FILE – Actor Samantha Weinstein attends the premiere of “Jesus Henry Christ” during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival at BMCC Tribeca PAC on April 23, 2011, in New York City.
Canadian actress Samantha Weinstein — known for her many roles including appearing in the 2013 remake of "Carrie" — has died at the age of 28 after a two-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer.
A tribute posted to her social media page shared she passed away on May 14 in Toronto surrounded by loved ones.
"After two and a half years of cancer treatment, and a lifetime of jet setting around the world," the May 15 Instagram statement read. "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."
Weinstein began acting at six years old, going on to appear in a number of films including "Big Girl," "The Stone Age" and "Toronto Stories." She also played the role of Heather in 2013's "Carrie," co-starring alongside Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore.
In July 2022, the "Siblings" actress opened up about being diagnosed with cancer at 25 after noticing she was "strangely bloated," noting the health battle "happened almost overnight."
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"My roommate assured me her girlfriends got like this all the time and it was just ovulation… or something," she wrote in a personal essay for "Love What Matters." "It was not ovulation or something."
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Weinstein went on to explain that after spending four days in the hospital recovering from surgery, she returned home, during which she dealt with intense chronic pain.
"Every day was a struggle to keep my spirits up and not collapse into the blackhole that was my mind," she noted. "What would happen to my health? My career? My life?"
During that time, Weinstein would reconnect with an old friend, Michael Knutson—who would later become her husband in October of that year.
"First dates were nerve wracking enough, but I had just received some devastating news the week before—it was cancer," she wrote. "Talk about scaring a guy off! There was something about him, though, that put me at ease."
After telling him about her health battle, as Weinstein shared, the "inevitable rejection...never came."
"Michael smiled and squeezed my hand," she added. "His mother had fought cancer for eight years and had passed away two years ago. He was ready for this."
She also credited her husband for his endless support, noting, "He taught me love is selfless and reminded me to let others take care of me too."
