. on May 14 surrounded by her loved ones at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.
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 will ever know, she’s going on her next adventure .
Samantha was known for playing high school girl Heather in the 2013 Carrie remake — alongside stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore.
She also had roles in children’s cartoons Gerald McBoing Boing and Babar and the Adventures of Badou and did voiceover work for cartoons in the weeks leading up to her death.
She broke into acting at just 10 years old in 2005’s Big Girl, playing Josephine – a role that made her the youngest-ever winner of an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female in 2006.
Samantha’s last Instagram post came on May 1 — which showed the actress enjoying her honeymoon with new husband Michael Knutson.
Courageous: The star – who bravely documented her battle with the disease – shared her latest Instagram post on May 1 – when she honeymooned in Tokyo
On screen: Samantha was known for playing high school student Heather in the 2013 Carrie remake – alongside stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore
Husband: She married Michael Knutson in a romantic ceremony in October 2022
She married Michael in a romantic ceremony in October 2022.
Samantha bravely documented her cancer and treatment journey on social media, describing how she was first diagnosed at the age of 25 — after realizing she looked “oddly bloated” as she walked home from a friend’s house .
She wrote in a first-person piece for Love What Matters, “It happened almost overnight. I was walking home from a friend’s house after drinking too much red wine when I noticed I looked strangely bloated.
“I knew I wasn’t pregnant because I was single and celibate, having just left an emotionally abusive relationship four months earlier. My roommate assured me that her friends were like this all the time and that it was just ovulation… or something.
Spoiler alert – it wasn’t ovulation or anything.
“I was 25 and in the best shape of my life. There was no history of cancer in my family. I had just finished filming a music video with my punk rock band, Killer Virgins, and we were a week away from releasing our first big single.
“I worked as a full-time voice actor and lived with a cool, hippie-earth-mommy roommate and her two kittens. I was at the height of what I assumed would be the rest of my life as a young creative in Toronto. Then I started blowing up like Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital under the surgical light of the disco ball in the operating room counting down from ten.
“I spent four excruciating days in the hospital healing from a massive abdominal incision, most of which I hallucinated like Hypnotoad at Burning Man.
Struggle: Samantha bravely documented her cancer and treatment journey on social media, describing how she was first diagnosed at the age of 25 — after realizing she looked “oddly bloated” as she walked home from the house from a friend
Rise to fame: Samantha started acting when she was nine and quickly gained acclaim (photo 2008, 13 years old)
“When the nurses let me walk on the third day, I dissociated for the first time and looked at my body from the ceiling. I only knew what was going on thanks to YouTube (all that binge-watching has finally paid off!). After the surgery, my father drove me back to my parents’ house to recover.
“Many weeks later my mom told me I looked like a ghost when I first walked into their living room; I was so pale and thin. It took me weeks to sit alone and walk without a cane. I had never dealt with chronic pain before, or had to rely on hardcore painkillers.
Every day was a struggle to keep my spirits up and not plunge into the black hole that was my mind – what would happen to my health? My career? My life?’
She would later reconnect with her childhood friend Michael while in “crippling pain” on Valentine’s Day – with her husband-to-be sending her a Facebook message.
She wrote, “The first dates were nerve wracking enough, but I had received terrible news the week before: it was cancer. Talk about scaring a man! However, there was something about him that put me at ease.
“With my eyes fixed on the dirt ground of the dog park, I told him I had been diagnosed with a rare ovarian germ cell yolk sac tumor and would begin chemotherapy in a few months.
“I held my breath, squeezed my eyes shut, and waited for the inevitable rejection…but it never came. Michael smiled and squeezed my hand. His mother had battled cancer for eight years and passed away two years ago. He was ready for this.
“As my hormones raced through the IVF injections, we screamed at each other as we built an IKEA dressing table and collapsed on the floor laughing. When my hair started to fall out, we shaved our heads together.
“When my fingers turned black from nerve damage, he took me out for ice cream and held the cone. He taught me that love is selfless and reminded me to let others take care of me too.”