Daveigh Chase, Lilo’s voice and The Ring’s Samara, dies.
Beloved The Ring star Daveigh Chase dies, aged 35
Lilo & Stitch voice star Daveigh Chase dies at 35
creep of Samara had been cut short by illness. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ that she passed away on Tuesday after complications from meningitis; he had set up a GoFundMe days earlier describing a dire turn in her health, including serious blood infections and critical warning from doctors.
Chase’s story began in Las Vegas on July 24, 1990, and moved quickly into the world of performance. Raised in Albany, Oregon, she started working in commercials and on stage at seven, and by eight she was booking parts on network television — small appearances on shows. Those early experiences set the stage for breakout roles that would mark her career in startlingly different ways.
In 2001, Richard Kelly cast her as Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko, a film that would quietly gather a cult following and showcase Chase’s ability to bring depth to eccentric, troubled characters. Around the same time she also voiced Chihiro Ogino for the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, a testament to her vocal versatility and emotional range.
But 2002 was the year that made her name indelible in two very different film cultures. for a generation of children. That role led to sequels and an animated series, keeping that warmth alive for years. In the same year, she played Samara Morgan in Gore Verbinski’s The Ring — a chilling, iconic turn that haunted audiences and firmly planted her in horror-film lore. The contrast between Lilo’s tender innocence and Samara’s spectral menace is perhaps the most striking marker of Chase’s early career: she could be comfort and fear, sometimes in the same season.
She continued working on television, notably as Rhonda Volmer on HBO’s Big Love from 2006 to 2011, and revisited Samantha in S. Darko in 2009. Her last credited film role was in 2016’s Jack Goes Home; afterward, she largely stepped away from acting.
Hernandez’s GoFundMe and subsequent interviews painted a picture of a difficult period in Chase’s life. He spoke of bullying, family estrangement and struggles to find stability in downtown Los Angeles. Hospitalisation for malnutrition preceded the infections that worsened into the complications tied to meningitis, according to reports. In those final weeks, Hernandez said they found small, true moments of happiness together — detail that makes the loss feel both intimate and wrenching.
For many fans, Chase will remain the paradox she seemed to inhabit on screen: a voice that felt like home and an image that could make the skin crawl. It’s a rare legacy to hold both kinds of cultural memory so firmly. Tributes pouring in from across film and fan communities recall her talent, the strange duality of her most famous roles, and a young performer who left a lasting mark.
Her death is a reminder of the fragile, human stories behind the characters we carry with us. Beyond headlines and roles, Chase was a person whose life had private joys and hard struggles. Those who admired her work — and those who loved her — will remember both the laughter she helped animate and the shivers she delivered so memorably on screen.