Larisa Oleynik Biography
Credits
1. stared in the film 10 things I hate about you 2. Plays Alica in 3rd rock from the sun 3. Alex on The Secret World of Alex Mack 4.Performed in the Swan Princess 5.and River of Rage 6.Small roles on Pete and Pete,All That, and Boy Meets World 7.Dawn in The Babysitter's club 8.In an AT&T comercial Larisa played her first major acting (and singing) role at age eight in a Broadway road show of the musical "Les Miserables" at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. Before this Larisa had done a few school plays and had a small role in "The Nutcracker" with the San Jose Cleveland Ballet. According to Larisa "my aunt saw an ad in the newspaper for the [Les Miserables] audition, so I went and got the part." Larisa's mom described her audition in a 1997 article: "Everyone was standing inline with portfolios and resumes. We had one little piece of paper with her name and age." Larisa sang "Castle on a Cloud" from the show in the audition.
Larisa alternated between two parts, Young Cosette and Young Eponine. She appeared in eight shows a week. Even at age eight Larisa had the modest and unassuming attitude that her fans find so cool.
When asked in a December 1989 interview what her plans were after the show
closed she responded ''After I do this I'll just become a normal kid. The other
kids at school are (more) excited. After rehearsals for a month, when I came
back, it was like my birthday." Asked what had changed in her life now that she
was on stage nightly, she mulled the question for a moment, then responded:
"Now I have bangs." Asked about her long term plans Larisa responded "I'd like
to be an architect, or an actor, I like designing things." As long time fans will
recognize what Larisa says at age eight often sound a lot like things she says
at sixteen. Interestingly Rider Strong (who plays Shawn in ABC's "Boy Meets
World") played the role of Gavroche in the same show. Larisa and Rider are
now long time friends. Larisa played Shawn's girl friend "Dana" in two 1996
guest appearances on "Boy Meets World".
Larisa was in the show for almost a year. After "Les Miserables" ended Larisa
got an agent and started auditioning. She also took acting classes. Concerning
this Larisa says "After I started acting classes, I realized that it does take
work." Each year the Oleynik's summered (during pilot season) in Los Angeles.
Larisa got a guest role on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" where she played "a
friend". As Larisa describes it "When I was 11 I got my first TV job on Dr. Quinn
and one girl did a really emotional scene (Erika Flores) and seeing how she
affected everyone really inspired me". During this period Larisa also appeared in
a television movie called "River of Rage".
In the summer of '93 Larisa (age 12)
auditioned for and got the role of Alex Mack
in the show The Secret World of Alex
Mack. Co-creator and producer Thomas
Lynch described her audition as follows: "We
looked at 400 to 500 people. She came in
and auditioned and was quite tentative with
the material. But we liked her smile and
asked her to read again. This time she
relaxed and nailed it. She has a real
awareness of the innocence of being a young
teen".
The Secret World of Alex Mack was shot
in a converted warehouse in Valencia
California which is located about an hour from
Los Angeles. For the first season 13
episodes were shot in August 1994 when
Larisa was on vacation from school. The
second season episodes (26 total) and third
season episodes (30 total ) were made in the
summer and well into the school year. This
meant some big changes and sacrifices for
Larisa in 1995 and 1996. When the show
was being made Larisa commuted regularly
from her family's home in suburban San
Francisco to Los Angeles and a two-bedroom
rental apartment that she shared with her
mother (she flew back to San Francisco on weekends). While she was in LA
she missed her dad, her friends, and her cat Tigger. During the time she was in
LA when school was in session she also had to work with a tutor as well as
work on the show. Concerning this Larisa said "It's hard, 'cause we're supposed
to do three hours of class a day on the set but we can only do it in 20-minute
increments. So it's like, I'm doing a scene, then they rush me back and I'm
doing geometry. I don't really get much time to focus on either one." Her work
day lasted nine and a half hours and she usually had to be up at 5 AM. On
some days after work she would then attend acting class.
Although there was hard work and sacrifice involved in making The Secret
World of Alex Mack there were also great accomplishments and great times.
The show was very successful, bringing the Nickelodeon cable network some of
its highest ratings ever (it was seen by nearly two and a half million viewers a
week) and Larisa received the most fan mail ever. The show was also praised
by television critics. Larisa spoke often about the great people she met while
making the show including costars Meredith Bishop and Darris Love. Larisa has
also talked about the fun she had making the show. She said (while giggling) "I
get a chance to be a kid on the set. We all sort of run around and goof off and
are total spazzes most of the time."
The forth season (made in the summer of 1997 when Larisa had just turned 16)
only consists of nine episodes. This was what Larisa wanted. She wanted a
chance for some normal high school life and also a chance to concentrate on
academics so that she could attend the college of her choice. Larisa made the
following comments about ending the show: "Well … making the decision to
end the show was one of the hardest that I've ever had to make in my life … I'm
convinced it was the right decision, but ending the show was really tough".
Currently Larisa is mostly concentrating on school. But she has also completed
another guest appearance in "Boy Meets World". She's also auditioning from
time to time and waiting to see what comes up.
One of the things fans of Larisa like to discuss is how much Larisa and Alex
are alike. The obvious answer is that they are alike in some ways and different
in others. But even Larisa moves around on this question from time to time.
Oct 1994: "She's like me in some ways. She
has a crush on this boy ... and every girl has
those. She has a best friend and she has a
hard time deciding things."
Oct 1995 "I get lots of letter from girls about
clothes, about Alex's wardrobe. She has her
own little sense of style that's not at all really like mine, especially her
trademark hats."
Nov 1995 " I've sort of put a little bit of myself into Alex, but I really don't think
we're really that much alike. Of course, I was nervous my first day of junior high.
And any of the things she goes through that any kid goes through with school
and dances, I do too. But I don't think I'm as much an outcast as she is."
Nov 1997 (Larisa answers the question: Do you think your personality is like
Alex's) " Um... in a sense... I think I've become a lot more like her... or she's
become a lot more like me.. or something... but I really fell like I can relate..."
Larisa has also appeared in a movie. In August of 1995 she appeared in the film
The Baby-sitter's Club, based on the series of books by Ann M. Martin. When
asked about the book series Larisa said "My favorite character, when I read
them, was Stacey, and my favorite book was Boy Crazy Stacey. When I first
auditioned for the movie, they asked me which part I wanted to be, and I said
Stacey. But after I read the script, I really clicked with the character Dawn, and
that's the character that I ended up playing. She's the environmentalist of the
group, and she's really sweet and sensitive." Larisa was also asked what it was
like making the movie. "Very cool. The six other girls in it are close to my age,
and we all got along really well. Most of us lived more than an hour away from
where we were shooting, so we stayed in the same hotel, and became friends.
We'd go swimming, and go out to the hotel restaurant together."
Larisa's family lives in a stately Tudor-style
home in suburban San Francisco. She lives
there with her mother, father, and cat Tigger
(a brown tabby who is older than Larisa).
Larisa in an only child. Her mother Lorraine is
a former nurse and her dad Roman is an
anesthesiologist. According to Larisa "my
parents are very supportive." In March 1997
Larisa was asked what she had inherited
from her parents? " From my Dad, probably
the need to perform. He's a doctor but he plays piano and when I was really
little, he got me into piano. So I've always loved to perform. From my Mom, she
says I'm her best travel companion. I'm really adventurous and I love to eat- I got
that from my Mom!" When asked about religion Larisa responded " I am
Russian Orthodox and I go to church as often as I can." When Larisa was
asked in 1997 what she does in her spare time she said "I hang out with my
friends. Go to movies and concerts. I am just learning how to snowboard."
Larisa has said the following about her friends and school: "I've had the same
friends for a long time. I've gone to the same school since kindergarten, so it's
no big deal. Sometimes people want to be my friend because of whatever, but
then they get to know me and see it's no big deal. Everyone knows I'm normal."
The private school that Larisa attends has a very challenging curriculum. Larisa
has definite plans to attend college. 
Finally I will try to answer the question of why
Larisa's fans think she's so special. Obviously she's
talented, intelligent, and beautiful. But it's more than
that, Larisa hasn't been corrupted by her success.
She continues to hold on to good values, keeps
things in perspective, and treats other people well.
Here is a few things that Larisa has said over the last couple of years that show
some of her values:
"My friends are definitely more important than my career. If I had to choose, I'd
choose my friends over my career."
"I write an advice column for Tiger Beat, and sometimes I get really frustrated
and wonder why they ask ME for advice, but it's part of the territory, and if I can
help kids in a positive way... But I know how to separate that from my everyday
life... I'm a struggling teenager as well."
"I go to a regular school, and that is very, very important to me. I'm around kids
who aren't in the acting industry. When you're around normal kids like that, it
keeps you normal. It is kind of hard going back and forth between school and
the set. I do have a tutor. But this year I got to go to the winter formal, I got to
go to the prom; I got to do all the fun stuff. It's funny, we did this video yearbook
this semester, and I got so much more excited when I saw myself on it then I
do when I see myself on TV. I'm just so proud of being in school."
When Larisa was asked about the charities she is involved she said "Because
I'm part of Nickelodeon, I'm an active part of Nickelodeon's Big Help. It's kind of
a year-round thing, but there are a few big days when we go around and collect
food, and things like that.. And I'm also involved with Hands Across
Communication,... It's a company that does signing for hearing-impaired people.
Also Surfrider Foundation and Starlight Foundation." Larisa is also a Youth
Ambassador for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Larisa has also treated her fans well. Despite an
extremely busy schedule she has taken time to
chat with fans at Celebrity Sightings, AOL, and
"People Magazine Online" and answer what fan mail
she can. Of course she gets so much fan mail it is
not humanly possible to personally answer all of it.
In a 1997 call in radio show Larisa was asked how
she dealt with her "obsessed " fans:
"Most of the people who write me fan letters and stuff and most of the people
who are on the air are really, really sweet and I totally know what its like to be a
big fan because you should see the wall of my room, its plastered with photos
of "No Doubt" and Gwen and everything. So I know what it's like. So I actually think its cool what I get out of "No Doubt" some people can get out of me. So it's a really good feeling."