Daveigh Chase Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What was Daveigh Chase’s Net Worth?

Daveigh Chase was an American actress, voice actress, and singer who had a net worth of $3 million at the time of her death. Daveigh Chase was best known for an unusually memorable run of child-actor roles in the early 2000s, including voicing Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” voicing Chihiro in the English-language version of “Spirited Away,” playing Samantha Darko in “Donnie Darko,” and portraying Samara Morgan in the horror blockbuster “The Ring.” Her work spanned family animation, prestige anime dubbing, cult science fiction, and mainstream horror before she was even a teenager.

Chase’s two most famous roles could not have been more different. In “Lilo & Stitch,” she gave warmth, humor, and emotional realism to one of Disney’s most beloved young heroines. In “The Ring,” she became one of the most unsettling horror images of the 2000s as Samara, the long-haired ghost girl at the center of the cursed videotape. She later appeared on HBO’s “Big Love” as Rhonda Volmer, a manipulative teenager raised in a polygamist community. Chase stepped away from major acting work in later years and lived a much more private and difficult life. She died in June 2026 at the age of 35.

Finances At Death

After Chase’s death, her longtime manager John Ryan claimed that she had millions of dollars in unclaimed residuals and other entertainment earnings that she had not accessed before she died. According to Ryan, Chase’s original “Lilo & Stitch” deal was not simply a one-time voice acting payment. He claimed that her contract entitled her to money connected to residuals, merchandise, theme park uses, and other products involving her voice as Lilo.

Ryan said that, for years, SAG-AFTRA notices continued to arrive at his office indicating that Chase had unclaimed residual checks. He told The California Post that the unpaid amount reached into the millions, but that Chase was unable or unwilling to collect the money during a period when she was allegedly struggling with addiction, homelessness, and serious health problems.

The situation created a tragic contrast between Chase’s public legacy and her final years. On one hand, she voiced one of Disney’s most beloved characters, a role that continued to generate cultural and commercial value decades after the original 2002 film. On the other hand, reports after her death described her as living in extremely poor condition in Los Angeles and being hospitalized for malnutrition shortly before she died.

Ryan also criticized a GoFundMe that was reportedly created by a man identifying himself as Chase’s boyfriend. He said Chase had a SAG-related trust account that could cover final expenses, and cautioned that her friends and family were not familiar with the man who organized the fundraiser. It is not clear exactly how much money was ultimately available to Chase’s estate, how much of the alleged unclaimed money can be collected, or who will control those funds. Ryan said next of kin typically can pursue residuals after a performer’s death.

Early Life

Daveigh Elizabeth Chase was born on July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her birth name was Daveigh Elizabeth Chase-Schwallier. After her parents divorced, her name was changed to Daveigh Elizabeth Chase. She was raised primarily in Albany, Oregon.

Chase began performing as a child and moved into professional entertainment at a young age. She appeared in commercials, television guest roles, and small film parts before landing the major voice and screen roles that defined her career. Her early credits included appearances on shows such as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “ER,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Charmed,” and “The Practice.”

Early Acting Career

One of Chase’s first major film roles came in 2001, when she played Samantha Darko, the younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal’s title character, in “Donnie Darko.” Though the movie was not a major box-office hit at the time, it developed a passionate cult following and became one of the most discussed films of the early 2000s.

That same period also brought Chase into voice acting. She voiced Chihiro Ogino in the English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away.” The film became one of the most acclaimed animated movies ever made, and Chase’s performance introduced her voice to an audience beyond traditional American animation.

“Lilo & Stitch”

Chase’s biggest family-film role came in 2002, when she voiced Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch.” The film followed a lonely Hawaiian girl who adopts a chaotic alien experiment she names Stitch. Chase’s performance helped make Lilo feel funny, strange, wounded, stubborn, and deeply lovable.

The movie became a major Disney hit and grew into a franchise. Chase continued voicing Lilo in several related projects, including “Stitch! The Movie,” “Lilo & Stitch: The Series,” and “Leroy & Stitch.” For her work in the original film, she won an Annie Award for voice acting.

The role remained one of Chase’s defining performances. For many viewers, her voice was inseparable from Lilo’s personality: emotional, eccentric, and fiercely attached to the idea of “ohana,” or family. Decades later, the continued popularity of the franchise also became central to the discussion of Chase’s finances, because her manager claimed she still had substantial unclaimed money connected to the role.

“The Ring”

Also in 2002, Chase appeared in “The Ring,” the American remake of the Japanese horror film “Ringu.” She played Samara Morgan, the ghostly child whose cursed videotape kills viewers seven days after they watch it.

Although Chase had limited dialogue in the film, her physical presence made the character unforgettable. The image of Samara crawling out of a television became one of the defining horror visuals of the decade. Chase’s performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, a rare honor for a child actor.

The success of “The Ring” made Chase recognizable to an entirely different audience than “Lilo & Stitch.” She became one of the few young performers whose most famous credits included both a beloved Disney heroine and a terrifying horror icon.

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“Big Love” and Later Roles

From 2006 to 2011, Chase played Rhonda Volmer on the HBO drama “Big Love.” The series centered on a polygamist family and starred Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin. Chase’s character was manipulative, damaged, and unpredictable, giving her a more adult and complicated role than many of her earlier parts.

She later reprised the role of Samantha Darko in “S. Darko,” the 2009 sequel to “Donnie Darko.” Her other film credits included “Beethoven’s 5th,” “Carolina,” “Jack Goes Home,” “American Romance,” and “Killer Crush.” Though she continued to act into adulthood, her career slowed significantly after her early success.

Personal Life and Death

In later years, Chase lived a much more private life and was largely removed from the level of public visibility she had as a child star. Reports after her death described a painful final period marked by addiction, homelessness, severe health issues, and efforts by friends and loved ones to locate her and get her into treatment.

Chase died in Los Angeles in June 2026 at the age of 35. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ that she had suffered from meningitis, which led to a blood infection, sepsis, and organ failure. Reports also stated that she had been hospitalized earlier that month due to malnutrition.

Daveigh Chase’s career was brief but unusually impactful. Through “Lilo & Stitch,” “Spirited Away,” “Donnie Darko,” “The Ring,” and “Big Love,” she left behind a body of work that connected with audiences across animation, horror, cult film, and prestige television.