Clea DuVall

Early life

DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Rosemary (née Hatch) and Stephen "Steph" DuVall. Her father is also a TV/film actor; among other credits, he appeared on two episodes of Carnivàle with his daughter.

Career

Prior to making her debut in Little Witches, she worked in a coffee shop. She appeared in various films and episodes of television shows such as ER and Buffy the Vampire Slayer before her breakthrough role as a goth student in Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty. She then portrayed an institutionalized pathological liar in the acclaimed Girl, Interrupted, as well as a lesbian enrolled in therapy camp in the indie hit But I'm a Cheerleader. Major roles in The Astronaut's Wife (1999), Ghosts of Mars (2001) and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) followed.

After appearing in The Laramie Project (2002), Identity (2003) and 21 Grams (2003), DuVall starred in HBO's Emmy Award-winning Carnivàle, which ran from 2003–2005. During that time, she also starred in Helter Skelter (2004), which earned her a Satellite Award nomination, and The Grudge (2004). Other projects include Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007), David Fincher's Zodiac (2007), and a recurring role on NBC's hit science fiction drama series Heroes. In 2008, she starred with Anne Hathaway in the thriller film Passengers.

In 2012, she starred in the Ben Affleck film Argo, in which she portrayed Cora Lijek, a Japanese-American who was one of the six American diplomats rescued from Iran in 1980. She, along with the rest of the Argo cast, received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. That same year, DuVall also appeared in a recurring role in the second season of the FX anthology horror-drama series American Horror Story, as the girlfriend of Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), Wendy Peyser. DuVall has directed a short film called It's Not Easy Being Green, starring Leisha Hailey, Carnivàle co-star Carla Gallo and herself. She also took promotional pictures for Uh Huh Her. In 2014, she appeared as Emma Borden on Lifetime's Lizzie Borden Took an Ax and then reprised her role in Lifetime's The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015). In 2016, DuVall made her feature directorial debut on the film The Intervention which she also starred in, wrote, and executive produced.

Personal life

DuVall is openly gay. She resides in Los Angeles, California.