Charisma Madarang
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Daveigh Chase on Jan. 12, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA. Jason Merritt/Getty Images Daveigh Chase, the voice behind Lilo in Disney’s hit animated movie Lilo and Stitch and who starred as Samara Morgan in the horror film The Ring, has died, according to BBC. She was 35.
Her manager John Ryan Jr confirmed her death and said Chase died from sepsis after battling meningitis in a Los Angeles hospital. He said that she had been admitted to a hospital for malnourishment before her death. TMZ was first to report the news.
“She was the greatest. She loved cats. She worked with cat rescues with us. She was very to herself, ” said Ryan, who added that Chase would find refuge at her home in Las Vegas for years at a time and turned down big studio films in favor of independent projects. “She was not very Hollywood,” he said. “She’d rather eat at Bob’s Big Boy and go home with the cats. She loved acting but wasn’t into the fame scene.”
Born in 1990, Chase’s breakthrough role arrived in 2001 when she appeared as Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko. She would go on reprise her role in the 2009 sequel to the film, S Darko, which was made without the first film’s writer and director, Richard Kelly.
In 2002, Chase would star in two of her biggest roles starting with her terrifying turn as Samara Morgan in horror film The Ring. Her portrayal garnered her a MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. That same year, the actress also voiced Lilo in Disney’s blockbuster feature film Lilo & Stitch, and won Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature at the Annie Awards in 2003.
