It is with great sadness that we report the passing of actress Daveigh Chase at 35. Chase voiced Lilo in Disney’s beloved animated classic Lilo & Stitch, a role that defined her career. She also terrified audiences worldwide as the haunting Samara in Gore Verbinski’s horror remake The Ring. Chase died on 16 June after battling meningitis and a serious blood infection, according to TMZ. She made her screen debut at just eight years old and appeared in over 50 projects throughout her life.
Born on 24 July, 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Daveigh Elizabeth Chase found her way into acting through a remarkable twist of fate. A family road trip was cut short when a car crash left her mother unable to drive for six months. Stranded in Los Angeles, young Daveigh was encouraged to explore her growing love of the arts. She later revealed to Interview Magazine that her earliest inspiration came from the beloved nineties children’s TV show Barney. Small roles in Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Charmed, and ER soon began arriving for the young actress. Before she had even reached her teenage years, she had already secured the roles that would define film history.
Between October 2001 and October 2002, Chase appeared in four remarkably different and arguably iconic films in quick succession. She first played Donnie’s kid sister Samantha opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Richard Kelly’s cult classic Donnie Darko. She would later reprise that role in the 2009 direct-to-video sequel S. Darko. Over the summer and early autumn of 2002, Chase lent her voice to two landmark animated films on both sides of the world.
As Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch, she brought rare attitude and emotional depth to a very different kind of Disney heroine. Her performance earned her an Annie Award, and she reprised the role across multiple sequels and a TV series. She also voiced ten-year-old Chihiro in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s extraordinary coming-of-age fantasy Spirited Away. Chase carried Chihiro’s journey with grace, capturing her arc from timidity and innocence through to courage and experience. To close out that extraordinary year, she delivered one of cinema’s all-time great creepy kid performances in The Ring.
As she entered her teens and early adulthood, Chase remained a consistent and recognisable presence on both big and small screens. On film, she appeared in indie projects including Nick Cassavetes’ 2012 TIFF selection Yellow, which drew significant attention at the festival. She also starred alongside Rory Culkin, Natasha Lyonne, and a young Britt Robertson in Thomas Dekker’s low-budget horror Jack Goes Home. On television, she played Mormon wife Rhonda Volmer opposite Harry Dean Stanton’s Roman Grant in HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love. She later returned to voice acting, leading the cast of the PBS Kids animated series Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures.
Daveigh Elizabeth Chase was a genuinely multi-talented actress whose work spanned animation, horror, drama, and independent film with ease. Her voice, in particular, will live on through some of the most beloved animated works in cinema history. Our thoughts are with her friends, family, and loved ones during this exceptionally difficult time.
