Larisa Romanovna Oleynik is an American actress who became a teen idol in the 1990s.
26 Facts About Larisa Oleynik
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Larisa Oleynik was cast in the titular role on the Nickelodeon sci-fi series The Secret World of Alex Mack from 1994 to 1998.
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Larisa Oleynik began a film career, starring in an ensemble cast as Dawn Schafer in the film adaptation The Baby-Sitters Club, and in a lead role in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.
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Larisa Oleynik subsequently had a supporting role in the comedy 100 Girls, after which she starred opposite Nastassja Kinski and Scarlett Johansson in the period film An American Rhapsody, and the independent drama Bringing Rain.
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Larisa Oleynik later had supporting roles in Atlas Shrugged: Part II and the horror film Jessabelle.
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Larisa Romanovna Oleynik was born in Santa Clara, California, to Lorraine, a former nurse, and anesthesiologist Roman Oleynik.
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Larisa Oleynik's father was of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry, and she was raised in the Russian Orthodox faith.
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Larisa Oleynik graduated from the Pinewood School in Los Altos, California, in 1999.
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Larisa Oleynik began acting in a San Francisco production of Les Miserables in 1989 after seeing an audition ad in a newspaper when she was eight years old.
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Larisa Oleynik obtained two parts in the production, both with singing roles.
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Larisa Oleynik's onscreen acting career began at age 12, in a 1993 episode of the television series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman; the same year she appeared in the made-for-television film River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene, and provided the voice of young Odette in the animated feature film The Swan Princess.
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Larisa Oleynik won the role of Alex Mack over 400 other aspirants.
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Larisa Oleynik reprised the role in an All That sketch, although the name was changed to "Alex Sax".
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Larisa Oleynik later made an appearance in the 100th episode of the show.
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Larisa Oleynik has hosted the CableACE Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, YTV Achievement Awards, The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards as well as The Big Help.
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Larisa Oleynik 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 was close to.
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From 1998 to 2000, Larisa Oleynik appeared in twenty-one episodes of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun as Alissa Strudwick.
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Larisa Oleynik had a supporting role in the independent drama film An American Rhapsody, opposite Nastassja Kinski and Scarlett Johansson, which follows a young woman whose parents are forced to leave her behind in Communist Hungary while they flee to the United States.
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Larisa Oleynik had a supporting part in Bringing Rain, a low-budget teen drama starring Adrian Grenier and Paz de la Huerta, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
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Larisa 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.
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In March 2008, Larisa Oleynik guest-starred in episode 13 of Aliens in America.
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In March 2011, Larisa Oleynik started appearing in a recurring role on Hawaii Five-0 as CIA analyst Jenna Kaye, until her character was later killed off.
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Larisa Oleynik was cast in the Ayn Rand adaptation Atlas Shrugged: Part II, as Cherryl Brooks, a store clerk who becomes acquainted with the protagonist, Dagny Taggart.
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Larisa Oleynik guest-starred as Ken Cosgrove's girlfriend Cynthia Baxter in several episodes on the AMC television series Mad Men.
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In 2016, Larisa Oleynik starred in the one-woman show I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York.
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In 2020, Larisa Oleynik starred in the Netflix family comedy series, The Healing Powers of Dude.