Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is an American movie and television actress known for playing characters outside the mainstream. Born to Stephen DuVall and Rosemary Hatch, she goes by the shortened form of her name, "Clea DuVall".
DuVall's teenage years presented her with many challenges. Her parents divorced when she was twelve, and, when her mother remarried, DuVall moved out because she did not feel at home in the newly structured family unit, dropping out of high school and getting her own apartment. An only child, she sought entertainment in movies and television programs, memorizing entire scenes. Though a rather shy person, DuVall decided she wanted to be an actress, and returned to high school, this time the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, while working to support herself.
Soon after this discovery, her first major role came, in Robert Rodriguez's successful 1998 take on the alien-body-snatcher genre, The Faculty (1998), which featured many other up-and-coming young actors such as Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett, as well as a strong cast of established adult performers. DuVall played Stokes, a tough Goth Girl. This role was typical of DuVall's casting - the edgy outsider. Similar roles came in But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) as a tattooed lesbian and Girl, Interrupted (1999) as a mental patient.
DuVall has had her share in many successful movies. Identity (2003), the critically acclaimed 21 Grams (2003), opposite Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, and even in the HBO Gen-X supernatural series Carnivāle (2003-2005).
