Samantha Weinstein, an actor who appeared in the 2013 remake of “Carrie” and portrayed several cartoon characters, has passed away. She was 28 years old.
Her father, David Weinstein, verified in a statement to USA Today on Thursday that she passed away on May 14 at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada, from ovarian cancer.
“The outpouring of tributes to Samantha has overwhelmed us,” he said. “She lived a very full, enchanting, and genuine existence. She was extremely devoted to her art and labored until her final days voicing animated characters while living as fully as possible.
Additionally, he disclosed that the photos posted on Samantha’s unverified Instagram account on May 15 were created by the actor herself for her farewell post. The photographs depict her beaming and floating in space.
The post states,
“After two and a half years of cancer treatment, and a lifetime of jet setting around the world, voicing a multitude of cartoon animals, making music, and knowing more about life than the majority of people will ever know, she is off on her next adventure.”
While enduring cancer treatment, Weinstein continued to live a full life. On October 29, 2022, she married Michael Knutson, and the couple honeymooned in Japan.
Weinstein, who also performed in the punk rock band Killer Virgins, reflected on being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 25 and falling in love with Knutson in a July 2017 article for Love What Matters. The couple went on their first date a week after she was diagnosed with cancer.
“First dates were already nerve-wracking, but the week prior I had received devastating news: I had cancer. What a way to put a man off!” She wrote the text. “With my eyes fixated on the dirt ground of the dog park, I informed him that I had been diagnosed with a rare ovarian germ-cell yolk sac tumor and that I would begin chemotherapy in a matter of months. I held my breath, clenched my eyes shut, and anxiously awaited the inevitable rejection… “But it never arrived.”
She continued,
“When my hormones were raging from IVF injections, we screamed at each other while assembling an IKEA vanity and then collapsed laughing on the floor.”
When my hair began to fall out, we jointly shaved our skulls. When the nerve damage in my digits was causing them to turn black, he took me out for ice cream and held the cone. He taught me that love is altruistic and reminded me to allow others to look after me as well.
Weinstein stated that she and Knutson began discussing their nuptials soon after their first date. Following their first dance to The Velveteins’ “Don’t Yah Feel Better?” at their nuptials, they engaged in a choreographed lightsaber battle.
“I suggested that in lieu of a first dance, we have a lightsaber duel. After 20 months, 10 rounds of chemotherapy, and a lifetime of memories, here we are,” she wrote on Instagram, adding that they were aiming for a “pretend-fighting-in-your-parents-basement vibe.”
Weinstein explained in her Love What Matters essay that she came to grips with her sexuality and gender identity following her cancer diagnosis, coming out as “bisexual/pansexual” and non-binary to her parents and to Knutson, who all accepted her.
“In the 18 months since my initial diagnosis, I’ve learned that 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 has ever happened to me, but in strange ways, it has also been the greatest. Since the future is uncertain, I’m still living with illness and with my parents (on the plus side, we’ve never been closer!).
I am still pursuing my ideal profession as a voice actor. I have more love in my life and for myself than I could have ever anticipated, and I view each day as a blessing. There are still times when I can’t stop crying – when I’m in agony or when my thoughts overwhelm me – but I’m learning to let my loved ones shoulder the burden. Okay, maybe it’s a stretch to say that cancer was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, but neither is it a witch’s curse… if that is the case, then that sorceress has a great sense of humor.”
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