Daveigh Chase, former child star of 'Lilo & Stitch,' 'Spirited Away' and 'The Ring,' dead at 35

Former kid prima Daveigh Chase, who established a varied vocation with a haunting crook arsenic Samara Morgan successful “The Ring” and arsenic the bighearted outcast Lilo successful Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” has died.

The actor’s father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to the New York Times that Chase died successful a infirmary of complications from bacterial meningitis and a humor infection. TMZ archetypal broke the quality of Chase’s decease connected Wednesday, citing the actor’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, who said the histrion besides dealt with septic issues earlier her death. Additionally, Chase battled with cause addiction and was stateless earlier her death. She was 35.

Chase began her Hollywood vocation successful the precocious 1990s with insignificant roles successful fashionable TV bid including “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Charmed” and “ER,” and would spell connected to prima successful aggregate beloved movies astatine the crook of the century. In 2001 cult classical “Donnie Darko,” she was Samantha, the younger sister to Jake Gyllenhaal’s troubled Donnie Darko. She would reprise the relation 8 years aboriginal for the sequel, “S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale”

The aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic “Donnie Darko,” Chase lent her dependable to the American dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s tender “Spirited Away,” voicing its brave and stubborn protagonist Chihiro. The movie won the animated diagnostic prize astatine the 2003 Academy Awards.

Chase gained a estimation for her range, further supported by roles successful “Lilo & Stitch” and “The Ring” successful the aforesaid year. In the former, she voiced the Elvis-loving Lilo who finds the solution for her outcast presumption successful a mischievous alien. That show earned Chase an Annie Award for dependable acting successful an animated movie successful 2003 and secured her the pb voice-acting relation successful Disney Channel’s follow-up series. Months aft “Lilo & Stitch” deed the large screen, audiences would spot Chase crook down the charm and crook up the scares for her stint arsenic shade miss Samara Morgan successful “The Ring,” the archetypal successful a bid of films. The fearfulness classical is simply a remake of a 1998 Japanese movie based disconnected Koji Suzuki’s 1991 novel.

Most memorably, Chase’s Samara is clad successful a nightgown and obscured by a caput of pitchy achromatic hair, an eerie look that would go iconic for fearfulness fans and, eventually, fodder for laughs successful “Scary Movie 3.” Chase told the The Times successful 2002 of playing the iconic character: “ I conscionable benignant of took my ain dependable and enactment this freaky twist connected it.”

“The shaper for this movie told maine she was a batch similar Linda Blair successful ‘The Exorcist,’” she said. “I saw portion of that, and what truly freaked maine retired was erstwhile she was crawling up upside down and backwards down the stairs — benignant of similar the spider.”

In the aughts, Chase besides appeared successful much than 20 episodes of the Fox sitcom “Oliver Beene” and implicit 30 episodes of HBO’s Emmy-nominated Mormon household play “Big Love” arsenic cunning teen Rhonda Volmer. After the deed series, Chase’s vocation slowed and she appeared successful lower-profile projects. Her last recognition was a voice-acting relation successful the 2016 video crippled “Let It Die.”