Daveigh Chase, the actress who gave voice to one of Disney’s most beloved animated characters and simultaneously terrified audiences in a defining horror film of the early 2000s, has died. She was 35 years old.
Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed the news to TMZ, saying Chase died on Tuesday from meningitis and an infection in her blood, which caused her to have septic issues and led to her body shutting down. TMZ also reported that Chase had been admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles earlier this month because of malnutrition. TMZTMZ
Hernandez had set up a GoFundMe page for Chase just this week, writing that she had been diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections, and that her condition had become critical. Deadline
The entertainment world is mourning a talent who, within the span of a single year, managed to appear in two projects that became cultural touchstones for an entire generation.
Daveigh Chase and the Role That Defined a Generation
Chase’s breakout came in 2002, when she voiced Lilo Pelekai in Lilo and Stitch. The film was a commercial and critical success for Disney, standing apart from the studio’s other animated features of the era with its unconventional setting, its focus on a fractured family rather than a traditional fairy tale, and its deeply felt emotional core. Lilo was not the typical Disney heroine. She was strange, stubborn, lonely, and fiercely loyal, and Chase brought all of that to life with a performance that felt entirely natural rather than performed. TheWrap
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She would go on to voice Lilo in the follow-up TV series as well, cementing her connection to the character across several years of Disney content. For millions of children who grew up watching the film, her voice was Lilo. TMZ
That same year, she also took on a role at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Horror fans will recognize her from her haunting performance as Samara Morgan, the main antagonist in the 2002 film The Ring, for which she won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. The image of Samara crawling out of a television screen became one of the most recognized horror visuals of the decade, and Chase’s ability to make that character genuinely disturbing rather than simply creepy was a significant part of why the film worked as well as it did. TMZ
A Career That Stretched Far Beyond Those Two Films
Around the same time, Chase also voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Spirited Away in 2001 and won an Annie Award for her voice work. That is a remarkable list of credits for any performer, let alone one who was still a child at the time. TheWrap
She also appeared as Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko, another film from that same period that has since grown into a genuine cult classic. Her presence in that film added to what was becoming a genuinely impressive body of early work. Just Jared
Beginning in 2006, Chase earned a recurring role in the HBO series Big Love, playing Rhonda Volmer in the drama about a polygamist family in Utah. The show ran for five seasons and attracted significant critical attention, and Chase’s work on it demonstrated that her abilities extended well beyond animated voice work and horror villain performances. TMZ
Tributes and Reactions
News of Chase’s passing spread quickly across social media on Tuesday, with fans sharing memories of Lilo and Stitch and The Ring and reflecting on how much of their childhoods her performances had occupied. For many, the loss felt personal in the way that the death of a childhood cultural figure often does, where the grief is not just for the person but for the era their work represents.
Her boyfriend wrote that after a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family, Daveigh had struggled to find safety and happiness in downtown Los Angeles. The details that have emerged in the days leading up to her death paint a picture of someone who faced significant challenges in her adult life after achieving so much so young. The Mirror
She was 35 years old. She voiced a character that taught a generation of children that family means nobody gets left behind. That is not a small thing, and it will outlast all of us.
Daveigh Chase is gone, but Lilo is forever.
