In 2002, if you took your kids to see Disney's Lilo & Stitch and then caught a late-night showing of The Ring, you witnessed the same 12-year-old girl in radically different roles. Daveigh Chase provided the voice of the spunky, Elvis-loving Lilo and portrayed Samara Morgan, the vengeful ghost who crawls out of television sets to kill her victims.

The contrast couldn't be starker. Lilo is a lonely Hawaiian girl who adopts an alien and teaches audiences about ohana (family). Samara is a long-haired specter whose cursed videotape gives viewers seven days to live. One character represents childhood innocence and connection; the other embodies pure nightmare fuel.

A Banner Year for a Child Star

Chase's dual success in 2002 made her one of the most versatile young performers in Hollywood. The Ring became a cultural phenomenon, grossing over $249 million worldwide and launching the American J-horror remake trend. Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch earned $273 million and became one of Disney's most beloved modern classics.

The entertainment industry took notice. In 2003, Chase won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her portrayal of Samara—at age 12. The same year, she took home an Annie Award for voicing Lilo. She also provided the English voice for Chihiro in Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

The Art of Playing Opposites

What made Chase perfect for both roles was her ability to tap into authentic childhood emotion. Lilo's loneliness and frustration felt real because Chase understood isolation. Samara's rage worked because Chase could access genuine pain and channel it into something terrifying.

In The Ring, Chase spent hours in contorted positions, practicing the unnatural movements that made Samara's emergence from the TV so disturbing. The famous crawl required physical training and a commitment to making audiences forget they were watching a child actress. For Lilo, she brought warmth and quirky humor to a character dealing with grief and abandonment.

Beyond the Dual Breakthrough

While many remember Chase for these two iconic 2002 roles, her range extended further. She appeared in Donnie Darko (2001) as Donnie's younger sister, and had a recurring role on HBO's Big Love from 2006-2008. However, after 2016's Jack Goes Home, she stepped away from acting and has remained largely out of the public eye.

Her career serves as a fascinating case study: a child actress who delivered two generational performances in the same year, mastering both voice acting and physical horror. Few performers—let alone 12-year-olds—can claim that kind of versatility. Whether you knew her as the girl who wanted to make Stitch a model citizen or the girl who made an entire generation fear their television sets, Daveigh Chase left an undeniable mark on early 2000s cinema.

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