Gilbert recalled Chase as a bright, sweet and professional young performer during their time working together more than two decades ago.Image credit (Melissa Gilbert Instagram)
Melissa Gilbert shared an emotional tribute to her former costar Daveigh Chase, using the tragedy as an opportunity to address the broader perils facing child actors in the entertainment industry. The Emmy-nominated actress, who worked with a young Chase on a television pilot more than two decades ago, posted her reflections on Instagram Monday, June 29, drawing attention to the complex circumstances surrounding Chase’s passing.Chase passed away on June 16 at the age of 35 following a hospitalisation in Los Angeles for malnutrition. Her cause was later revealed to be AIDS. Chase’s father told The New York Times that his daughter had struggled with substance addiction since she was 13 years old and had experienced homelessness, living in difficult circumstances near the hospital where she ultimately passed away.
Melissa Gilbert’s recollections of working with Daveigh Chase
Gilbert reflected warmly on her limited but meaningful time working with Chase during the pilot production. “This is the [Daveigh Chase] I knew. I shot a pilot for a series with her 20+ years ago. I only worked with Daveigh a couple of days, but I could see she was bright both in countenance and in mind. She was bubbly, sweet and professional. But there was something else there, a push or need to perform …for her parents,” Gilbert wrote alongside a throwback photograph. The actress’s observations painted a portrait of a talented young performer while simultaneously highlighting what she perceived as parental pressure influencing Chase’s approach to her work, even at a young age.
Daveigh Chase’s breakthrough roles and career trajectory
As per a report by USA Today, Chase achieved her big-screen breakthrough at age 10 costarring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2001 psychological thriller ‘Donnie Darko’. She went on to secure prominent voice acting roles, including playing the young heroine Chihiro in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’. That same year, she portrayed the misfit character Lilo in the 2002 animated film ‘Lilo & Stitch’.
