LARISA OLEYNIK
Name: Larisa Oleynik
Born: 7 June 1981 Santa Clara County, California
Larisa Romanovna Oleynik (born June 7, 1981) is an American actress. She came to
fame in the mid 1990s, after starring in the title role of the popular
television series, The Secret World of Alex Mack, and has also appeared in
theatrical films, including The Baby-Sitters Club & 1999's 10 Things I Hate
about You. Throughout the 2000s, she has mostly appeared in lower-budget films.
During her period as a teen idol, Oleynik was described as "one of America's
favorite 15-year-olds" and "the proverbial girl next door".
Oleynik (pronounced oh-LAY-nick) was born in Santa Clara County, California, the
only child of Lorraine (née Allen), a former nurse, and Roman Oleynik, an
anesthesiologist. Her father's family is Russian (although "Oleynik" is a
Ukrainian surname) and she was raised in the Russian Orthodox religion.
She has cited No Doubt as her favorite band and used to play the piano.
Oleynik grew up in the San Francisco area and began acting in a regional
production of Les Misérables, after seeing an audition ad in a newspaper when
she was eight years old. After appearing in the musical, she contacted an agent
and began taking acting lessons. Oleynik attended Pinewood School and later
Sarah Lawrence College, describing the latter as "the best decision I’ve made",
and graduated in 2004.
Oleynik began her screen acting career in a 1993 episode of the television
series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; the same year, she also appeared in the made-for-television
film, River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene, and was subsequently cast in
the lead role of the series The Secret World of Alex Mack, playing a teenage
girl who receives telekinetic powers as a result of an accident. The series ran
on Nickelodeon from 1994 to 1998, and was one of the network's top three most
watched shows, becoming a favorite among teen audiences and turning Oleynik
into a teen idol. During the show's run, she played one of the lead
characters in the 1995 feature film, The Baby-Sitters Club (opposite Rachael
Leigh Cook and Schuyler Fisk), appeared in several episodes of Boy Meets World,
wrote an advice column for Tiger Beat magazine, and was involved in
Nickelodeon's Big Help charity, Hands Across Communication, Surfrider Foundation
and the Starlight Foundation. She has commented that she stayed "grounded"
during her period as a teen star, mainly through the help of a "strong network
of people" that she is close to.
After The Secret World of Alex Mack ended its run, Oleynik had a starring role
in the film 10 Things I Hate About You, a teen comedy also starring Julia Stiles,
Andrew Keegan, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film was released in
April 1999 and did fairly well at the box office, grossing a total of $38
million domestically. In 1999-2000, Oleynik appeared in fourteen episodes of
the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun (alongside Gordon-Levitt). The same year,
she appeared in two independent films: 100 Girls (opposite Emmanuelle Chriqui,
Katherine Heigl and Jonathan Tucker) and A Time for Dancing (opposite Shiri
Appleby); neither film received a theatrical release in the United States. She
has appeared in Malcolm in the Middle as Reese's lesbian army buddy who
developed a crush on his mom, Lois. Next, Oleynik had a supporting role in the
film An American Rhapsody, which received a limited release in August 2001, and
appeared in Bringing Rain, a low-budget film. Oleynik was cast in a supporting
role in the series Pepper Dennis, which began airing on The WB in April 2006,
but was not picked up by The WB's successor, The CW.
Name: Larisa Oleynik
Born: 7 June 1981 Santa Clara County, California
Larisa Romanovna Oleynik (born June 7, 1981) is an American actress. She came to
fame in the mid 1990s, after starring in the title role of the popular
television series, The Secret World of Alex Mack, and has also appeared in
theatrical films, including The Baby-Sitters Club & 1999's 10 Things I Hate
about You. Throughout the 2000s, she has mostly appeared in lower-budget films.
During her period as a teen idol, Oleynik was described as "one of America's
favorite 15-year-olds" and "the proverbial girl next door".
Oleynik (pronounced oh-LAY-nick) was born in Santa Clara County, California, the
only child of Lorraine (née Allen), a former nurse, and Roman Oleynik, an
anesthesiologist. Her father's family is Russian (although "Oleynik" is a
Ukrainian surname) and she was raised in the Russian Orthodox religion.
She has cited No Doubt as her favorite band and used to play the piano.
Oleynik grew up in the San Francisco area and began acting in a regional
production of Les Misérables, after seeing an audition ad in a newspaper when
she was eight years old. After appearing in the musical, she contacted an agent
and began taking acting lessons. Oleynik attended Pinewood School and later
Sarah Lawrence College, describing the latter as "the best decision I’ve made",
and graduated in 2004.
Oleynik began her screen acting career in a 1993 episode of the television
series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; the same year, she also appeared in the made-for-television
film, River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene, and was subsequently cast in
the lead role of the series The Secret World of Alex Mack, playing a teenage
girl who receives telekinetic powers as a result of an accident. The series ran
on Nickelodeon from 1994 to 1998, and was one of the network's top three most
watched shows, becoming a favorite among teen audiences and turning Oleynik
into a teen idol. During the show's run, she played one of the lead
characters in the 1995 feature film, The Baby-Sitters Club (opposite Rachael
Leigh Cook and Schuyler Fisk), appeared in several episodes of Boy Meets World,
wrote an advice column for Tiger Beat magazine, and was involved in
Nickelodeon's Big Help charity, Hands Across Communication, Surfrider Foundation
and the Starlight Foundation. She has commented that she stayed "grounded"
during her period as a teen star, mainly through the help of a "strong network
of people" that she is close to.
After The Secret World of Alex Mack ended its run, Oleynik had a starring role
in the film 10 Things I Hate About You, a teen comedy also starring Julia Stiles,
Andrew Keegan, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film was released in
April 1999 and did fairly well at the box office, grossing a total of $38
million domestically. In 1999-2000, Oleynik appeared in fourteen episodes of
the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun (alongside Gordon-Levitt). The same year,
she appeared in two independent films: 100 Girls (opposite Emmanuelle Chriqui,
Katherine Heigl and Jonathan Tucker) and A Time for Dancing (opposite Shiri
Appleby); neither film received a theatrical release in the United States. She
has appeared in Malcolm in the Middle as Reese's lesbian army buddy who
developed a crush on his mom, Lois. Next, Oleynik had a supporting role in the
film An American Rhapsody, which received a limited release in August 2001, and
appeared in Bringing Rain, a low-budget film. Oleynik was cast in a supporting
role in the series Pepper Dennis, which began airing on The WB in April 2006,
but was not picked up by The WB's successor, The CW.