A voice of our childhood is gone: Daveigh Chase, star of Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away and The Ring, dies
She was the voice of childhood wonder and the face of its darkest fear. As the generation raised on Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away, and The Ring looks back, Daveigh Chase's roles still define an era.
Sad news today: Daveigh Chase has died at 35. If you grew up anywhere near the 2000s, you probably felt her work even if you did not realize it at the time — she was the voice of one of Disney 's most lovable misfits and the face of one of horror 's most indelible nightmares. Not many performers get to be part of both your comfort movie shelf and your sleep-paralysis demon file. She did.
What happened
Chase's boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed her passing and said she died from complications tied to meningitis and severe blood infections. Tributes have been rolling in from across the animation, TV, and horror corners of the industry — the exact places where her work left a mark on a whole swath of millennial and Gen Z viewers.
Why Daveigh Chase mattered
Chase's early career is basically a highlight reel of early-2000s pop culture. She pivoted from sweet to terrifying without blinking, which is a big reason her legacy sticks.
- Lilo Pelekai in Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' (2002): She gave Lilo a specific, grounded warmth that helped turn the movie into a modern Disney staple.
- Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of 'Spirited Away': Her voice helped usher a lot of Western kids into Studio Ghibli's Oscar- winning masterpiece.
- Samara Morgan in 'The Ring': Yes, the well, the tape, the nightmare fuel — Chase won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for that performance.
- Samantha Darko in 'Donnie Darko': A key piece of the cult classic's eerie suburban vibe.
- Rhonda Volmer on HBO 's 'Big Love': A recurring role that showed she could do nuanced TV drama, not just icons and jump-scares.
The harder chapter she did not put on screen
After a busy run as a young actor, her on-screen credits slowed. According to her IMDb page, her final credit came in 2016 with the video game 'Let It Die.' In the years after, she dealt with personal and legal trouble — including drug possession charges and other widely reported incidents — that pulled the spotlight away from her work.
Shortly before her death, Hernandez launched a GoFundMe describing a rough road behind the scenes: a difficult childhood, estrangement from family, and a long fight to find stability in Los Angeles. He wrote that she had recently been diagnosed with meningitis along with multiple severe blood infections, which ultimately turned critical.
What we are left with
The contrast is tough to sit with. The same artist who gave voice to bravery, wonder, and weird little-kid honesty was dealing with problems worlds away from the stories she helped tell. Still, the work is there, and it holds up — across animated classics, cult favorites, and the kind of horror that never really fades.
What is your favorite Daveigh Chase role? Drop it in the comments — Lilo and Samara will probably duke it out, but there are no wrong answers here.