Clea DuVall is an American actress, director, writer, and producer whose career has grown far beyond the screen roles that first made her recognizable. Born in Los Angeles in 1977, she became especially visible in the late 1990s through films such as The Faculty, But I’m a Cheerleader, and Girl, Interrupted. She later appeared in the Oscar-winning Argo and television series including Veep and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Over time, DuVall moved behind the camera as well. She wrote and directed The Intervention, co-wrote and directed Happiest Season, helped create HouseBroken, and developed the television adaptation of Tegan and Sara’s memoir High School.
Her professional life is well documented, but some details about her family, marriage, children, and finances are much more private. This biography separates established information from estimates and claims that have not been independently confirmed.
Clea DuVall at a Glance
Clea DuVall’s full birth name is Clea Helen D’Etienne DuVall. She was born on September 25, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. As of October 2026, she is 49 years old. She is American and has worked professionally in entertainment since 1996.
DuVall is best known as an actress, filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. Her major acting credits include The Faculty, But I’m a Cheerleader, Girl, Interrupted, Carnivàle, Argo, Veep, and The Handmaid’s Tale. Her major filmmaking projects include The Intervention, Happiest Season, HouseBroken, and High School.
Early Life and Childhood in Los Angeles
Clea DuVall was born and raised in Los Angeles. Despite growing up near the center of the American entertainment industry, her route into Hollywood was not a simple one.
Published biographies describe a difficult period during her teenage years. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she eventually lived independently. Movies and television became important interests, and she developed an ambition to act.
DuVall has also described herself as shy during this period. That background contrasts with the public career she later built, first performing in front of cameras and eventually taking responsibility for entire productions as a writer, director, producer, and creator.
Clea DuVall’s Parents and Family Background
Public biographical databases identify Clea DuVall’s parents as Rosemary Hatch and Steph DuVall, with her father described as an actor. DuVall has also described herself as an only child.
Details about her wider family are limited. For that reason, claims online about additional siblings or relatives should not be treated as established facts without stronger evidence.
Education and the Beginning of Her Acting Journey
DuVall attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, according to her published biography. Her path through her teenage education was not completely straightforward, but she ultimately pursued her interest in acting seriously.
Before becoming established in Hollywood, she worked at a coffee shop. Her early career began in the mid-1990s, including the 1996 film Little Witches. From there, television appearances and supporting movie roles gradually gave her more exposure.
How Clea DuVall Built Her Acting Career?
DuVall began acting professionally at about 18. During the second half of the 1990s, she appeared in projects including Dangerous Minds, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Can’t Hardly Wait, and eventually The Faculty.
She became particularly associated with outsiders, guarded young women, and unconventional characters. Rather than being tied to one genre, however, DuVall gradually moved between horror, drama, comedy, independent cinema, and television.
By the 2000s and 2010s, she had developed a long résumé that included both leading and supporting performances.
Breakthrough Roles in The Faculty, But I’m a Cheerleader, and Girl, Interrupted
Three films are especially important to Clea DuVall’s early career.
In the 1998 science-fiction horror film The Faculty, she played Stokely “Stokes” Mitchell. In But I’m a Cheerleader, she portrayed Graham Eaton, opposite Natasha Lyonne’s Megan. She also played Georgina Tuskin in the 1999 drama Girl, Interrupted.
But I’m a Cheerleader became particularly significant over time. Its story about LGBTQ+ identity and conversion therapy developed a lasting following. DuVall has since reflected on how meaningful the film became for viewers, even though she herself was still closeted while making and promoting it.
Clea DuVall’s Most Notable Movies
DuVall’s filmography stretches across several decades. After her late-1990s breakthrough, she appeared in Ghosts of Mars, Identity, 21 Grams, The Grudge, and David Fincher’s Zodiac.
Another major film was Argo (2012), in which she played Cora Lijek, one of the Americans caught up in the Iran hostage crisis. DuVall shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture with the film’s ensemble.
Her movie career therefore ranges from cult films and horror to independent drama and major award-winning productions.
Clea DuVall’s Television Career
Television has been equally important to DuVall’s career. She played Sofie in HBO’s Carnivàle and FBI agent Audrey Hanson in Heroes. Later credits included American Horror Story: Asylum and Better Call Saul.
She gained another memorable recurring role as Marjorie Palmiotti in Veep. The show’s ensemble, including DuVall, won the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
DuVall also portrayed Sylvia in The Handmaid’s Tale and appeared as Emily Cale in Poker Face. She has additionally worked in voice acting, most notably as Elsa in HouseBroken.
From Actress to Director, Writer, and Producer
Describing Clea DuVall only as an actress now leaves out a large part of her career.
During the 2010s, she began taking greater control behind the camera. Writing, directing, producing, and television development allowed her to tell stories from a different position than acting alone.
That change eventually produced feature films, animated television, and a coming-of-age series, establishing DuVall as a multi-role filmmaker rather than simply a performer.
The Intervention and Clea DuVall’s Directorial Debut
DuVall made her feature directing debut with The Intervention, released in 2016. She wrote and directed the film and also appeared in its ensemble cast alongside Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Ritter, Alia Shawkat, and others.
The project marked an important shift. Instead of interpreting another writer or director’s material, DuVall was shaping the story herself. The Intervention also competed for the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic category at Sundance.
Happiest Season and Her Growth as a Filmmaker
DuVall’s second feature as a director was Happiest Season, the 2020 holiday romantic comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. DuVall co-wrote the screenplay and directed the movie.
The film centers on a lesbian couple facing family tensions and the complications of coming out during Christmas. DuVall explained that she considered coming-out stories and happy endings for LGBTQ+ characters still important to mainstream storytelling.
Happiest Season later won the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release.
High School, HouseBroken, and Her Work as a Creator
DuVall expanded further into television creation with HouseBroken. She co-created the animated comedy with Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, served as an executive producer, and voiced Elsa.
She then became a major creative force behind High School, based on Tegan and Sara Quin’s memoir about their teenage years. DuVall served as creator and executive producer and worked as a writer and director on the series. She had been friends with Tegan and Sara for years before adapting their story.
The project was personally meaningful to DuVall because she saw parts of her own experience growing up queer reflected in the memoir.
Clea DuVall’s Wife, Marriage, and Personal Life
Clea DuVall keeps much of her private life outside the spotlight. Reliable biographical coverage establishes that she is married and lives in Los Angeles, but many mainstream interviews focus on her creative work rather than her marriage.
IMDb identifies her spouse as Mia Weier and lists the marriage as beginning in 2015. However, detailed public reporting confirming the exact wedding date is limited. It is therefore safer to describe 2015 as the year reported by IMDb rather than presenting a specific wedding date that has not been firmly documented.
DuVall has generally kept her relationship more private than her professional career.
Does Clea DuVall Have Children?
There is no well-established public record showing that Clea DuVall has children. IMDb currently lists her as having no children, but DuVall herself has not made parenthood a major subject of public interviews.
Because personal-life databases can contain errors, claims about children should not be repeated unless supported by credible reporting or DuVall’s own public statements.
Clea DuVall and Her LGBTQ+ Identity
DuVall identifies as a lesbian. She has said she came out to people close to her when she was 16, although she remained closeted publicly during much of her early acting career. In a 2022 interview, she described how fearful she had been of people discovering she was gay while she was becoming known as an actress.
That history adds context to her later work. But I’m a Cheerleader, Happiest Season, and High School all engage with LGBTQ+ experiences in different ways.
DuVall has spoken openly about eventually reaching a place where she could feel comfortable and proud of her identity, and about the importance of seeing a wider range of queer stories on screen.
Clea DuVall’s Net Worth and Sources of Income
Clea DuVall’s exact net worth is not publicly verified. Celebrity Net Worth currently estimates it at $1.5 million, but this figure should be treated as an outside estimate rather than a confirmed statement of her finances.
Her professional income can reasonably come from several areas of entertainment: acting, directing, screenwriting, producing, television creation, and voice work. The details of her salaries, investments, property, and other financial assets are not publicly available enough to calculate an authoritative personal net worth.
Awards, Recognition, and Career Achievements
DuVall has shared in several major ensemble honors. The Argo cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in 2013. Five years later, DuVall and her Veep colleagues won SAG’s comedy-series ensemble award.
Her work behind the camera has also received recognition. The Intervention competed at Sundance, while Happiest Season won a GLAAD Media Award. These achievements reflect the unusual breadth of a career that spans acting, writing, directing, producing, and television creation.
Clea DuVall’s Social Media and Public Presence
DuVall maintains a public presence online, although she is not a celebrity whose career depends heavily on constant social-media exposure. IMDb links official Instagram and X accounts for her, and her X presence has historically used @cleaduvall.
She also remains visible through interviews, screenings, industry events, and conversations surrounding her acting and filmmaking. Readers looking for her online should distinguish official profiles from fan-run accounts.
Where Clea DuVall Is Now?
DuVall continues to work both in front of and behind the camera. In 2025, she directed “The Big Pump,” an episode of Poker Face, after previously guest-starring in the series as Emily Cale.
Her recent acting work includes Swiped in 2025 and an appearance as Peri in The Comeback in 2026. She has also been cast in an upcoming season of The Last of Us as a member of the Seraphites.
Her directing career is continuing as well. In 2026, reports announced that DuVall was attached to write and direct a sequel to the cult comedy Troop Beverly Hills.
Conclusion
Clea DuVall has built a career with several distinct chapters. She first became recognizable through memorable late-1990s performances in The Faculty, But I’m a Cheerleader, and Girl, Interrupted, then developed an extensive film and television career that included Argo, Veep, and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Her later work shows an equally important shift behind the camera. Through The Intervention, Happiest Season, HouseBroken, High School, and newer directing projects, DuVall has established herself as a writer, director, producer, and creator as well as an actress. That combination helps explain why Clea DuVall remains relevant decades after her first major screen roles.
FAQs
How old is Clea DuVall?
Clea DuVall is 49 years old as of October 2026. She was born on September 25, 1977.
Where was Clea DuVall born?
She was born in Los Angeles, California.
What is Clea DuVall’s full name?
Her birth name is Clea Helen D’Etienne DuVall.
What is Clea DuVall best known for?
She is known for acting in The Faculty, But I’m a Cheerleader, Girl, Interrupted, Argo, Veep, and The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as directing films including The Intervention and Happiest Season.
Who did Clea DuVall play in But I’m a Cheerleader?
She played Graham Eaton, the love interest of Natasha Lyonne’s character Megan.
Was Clea DuVall in Girl, Interrupted and The Faculty?
Yes. She played Georgina Tuskin in Girl, Interrupted and Stokely Mitchell in The Faculty.
Who did Clea DuVall play in Veep?
She played Marjorie Palmiotti.
Is Clea DuVall married?
Yes. Public biographical sources describe her as married. IMDb identifies her spouse as Mia Weier and reports 2015 as the beginning of their marriage.
Does Clea DuVall have children?
No children have been reliably documented publicly; IMDb lists her as having no children.
What is Clea DuVall’s net worth?
Her actual net worth is not publicly verified. One celebrity-finance website estimates it at $1.5 million, so that number should be treated only as an estimate.
What movies has Clea DuVall directed?
Her feature directing credits include The Intervention and Happiest Season. She has also directed television.
Did Clea DuVall direct Happiest Season?
Yes. DuVall directed and co-wrote Happiest Season.
