She was born Daveigh Elizabeth Chase-Schwallier in Las Vegas, Nevada, daughter of Cathy Chase and John Schwallier. Her name is pronounced "Duh-Vay". She was raised in Albany, Oregon, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her career (although she does still spend much of her time in Albany). She also has a new baby brother named Cade. Chase, though previously linked to Collin Farrel, is currently in a relationship. Chases other interests include bodyboarding, horseback riding, dancing, reading, and writing song lyrics.

Chase 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 four years old. "I wanted to be like them, the kids on the video," she later said. Her father 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 (Mormons) in a musical theatre production called "Utah!".

Chase first film role came in 1998 when she won the lead role as the voice of an Hawaiian girl, Lilo Pelekai, in the Disney animated feature, Lilo & Stitch. For her performance, Chase would go on to win an Annie Award for it in 2003 and star in the follow up TV 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. At the date of writing (July 9, 2006), the Internet Movie Database rates the movie the best animated movie of all time and the 49th best film of all time. The film would go on to win the 2002 Best Animated Feature Oscar.

In 2002, Chase played Samara Morgan in The Ring. Chase was awarded the 2003 Best Villain award at the MTV Movie Awards, for which she beat out Mike Myers, Colin Farrell, Willem Dafoe and Daniel Day-Lewis. In the follow up 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 main other major film and TV credits between 2000-2005 were Donnie Darko (2001) as Donnie younger sister, Samantha, and Oliver Beene (2003-2004), as Oliver quirky gal pal Joyce. Other credits include, The Rats (2002), Carolina (2003), R.L. Stine Haunted Lighthouse (2003) in which she plays a flying ghost called Annabel, and Beethoven 5th (2003). She also made guest appearances in Touched By An Angel, Charmed, ER, Family Law, and The Practice.

Chase is appearing in the HBO drama series Big Love which centers on a polygamist, played by Bill Paxton, and his relationship with his 3 wives. Chase plays Rhonda Volmer, the intended child bride of a prophet, Roman Grant, who is played by Harry Dean Stanton. As well as a second season of Big Love (which began airing in the spring of 2007), Chase is also working on a new animation series called Betsy Kindergarten Adventures. Leroy & Stitch (2006), a follow up to Lilo & Stitch, has also just been released.