Who is Clea DuVall?
American actress, screenwriter and producer Clea Helen D’Etienne DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California USA, on 25 September 1977, making Libra her zodiac sign. She’s appeared in nearly 100 movies and TV series, but is perhaps still known best for playing one of the main character, Stokely ‘Stokes’ Mitchell in the 1998 mystery science fiction horror movie “The Faculty”, directed by Robert Rodriguez, and which also starred Jordana Brewster and Laura Harris. It follows a teenager who’s witnessed the murder of a nurse, but has now seen her alive again; the film was nominated for 11 awards.
Education and early life
Clea was raised as an only child in Los Angeles, by her mother Rosemary Hatch who’s a housewife, and father Stephen ‘Steph’ DuVall who’s also an actor; Steph’s appeared in over 30 movies and TV series, and is perhaps known best for portraying Ed in the 2017 fantasy horror movie “Woodshock”.
Clea’s interest in acting was born mostly thanks to her father, who often took her with him while shooting for his TV series and movies. She studied at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and spent a year working at a coffee shop, wanting to be able to financially support herself.
Clea matriculated in 1996 and launched her acting career in the same year, thus choosing not to pursue a college degree.
Roles in TV series
Clea’s debut TV series role was playing Nina in the 1996 episode “Evolution” of the drama “Dangerous Minds”, while the remainder of the ‘90s saw her appear in an episode or two of the romantic drama “ER”, the drama “Crisis Center” and the action fantasy “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.
From 2003 through 2005, she played Sofie in the critically acclaimed fantasy mystery series “Carnivale” which Daniel Knauf created, and which starred Clancy Brown, Adrienne Barbeau and Michael J. It follows a minister and a farm boy who’ve just learned that they’re the only ones who can help Heaven win its war against Hell – the series won 14 of its 40 award nominations. The remainder of the 2000s saw Clea appear in an episode or two of the crime mystery “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, the fantasy science fiction “Heroes”, and the romantic drama “Grey’s Anatomy”.
In 2012 and 2013, she portrayed Wendy Peyser in the hit science fiction “American Horror Story”, which stars Kathy Bates and Lady Gaga, and was created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Each episode is a standalone horror story, the series has been airing since 2011 and has won 128 of its 531 award nominations.
The many faces of Clea DuVall as Marjorie Palmiotti in VEEP: pic.twitter.com/zkgqPgMMmV
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) June 23, 2021
Clea’s also known for portraying Marjorie Palmiotti in 26 episodes (2016-2019) of the comedy “Veep”, which starred Tony Hale and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and was created by Armando Iannucci. It follows new US Vice President Selina Meyer who’s learned that the job’s nothing as she hoped it would be, the series aired from 2012 through 2019 and won 77 of its 325 award nominations.
Some of Clea’s most recent TV series roles have been in five episodes of the 2022 science fiction thriller “The Handmaid’s Tale”, the 2023 episode “The Hook” of the crime mystery “Poker Face” and 24 episodes of the animated comedy “HouseBroken” since 2021 (voice role); she’s currently shooting for the upcoming series “Day Job”.
Roles in movies
Clea’s debut film role was playing Kelsey in the 1996 horror thriller “Little Witches”, directed by Jane Simpson, and which starred Mimi Rose, Sheeri Rappaport and Jennifer Rubin; it follows a group of girls attending a Catholic boarding school who’ve just joined a cult, and the movie was nominated for a Fantasporto Award for Best Film.
The year 1997 saw Clea appear in four movies, including the drama “On the Edge of Innocence”, the romantic drama “Niagara, Niagara” and the comedy “The Alarmist”. She went on to play Misty in the evergreen 1999 romantic comedy “She’s All That”, which starred Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr, and was created by Robert Iscove. It follows the most popular boy at high school who’s made a bet that he can make a prom queen out of an unattractive girl, and the film won eight of its 13 award nominations.
The year 2001 saw Clea appeared in the crime comedy “See Jane Run”, the drama “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing” and the science fiction thriller horror “How to Make a Monster”, and the year 2004 saw her star as Jennifer in the popular mystery horror thriller “The Grudge”, written and directed by Takashi Shimizu, and which also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr. It follows an American nurse who’s been exposed to a supernatural curse in Tokyo, Japan which is filling her with rage, and will eventually take her life; the film won two of its 12 award nominations. Some of Clea’s role in the remainder of the 2000s were in the 2007 crime mystery “Zodiac”, the 2008 horror mystery “The Watch” and the 2009 mystery thriller “The Killing Room”.
She portrayed Cora Lijek in the hit 2012 biographical thriller “Argo”, which starred Bell Affleck, who also directed the movie; it follows a CIA agent who’s trying to rescue six Americans from Tehran in 1979, and the film won 95 of its 151 award nominations, including three Oscar wins for Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay and Best Motion Picture of the Year. What also marked the 2010s for Clea was playing the lead character Emma Borden in the 2014 biographical crime drama “Lizzie Borden Took an Ax”, directed by Nick Gomez, and which also starred Christina Ricci and Gregg Henry. It follows Lizzie Andrew Borden who was put on trial for killing her father and stepmother with an axe in 1983, and the film was nominated for three awards.
Some of Clea’s most recent film roles have been in the 2016 drama “Zen Dog”, the 2016 family adventure “Heaven’s Floor” and the 2018 drama “All About Nina”.
Other credits
Clea wrote and produced the 2016 comedy movie “The Intervention”, the 2022 comedy series “High School” and the 2022 animated comedy series “HouseBroken”.
She’s received special thanks for the 2017 short musical comedy movie “Cabiria, Charity, Chastity”, the 2018 mystery thriller film “Searching” and the 2022 romantic comedy “Spin Me Round”.
Some of Clea’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Talk”, “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and “The Three Questions with Andy Richter”.
Awards and nominations
Clea’s won six of her 19 award nominations. Some of her wins include a 2012 Hollywood Film Award for Ensemble of the Year, a 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Ensemble Cast and a 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, all for her and her colleagues’ performance in “Argo”.
Love life and wife
Clea can rarely be heard speaking about her love life in public, but it’s known that she’s lesbian. She’s spoken about her sexuality in only a couple of interviews, revealing that she was 16 when she came out to her parents and best friend, but that she was scared of revealing it to the public while working on her way up in the film industry. Clea starred as a lesbian in the hit 1999 romantic comedy movie “But I’m a Cheerleader” and because of her extraordinary performance, was invited to play lesbian characters in a number of movies, however, she refused most of these because she was afraid.
Clea’s today married to her wife, but whose name and profession haven’t been disclosed; it’s believed that the two women exchanged vows in 2012, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
Clea’s yet to share the names of women whom she’s dated, she’s married to her wife as of May 2023, and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Clea met American actress, screenwriter and producer Rachael Leigh Cook on the set of the 1997 crime movie “The Defenders: Payback”, and the two became close friends; she then accepted a small role in the 1999 movie “She’s All That”, only to support Rachael.
Clea and American actress Katharine Towne appeared alongside in three movies in two years: the 1998 “Girl”, the 1999 “She’s All That” and the 1999 “But I’m a Cheerleader”.
One of her best friends is American actress Summer Phoenix, and they’ve worked together on a number of projects.
Clea’s followed by over 160,000 people on Instagram, and has uploaded nearly 300 pictures and videos onto the social media network; most of these are about the movies and TV series in which she’s appeared.
One of her favorite actresses is Natalie Portman, while some of Clea’s favorite movies include “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”, “Garden State” and “Thor: The Dark World”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Clea’s age is 45. Her hair and eyes are brown, she’s 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighs around 125lbs (58kgs).
Clea’s net worth’s been estimated at over $1.5 million, as of May 2023.