Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. She is known for her appearances in films such as The Faculty (1998), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Identity (2003), Zodiac (2007), Conviction (2010), and Argo (2012).
On television, she played Sofie in Carnivàle (2003–2005), Audrey Hanson in Heroes (2006–2007), Wendy Peyser in American Horror Story: Asylum (2012–2013), Emma Borden in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015), Lara Cruz in Better Call Saul (2015–2017), Marjorie in Veep (2016–2019), and Sylvia in The Handmaid's Tale (2018–2022). Since 2021, she has voiced Elsa on the Fox animated series HouseBroken, which she co-created.
In 2016, DuVall made her feature directorial debut with The Intervention, which she also wrote and co-produced. Her next project as director was Happiest Season in 2020.
Early life
DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Steph DuVall, is also an actor. Her forename derives from the novel Clea by Lawrence Durrell. She once worked in a coffee shop and studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
Career
DuVall made her debut in the low-budget horror film Little Witches (1996). This was followed by roles in several independent films and guest appearances on episodes of ER and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before her breakthrough in 1998 as a goth high school student in Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty. She also had a supporting role in the cult teen comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998), which included appearances by Jason Segel and Selma Blair before they were well-known.
In 1999, she had prominent roles in several films, including The Astronaut's Wife alongside Johnny Depp; Girl Interrupted opposite Winona Ryder; the hit romantic comedy She's All That; and the independent features Wildflowers and But I'm a Cheerleader. For her performance in Wildflowers, DuVall received rave reviews from critics. The latter film, in which she played a lesbian undergoing conversion therapy, has since developed a cult following and is often cited as a favorite among fans of LGBT cinema.
Over the next few years, DuVall had roles in a variety of films, including John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001); Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) with Matthew McConaughey; The Laramie Project (2002); The Slaughter Rule (2002) with Ryan Gosling; Identity (2003); and the Academy Award-nominated 21 Grams (2003), opposite Sean Penn. She then appeared as part of the main cast of HBO's Carnivàle, which ran from 2003 to 2005 and received several Creative Arts Emmy Awards. During that time, she also starred in the television film Helter Skelter (2004), which earned her a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress, and in the box office hit The Grudge (2004), with Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Subsequent projects included a guest role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2005); supporting roles in the films Two Weeks (2006), opposite Sally Field, and David Fincher's critically acclaimed Zodiac (2007); and a recurring character on NBC's popular science fiction series, Heroes (2006–2007).
Next, she appeared in the thrillers Anamorph (2007), with Willem Dafoe; Passengers (2008), with Anne Hathaway; and The Killing Room (2009), with Chloë Sevigny. This was followed by guest roles on Lie to Me (2009), Numb3rs, Bones, and Law & Order (all 2010).
In 2012, she co-starred in the film Argo, based on the Iran hostage crisis. DuVall played Cora Amburn-Lijek, one of the six American diplomats rescued from Iran in 1980. She, along with the rest of the Argo cast, received the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Also in 2012, DuVall appeared in a recurring role on the second season of the FX anthology series American Horror Story, as Wendy Peyser.
In 2014, DuVall starred as Emma Borden, sister of Lizzie Borden (played by Christina Ricci), in the Lifetime television film, Lizzie Borden Took an Ax. She then reprised the role for the limited series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015). The latter received mixed reviews, but critics praised the performances of Ricci and DuVall. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Keith Uhlich said the actresses "have a delectable rapport not too far removed from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford at their hag-horror peak in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"