Daveigh Chase, Who Played The Ring's Child Villain, Dies at 35

Daveigh Chase, who terrified audiences in The Ring and charmed them as the voice of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, has died at 35, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ she succumbed Tuesday to meningitis and severe blood infections that caused septic complications. The gossip site reports Chase had earlier this month been hospitalized for malnutrition.

Chase broke out in 2002, playing vengeful child Samara Morgan in The Ring, a role that earned her an MTV Movie Award for best villain the same year she won an Annie Award for voicing Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch. Her résumé also includes Donnie Darko, 32 episodes on HBO's Big Love, voicing the main character in the English dub of Spirited Away, and appearances on ER, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Mercy, and Beethoven's 5th. Her last listed acting credit is a 2016 video game; E! News reports she also appeared in American Romance and Jack Goes Home that year before exiting the spotlight.

In recent years she faced legal troubles, including drug charges and a joyriding case involving a stolen vehicle. Hernandez had recently launched a GoFundMe, writing that Chase endured a difficult childhood and bullying, and that they were seeking stability as her health rapidly declined. A representative for Chase has not yet commented publicly.