Daveigh Chase Dead at 35: ‘The Ring,’ ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ and ‘Spirited Away’ Star Dies From Meningitis and Sepsis
Daveigh Chase, the actor who left an indelible mark on early 2000s pop culture through roles that could not have been more different from each other, has died. She was 35.
Chase’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed to TMZ that she died Tuesday from meningitis and an infection in her blood, which caused septic issues and led to her body shutting down. She had been hospitalized in Los Angeles earlier in the month due to malnutrition. No additional details about her death have been released.
Chase was, in a word, singular. By the time she was 12 years old, she had voiced one of Disney’s most beloved animated characters and terrified mainstream audiences as one of horror cinema’s most iconic villains. Both in the same year.
How Daveigh Chase Became a Child Star Unlike Any Other
Daveigh Chase was born July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and began her career in minor television roles before landing the part of Samantha Darko in Richard Kelly’s cult film “Donnie Darko.” She was barely a teenager when that film released in 2001, and it announced her as someone who could hold her own in a genuinely strange, ambitious piece of filmmaking. Fandom
Then came 2002, and it became something of a career lightning strike.
That year, Chase voiced Lilo in Disney’s beloved animated film “Lilo & Stitch” and also voiced Chihiro Ogino in the American dub of Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away.” At the same time, she delivered the performance that would haunt a generation of horror fans: Samara Morgan, the terrifying child antagonist in the hit 2002 film “The Ring,” for which she won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. TMZ
Winning Best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards while also voicing a Disney princess and a Studio Ghibli heroine in the same calendar year is not something that happens. And yet it did.
The Range That Defined Her Legacy
What made Chase remarkable was precisely how much ground she covered. She could be the heart of a children’s movie in the morning and the stuff of nightmares by afternoon.
For Disney, she provided the voice of Lilo across the “Lilo & Stitch” franchise, with the exception of “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” in which her friend Dakota Fanning stepped in.
On television, she moved into more complex dramatic territory. Between 2006 and 2011, she played Rhonda Volmer in the HBO series “Big Love,” portraying a sociopathic teenager raised in a polygamist family. It was a sharp, layered performance in a critically acclaimed drama, and it showed a genuine range that her early horror and animation work only hinted at.
In 2009, she reprised her role as Samantha Darko in “S. Darko,” a sequel to “Donnie Darko.” Her last screen credit was the 2016 horror film “Jack Goes Home.”
What Her Fans Are Remembering
For a lot of people who grew up in the early 2000s, Chase is woven into the fabric of childhood in a genuinely unique way. She made you sob at a Disney film about a little Hawaiian girl and her alien dog. She made you afraid to watch a VHS tape. She whispered “Ohana means family” into the cultural consciousness. She did all of it before she turned 13.
That kind of reach does not fade. The tributes pouring across social media today reflect exactly that, with fans of “The Ring,” “Lilo & Stitch,” and “Spirited Away” all grieving from their own corners of nostalgia, united by the same quiet, stunned disbelief.
A Life Ended Far Too Soon
Hernandez had set up a GoFundMe page for Chase just this week, writing that she had recently been diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections. The speed of her decline was devastating. Deadline
Meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, can escalate rapidly when it leads to bloodstream infection. When that infection becomes sepsis, the body’s immune response can turn on itself, triggering organ failure. That is what happened here, at 35 years old, to someone who had given millions of people something they carried with them from childhood.
Chase deserved more time. She deserved to see what she could have become in the second act of her career. What we have instead is a body of work that punches well above its years, and a legacy that will outlast the grief of this moment.
She was 35. She was extraordinary. She will not be forgotten.
FAQ: Daveigh Chase Death, Career, and Legacy
How did Daveigh Chase die?
Chase died Tuesday, June 16, 2026, after developing meningitis and a bloodstream infection that turned to sepsis, causing multiple organ failure. She was 35. Yahoo!
Who confirmed Daveigh Chase’s death?
Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed her death to TMZ. TMZ
What was Daveigh Chase known for?
Chase was best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” voicing Chihiro in the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away,” and playing Samara Morgan in the 2002 horror film “The Ring.” She also appeared in “Donnie Darko” and HBO’s “Big Love.”
Did Daveigh Chase win any awards?
Yes. She won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her role as Samara Morgan in “The Ring.” She also received a Young Artist Award for her work in “Lilo & Stitch.” TMZ
How old was Daveigh Chase when she died?
She was 35 years old.
Was Daveigh Chase hospitalized before her death?
Yes. She had been admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles earlier in June due to malnutrition, meningitis, and a blood infection, which led to her death. TMZ
