Clea DuVall

Clea DuVall Headshot

Actress • Writer • Producer • Director

Birth Date: September 25, 1977

Age: 46 years old

Birth Place: Los Angeles, California

Since her debut in the little seen "Little Witches," (1996) prolific actress Clea DuVall has racked up an impressive number of film credits in a short time. The sandy-haired, freckled player gave a spirited comic performance as the star of the quirky independent feature "How to Make the Cruelest Month," which made the festival circuit in 1998. As Bell Bryant, a young woman desperate to fall in love and determined to quit smoking who reaches a crossroads in her life that coincides with the new year, DuVall won acclaim for her work as the intensely neurotic heroine. Generally cast in roles that downplay her average looks, DuVall, like many enduring actresses before her, has made a name based on her skill and dynamic presence rather than her pretty face.

After small parts in "The Alarmist" and "Can't Hardly Wait" (both 1998), the young actress gave an impressive performance in the teen sci-fi thriller "The Faculty" (also 1998) as Stokely, a tough outcast with useful knowledge of the conventions of science fiction. Meant to be the "ugly duckling," her character was far too smart and smoldering for such simple classification and her sharp and sensitive portrayal of the sarcastic misfit proved a highlight of the movie. Especially compelling in this Robert Rodriguez/Kevin Williamson contribution to the teen horror genre was her budding relationship with football hero-turned-academic Stan (Shawn Hatosy). In 1999 alone DuVall was set to be featured in several releases. Among these were her starring role in the drama "Wildflowers," playing a young girl whose life is changed by the arrival of a mysterious woman (Daryl Hannah), and supporting turns in the drama "The Astronaut's Wife" and the teen comedy "She's All That." The busy actress also joined the ensemble of "Girl Interrupted" (lensed 1999), a true-life cross between "The Snake Pit" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" that featured Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy and Vanessa Redgrave. DuVall had the lead in the indie "See Jane Run" (2001), playing a formerly suicidal Los Angeles waitress who decides her life does have meaning after all when she finds a gun that was thrown away after a convenience store robbery and embarks on a life of crime. That same year she appeared in John Carpenter's sci-fi/horror hybrid "Ghosts of Mars"; played a meek itern with unexpected reserves of courage in the video game TV horror thriller "How to Make a Monster"; played a house cleaner who is good at her job but works for a client who can only criticize her in "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing." She was part of the all-star ensemble of "The Laramie Project" (2002) which dramatized the effects of the murder of real-life gay teen Matthew Shepherd on the town of Laramie, Wyoming. The actress next appeared in a leading role in another indie, playing a sad-eyed bartender who sexually initiates a small town football hero in "The Slaughter Rule" (2002). She was tapped by her "Girl, Interrupted" director James Mangold to play a newlyed, part of a seemingly desperate couple, in the mysterious thriller "Identity" (2003) in which ten travelers stranded in a motel are marked for death one by one. Later that year she played Naomi Watts' sister in director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's well-received drama "21 Grams." Among DuVall's many television appearances include a featured role in the Showtime original movie "The Defenders: Payback" (1997) as a girl whose father is on trial for killing her sister's rapist and a memorable guest appearance in an episode of The WB's hit series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she played an unpopular girl who becomes invisible and wreaks havoc on everyone who didn't notice her before. She also earned recurring roles on several series, including "ER" and "Popular." In 2003 she had a high-profile role in "Carnivale," HBO's quirky, Depression-era drama set amidst a troupe of carny performers and freaks, playing the tarot card-reading psychic Sophie., and she followed up with an appearance in the hit horror film "The Grudge" (2004) playing one of the people who falls prey to a violent curse on a Japanese home.

Credits

The 2010sStream

Self
Docuseries
2023

Poker FaceStream

Guest Star
Emily Cale
Series
2023
98%

High SchoolStream

Creator
Series
2022
100%

High SchoolStream

Executive Producer
Series
2022
100%

HouseBrokenStream

Creator
Series
2021
50%

HouseBrokenStream

Executive Producer
Series
2021
50%

HouseBrokenStream

Voice
Elsa
Series
2021
50%

HouseBrokenStream

Writer
Series
2021
50%

Happiest SeasonStream

Director
Movie
2020
82%

Happiest SeasonStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2020
82%

The Kelly Clarkson ShowStream

Guest
Talk
2019

The RomanoffsStream

Actor
Patricia Callahan
Series
2018
49%

All About Nina

Actor
Paula
Movie
2018

The Handmaid's TaleStream

Guest Star
Sylvia
Series
2017
83%

The Intervention

Actor
Jessie
Movie
2016

The Intervention

Director
Movie
2016

The Intervention

Executive Producer
Movie
2016

The Intervention

Screenwriter
Movie
2016

Zen Dog

Actor
Marlene Meeks
Movie
2016

The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

Guest
Talk
2015

The Lizzie Borden ChroniclesStream

Actor
Emma Borden
Series
2015
50%

The Late Late Show With James CordenStream

Guest
Talk
2015

Better Call SaulStream

Guest Star
Dr. Lara Cruz
Series
2015
98%

Addicted to Fresno

Actor
Regina
Movie
2015

Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

Actor
Emma
Movie
2014

Jackie & Ryan

Actor
Virginia
Movie
2014

Heaven's Floor

Actor
Julia
Movie
2014

In Security

Actor
Lena
Movie
2013

In Security

Executive Producer
Movie
2013

American Horror Story: Asylum

Guest Star
Wendy Peyser
Show
2012

The NewsroomStream

Actor
Lilly Hart
Series
2012

The NewsroomStream

Guest Star
Lilly Hart
Series
2012

VeepStream

Actor
Marjorie
Series
2012
93%

VeepStream

Guest Star
Marjorie Palmiotti
Series
2012
93%

ArgoStream

Actor
Cora Lijek
Movie
2012
96%

New GirlStream

Guest Star
Camilla
Series
2011
95%

And Baby Will Fall

Actor
Melinda
Movie
2011

The Talk

Guest
Talk
2010

The EventStream

Guest Star
Series
2010
67%

Untucked: RuPaul's Drag RaceStream

Self
Reality
2010

RuPaul's Drag RaceStream

Guest
Series
2009

Lie to MeStream

Guest Star
Michelle Russell
Series
2009

Virtuality

Actor
Sue Parsons
Movie
2009

The Killing Room

Actor
Kerry Isalano
Movie
2009

Passengers

Actor
Shannon
Movie
2008

Private PracticeStream

Guest Star
Natasha
Series
2007

ZodiacStream

Actor
Linda Ferrin
Movie
2007
90%

Anamorph

Actor
Sandy Strickland
Movie
2007

Ten Inch Hero

Actor
Jen
Movie
2007

HeroesStream

Guest Star
Series
2006
52%

Two WeeksStream

Actor
Katrina
Movie
2006
19%

Out There

Actor
Billy
Movie
2006

BonesStream

Guest Star
McKenna Grant
Series
2005
90%

Grey's AnatomyStream

Guest Star
Series
2005
84%

NUMB3RSStream

Guest Star
Series
2005

Helter Skelter

Actor
Linda Kasabian
Movie
2004

The GrudgeStream

Actor
Jennifer Williams
Movie
2004
40%

CarnivàleStream

Actor
Sofie
Series
2003

21 GramsStream

Actor
Claudia
Movie
2003
81%

CSI: MiamiStream

Guest Star
Series
2002

How to Make a Monster

Actor
Laura
Movie
2001

Ghosts of MarsStream

Actor
Bashira Kincaid
Movie
2001
24%

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing

Actor
Beatrice
Movie
2001

The Fugitive

Guest Star
Show
2000

CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

Committed

Actor
Mimi
Movie
2000

Popular

Guest Star
Series
1999
60%

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Mia Latimer
Series
1999
78%

She's All ThatStream

Actor
Misty
Movie
1999
41%

The Astronaut's Wife

Actor
Nan
Movie
1999

But I'm a CheerleaderStream

Actor
Graham
Movie
1999
42%

Girl, InterruptedStream

Actor
Georgina
Movie
1999
53%

Wildflowers

Actor
Cally
Movie
1999

The FacultyStream

Actor
Stokely "Stokes" Mitchell
Movie
1998
56%

Buffy the Vampire SlayerStream

Guest Star
Marcie Ross
Series
1997
85%

Crisis Center

Guest Star
Laura Thomas
Show
1997

Dangerous Minds

Guest Star
Show
1996

Little Witches

Actor
Kelsey
Movie
1996

ERStream

Guest Star
Katie Reed
Series
1994

Good Morning America

Guest
News
1975

News aboutClea DuVall