Biography

It's been a while since this biography has been updated. This is due much more to my laziness than Larisa's activity level. Since the last update she's done a number of projects but not that many interviews. Because of this it seemed like a biography update would just be a duplication of projects already listed on IMDB.

Here's a snippet from a fairly recent Larisa interview on what she has been doing since graduation:

Well, a lot of indie movies and the occasional guest starring role, or whatever. I did one on Pepper Dennis and one on Malcolm In The Middle, both of those were really fun. It's just that all the independent movies I am getting to do now, I really feel like I'm so lucky because I am able to figure out who I am as an adult actor with these amazing roles that I am getting to do now. These are the things that I wanted to do when I was still popular, but they're not going to hire the Nickelodeon kid to do the indie movie. So, now I'm trying to find that balance of being able to do these great movies and also having a little bit more exposure. That's kind of where I am, and I'm just enjoying my career - even though I hope that these things start getting distribution. They're all really good projects that I'm proud of.

My take from this is that Larisa wants good roles but she doesn't want the level of fame she reached before college. Larisa's work on "Malcolm in the Middle", "Pepper Dennis", and "Aliens in America" show that she has real flair for comedy. I've thought for some time she's an excellent character actress as demonstrated by her brief appearance on an episode of "Without a Trace" last month. The best independent movie she's done recently in my opinion is "Broken Windows."

Larisa still has many fans. If doesn't take much searching to realize that many of the people in her generation will never forget her, especially for "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Alex Mack". There's still a smaller group of dedicated fans who follow her current career.

Yeah. I think I'm pretty much in this [acting] for the long haul. There's peaks and valleys and sometimes littler mountains and that's just the way it is. I'm planning on being around for awhile. This is what I love to do. I love my job so much, and not everyone can say that and I recognize how lucky that is.

It is a strange thing now, because people very much recognize me from it [Alex Mack], still, which is bizarre to me. That is just kind of a strange thing, because it was so long ago. I was so close to the character and the character was so close to me, and I was pretty much being myself for four years with these crazy circumstances, of course. But the more the writers got to know me, the more they wrote for me and the more I became comfortable putting my two cents in and saying, "No, I wouldn't say that or I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't wear that." That's kind of who I was for four years, which is even weirder.

I had my taste of it [fame] enough when I was younger with doing the show. People recognize me, but it's completely different now. I've definitely had enough of a taste of that to know that I didn't like it, honestly. Fame was not what I was after. I had enough of it to be like, "Okay. Being in magazines is really fun, but I don't ever want to have it distract from my everyday life. I did my Junior Year abroad in Italy, and I enjoy that too much. I enjoy my real life too much, but I think there is a way to work. I want to work more and hopefully be doing more high profile things, but I don't want to do it unless I have a balance of a real life. And it's really possible, and there are people who really make it happen for themselves.

Sources:

http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/60399/411-Movies-Interview:-Larisa-Oleynik-of-The-Secret-World-of-Alex-Mack.htm
http://www.dvdsnapshot.com/InterviewLarisaOleynik.html

Larisa graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in June 2004. She has two upcoming roles: a film called Pope Dreams and a TV series called Pepper Dennis.

Larisa quotes from the last year:

I don't know that I have any role models now that are fixed. Definitely my mom - she's the coolest. She's worked really hard her whole life and I just think she's got a great attitude. Moms just know so much it's so silly. They know things that nobody else knows and its great. I don't have any role models like career wise ... I used to when I was younger, but basically it's just a lot of people in my life that I look up to that I think are amazing. I guess I like to think that I'm a combination of all of them. I strive for different things and to improve different parts of me and that's reflected in different people.

[Going to] college was the best decision I've made. I knew that I wanted to go to school and I wanted to go for 4 years and in New York ... My favorite [classes] were the writing workshops. I took poetry classes, and courses in playwright and screenwriting. They were very comforting and productive. Everyone was respectful of each other. No one claimed to know everything.

I want to try and see what happens with the acting thing. I've never had to make that kind of commitment. But if I'm not happy, I'll figure it out from there. I love New York and I'd like to get my masters in something. I'd also like to live in Maui for a year. [Maybe I'll] work on some organic pineapple farm.

Bringing Rain, a film Larisa made last summer, has been appearing at film festivals in the United States and Canada. A Time for Dancing, which Larisa made in 2000, will be shown in the United States on the Showtime cable network in early 2004. Apparently Larisa will make a movie this December (2003) called "Quintessence" about which we have very little information. Larisa is back at college for what we believe is her senior year. Here are some comments from Larisa made in August 2003: I realize I have tried some patience by being away so long, but I am more excited than ever to start (hopefully) some new projects once school ends. It really means a lot knowing that there are people out there who continue to support me.

Last year we received several unconfirmed reports that Larisa spent her junior year studying in Italy. Presently this is just a rumor.

Larisa is in a new movie called "Bringing Rain" which is being filmed right now.
(indieWIRE: 08.06.02) "Writer-director Noah Buschel started principal photography yesterday on "Bringing Rain," a dramatic feature about an East Coast boarding school."

First here is Larisa's standard biography taken from a recent film festival she attended to promote her upcoming film "A Time for dancing".

Larisa Oleynik played the star of the popular children's series, The Secret World Of Alex Mack, Larisa got her first big break on the stage, where she starred as young Cosette in Les Miserables. This San Francisco native went on to co-star in films such as The Baby-Sitters Club, 10 Things I Hate About You, and 100 Girls. She also had a recurring role in the hit television series, 3rd Rock From The Sun, and numerous guest appearances on shows including Boy Meets World, All That, Dr. Quinn, and The Adventures Of Pete And Pete..

Larisa was born on June 7, 1981.

Larisa began attending college in the fall of 2000. Since that time Larisa has kept a very low profile and has not worked on new projects that we know about. Updated just prior to Larisa starting college here is an extensive biography of Larisa's previous life.

For more recent events the news archive presents the most information.

If you have a project for Larisa (assuming she's taking any) contact:

Once again, our web site has no connection to Larisa. We're fans. We have day jobs that we should keep obviously.

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