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Daveigh Chase

Daveigh Elizabeth Chase (born Daveigh Elizabeth Schwallier on July 24, 1990) is an American actress, singer, and voice over artist.

Biography

Early life

Chase was born Daveigh (pronounced "Da-Vay") Elizabeth Schwallier in Las Vegas, Nevada, but her name was later changed to Daveigh Elizabeth Chase after her parents, Cathy Chase and John Schwallier, divorced. Chase lives with her mother Cathy Chase and was raised in Albany, Oregon, before moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue her career (although she does still spend much of her time in Albany). She now has a younger brother, Cade. She wanted to perform from a very early age and began singing and dancing in her hometown and other local areas at community events and shows. One of the factors which inspired her was watching videos of Barney & Friends when she was 4 years old. "I wanted to be like them, the kids on the video," she later said. Her mother then entered her in a Little Miss America Pageant where Chase won the national vocal competition. Following her success, Chase was then signed by an agent who specialised in commercials and at the age of 7, she appeared in a Campbells Soup advertisement. In 1998, she landed a starring role as a child member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a musical theatre production called Utah!.

Acting career

Chase's big break came later in 2002 when she won the lead role as the voice of a Hawaiian girl, Lilo Pelekai, in the Disney animated feature, Lilo & Stitch. The film concerns how Lilo befriends a strange and destructive blue alien whom she calls "Stitch" and how she tries to teach him how to behave using Elvis Presley music as exemplars. The message conveyed throughout the film is essentially that families must remain united, that there is an innate goodness in all children, that people should take pride in their own culture, and the importance of good behaviour. For her performance, Chase would go on to win an Annie Award for it in 2003 and star in the follow up TV series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series.

In 2001, Chase won the role as the voice of the lead character, Chihiro Ogino, a 10 year old Japanese girl, in the American dub of the animated Japanese feature, Spirited Away. The film won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Her other animated film work from that year, Lilo & Stitch, had also been nominated for the same Academy Award that year.

In 2002, Chase starred in the role of Samara Morgan in the feature film, The Ring. Chase was awarded the 2003 Best Villain award at the MTV Movie Awards for her performance, beating out Mike Myers, Colin Farrell, Willem Dafoe and Daniel Day-Lewis. In the sequel to The Ring, The Ring Two (2005), Chase was credited for her role as Samara Morgan because of the use of archive footage from the first Ring, but Kelly Stables performed all of the new footage.

Chase's main other major film and TV credits between 2000 and 2005 were the cult film Donnie Darko (2001) as Donnie's younger sister, Samantha, and Oliver Beene (2003–2004), as Oliver's quirky girlfriend Joyce. Other credits include, The Rats (2002), Carolina (2003), R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse (2003) in which she played a flying ghost called Annabel, and Beethoven's 5th (2003). She also made guest appearances in Touched By An Angel, Charmed, ER, Family Law, and The Practice.

In 2006, Chase was given the role of Rhonda Volmer in the HBO drama series Big Love which centres on a polygamist, Bill Henrickson, played by Bill Paxton. The show focuses upon Henrickson's relationship with his three wives. Chase's character is the child bride of a prophet, Roman Grant, played by Harry Dean Stanton.

Leroy & Stitch, a follow up to Lilo & Stitch, was released in 2006. Chase then appeared in the second season of Big Love, which aired in 2007. She also did some voice work on an animation series called Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures the same year. Big Love has been renewed for a third season. Will Scheffer, one of the creators of Big Love, has finally set the date for third season of the HBO series. According to eonline.com, fans can enjoy new episodes of the polygamy-themed drama beginning January 11, 2009. As a result of the writers' strike, Big Love season 3 along with other HBO series like Entourage and Flight of the Conchords have all been delayed until the fall. But while Entourage is likely to premiere in September, Big Love and Flight of the Conchords are now projected to premiere next year, which is later than first expected 3 She is set to reprise her role as Donnie Darko's younger sister, Samantha, in the film S. Darko.

Singing career

In 1999, Chase joined a small band as lead singer and took the stage as the opening act for Reba McEntire. She was picked by Steven Spielberg to sing "God Bless America" in A.I. (edited out of the final version of the film), and she sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" for the "Schools Out Christmas" album and "Tossin & Turnin" in the Oliver Beene episode "Oliver & Others". She has also sung in numerous scenes in Big Love, most notably in the episode named "The Happiest Girl" (the 10th episode in the second season) where she performs "The Happiest Girl In the Whole USA" which was written by Donna Fargo.