Daveigh Chase
Daveigh Chase was born on 24th July 1990, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and began acting at the young age of eight. When her parents divorced, the child star dropped her father’s name, Schwallier; she was subsequently raised in Albany, Oregon.
While the Chase family was on a road trip in 1998, Daveigh’s mother crashed her car in Los Angeles, and would be told by doctors that she couldn’t drive for six months. Temporarily marooned in L.A, it was then that Daveigh took the opportunity to pursue her acting dreams.
These days, Daveigh is more known for her legal woes and troubled personal life than for her past pursuits. Nevertheless, at one point, the award-winning former actress was considered one of the most promising talents of her generation.
Notable Roles
Daveigh’s acting career began in 1998 with a guest-starring appearance in “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”. A year later, she made her film debut with a minor role in “Her Married Lover”. The blue-eyed blonde’s breakthrough role was in 2002, when she voiced Lilo Pelekai in the Disney animated movie “Lilo & Stitch”; in the film, Lilo befriended an odd alien disguised as a dog, and used Elvis Presley songs to try to teach him how to behave.
In the same year, Daveigh was cast as Samara Morgan in “The Ring”. Born with strange supernatural abilities that she was unable to control, Samara’s character was a memorable horror villain, as she killed her victims off-screen and without using physical force. One of the milestones of Daveigh’s career was winning Best Villain Award at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards in competition against Colin Farrell, Mike Myers and Daniel Day-Lewis.
In 2003, Daveigh also won an Annie Award for her performance in “Lilo & Stitch”, and starred in its follow-up TV series, “Lilo & Stitch: The Series”, which ran until 2006 and lasted 65 episodes. Another notable voiceover role was her performance as Chihiro Ogino in “Spirited Away”.
Between 2000 and 2005, Daveigh had other major film and TV roles that included playing Donnie’s younger sister in the 2001 cult classic “Donnie Darko”, and Oliver’s girlfriend in “Oliver Beene”. She also made numerous guest appearances, including in “The Practice”, “Touched by an Angel”, and “Family Law” amongst other popular series.
From 2006 to 2011, Daveigh played Rhonda Volmer in the drama series “Big Love”, which aimed to offer an unbiased portrayal of polygamy in America. As the 15-year-old bride-to-be of a treacherous cult leader, Rhonda was a many-layered character who appeared humble and trustworthy, but was in fact a manipulative pathological liar. Starring big names such as Chloe Sevigny and Amanda Seyfried, the series was critically acclaimed, and nominated for various Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards in the drama series category.
Concurrently, in 2006, Daveigh voiced Lilo for the last time in “Leroy & Stitch”, then later reprised her role as Samantha Darko in “S. Darko”, with her character going on a road trip to Los Angeles with her best friend, and being plagued by strange visions along the way.
Sometime in the early- to mid-2010s, Daveigh’s career slowed down as she was offered less and less work. In 2015, she had two starring movie roles, playing Rachel in the independent horror movie “Wild in Blue”, and Paige York in the TV movie “Killer Crush”. A year later, she appeared in her last two movies: “American Romance” and “Jack Goes Home” – the latter project premiered at the South by Southwest international film festival but was a commercial failure, much like “American Romance”.
2016 Onwards
Over the years, many fans of Daveigh’s have wondered what became of the child star. Unfortunately, the former actress was plagued by legal issues almost as soon as she retired; in February 2017, for example, the “Big Love” star was arrested by LAPD detectives for allegedly leaving a dying man outside a hospital.
According to sources, they’d been hanging out and most probably taking drugs together before she left him at the hospital’s front door and fled the scene. When police discovered that there was an outstanding warrant in her name for an unrelated misdemeanor, they arrested the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” alum; however, she wasn’t suspected of having anything to do with the man’s death, which was believed to be caused by a drug overdose. Nevertheless, the incident was a serious blemish on Daveigh’s reputation, as until then there was no proof of her having any substance abuse issues.
In November 2017, Daveigh’s second brush with the law occurred as she was charged with a felony – driving without the owner’s consent after going on a joyride in a stolen car. In August 2018, she was arrested and spent two hours behind bars before posting $1,000 bail, this time for possession of a controlled substance.
Happy 32nd Birthday to Daveigh Chase! The actress who played Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko, Samara in The Ring, and voiced Chihiro in Spirited Away, Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, and Betsy on Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures. #DaveighChase pic.twitter.com/rzP2sE5uEa
— Jake with the Ob (@mnralphie) July 25, 2022
This disturbing pattern of behavior repeated itself in November 2018, when Daveigh was hit with two misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Just two months later, the “The Ring” actress fell foul of the law yet again, and had to spend the night in a jail cell before posting $6,000 bail; this time, the cause of arrest was unclear.
Daveigh hasn’t posted on social media since November 2017; her last Instagram post sparked concern due to her unusually slim physique, and coupled with her subsequent arrests, most of her fans assume that she’s still battling her drug addiction. Whatever the case, she’s managed to stay out of the headlines – and trouble – over the past few years, but it doesn’t look like the “Lilo & Stitch” star is in any rush to return to Hollywood.
Regarding Daveigh’s dating history, she was previously linked to fellow actor Erik Per Sullivan, famous for his role as Dewey in the family-friendly sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle”. The rumors began in 2009 and died down months later; the actor is believed to be currently single and also leads a reclusive life away from the cameras these days.
Reliable sources list Daveigh’s net worth as being as high as $2 million range.
