Director Eddy Terstall, who knew Cees Geel for nearly thirty years as a friend and colleague, describes his sudden death from cardiac arrest at the age of 61 as completely unexpected, as the actor had no known heart problems. Terstall deliberately wrote the lead role in Simon (2004) for Geel, for which he won a Golden Calf and received international recognition at the Tribeca Film Festival, although he refused an offer to work in Los Angeles out of loyalty to his parents. Terstall characterizes him as someone who approached acting as a high-performance sport, where his authenticity as a "street kid" distinguished him from colleagues who came from cultured backgrounds.