Biography

This is the two-year update of the Larisa Oleynik biography. During the past year there have been tremendous changes in Larisa's life. On June 3, 1999 Larisa graduated from high school, a private school that is very academically challenging. Making this achievement even more impressive was the fact that Larisa did a considerable amount of acting work and auditioning during her senior year. Larisa mentioned several times that she was under a lot of pressure working so hard and was looking forward to graduation. For example in a May 1999 chat Larisa was asked if she was learning to play the guitar, a desire she had expressed several times in the past. Her answer was "NO!!!!!!!!! I have to graduate first!!!! You don't understand my life begins after I graduate...I will then become a guitar wielding maniac!!!!" Four days after graduation on June 7, 1999 Larisa turned 18. In August 1999 Larisa moved from her parents house in the San Francisco area to her own apartment in the Los Angeles area. When asked about this in a February 2000 interview Larisa minimized the change saying: "yea, but I've been kind of on my own for so long".

Larisa's acting career continued to go very well over the last year. The movie "10 Things I Hate About You", a moderate budget teen-age comedy in which Larisa played a staring role as Bianca, had a very successful run in theatres. Larisa became a regular member of the cast of the TV series "3rd Rock from the Sun" in the role of Alissa for the 1999-2000 season. For both these roles Larisa has earned YoungStar Award nominations. In "3rd Rock from the Sun" Larisa appreciated the chance to work in front of a live audience again. Larisa told her official web site, Alloy.com, that: "I love it. That's my favorite part, except when I mess up. This one time, I swore, and everyone gasped because I forgot my microphone was on. And I heard everyone in the audience [react] and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh!"

Larisa has starring roles in two upcoming independent movies. In the first movie Larisa plays Wendy, "the girl next door", in the romantic, sexually frank comedy "100 Girls". In this movie a college freshman meets his dream girl in a dorm elevator during a blackout. He never sees her face, but instantly falls in love. He sets out on a semester-long journey to find his mystery girl amongst a hundred female suspects. The second movie is "A Time for Dancing" based on the highly regarded novel of the same title written by Davida Wills Hurwin (screenplay by Jenny Wingfield). Larisa plays the role of Julie. In this movie Samantha and Julie are two long time friends who love dancing. Julie is diagnosed with cancer. Larisa attended dance school when she was younger and will be dancing in this movie.

In the fall of 2000 Larisa plans to attend college full time at Sarah Lawrence College in New York State. When asked about this choice in a February 2000 interview Larisa said: "I didn't want to go to a big school. I like their whole approach to education. Learning for learning sake and not just to get the grades." As far has as her long-term plans Larisa is still learning about what she wants to do. As far as acting is concerned she states "I'm not even really sure it's what I want to continue doing … I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life".

Finally, here are some quotes from Larisa over the last year.

"I'm very musically oriented"

"There hasn't been one supremely influential person in my life. I know that for the past couple of years, I've been inspired by girls in bands. I was a huge Gwen fan for the longest time ... still am. Love Gwen. And, I love the girls from Veruca Salt ... and I think, you know, music is kind of a like a constant in my life .. the one thing I can always rely on. Just get in my car, put on my CD's and feel better! So, I guess that's inspirational .. and it makes me wanna do better in my work ... maybe one day I'll be a little rock star chick!"

"I love to go to concerts, listen to music, and just, you know, hang out with my friends! It's nice now being so sunny .. you get those lazy summer, sit out in the sun all day and go swimming ... which I love."

"Huh .... well, I could not tell you how many pairs of shoes I own. Like some brain cells are zapped in my head whenever I'm buying shoes cause I forget that I have a pair exactly like them!"

"Oh ok I do I love to read... that's what I need to find in a guy, my favorite contemporary author is called Kevin Canty, he has written a novel and some short stories"

"I have snowboarded before if I do say so myself I was pretty good at it ...and its about time I got back into it"

"I hate Valentine's day. It is a day for nothing but disappointment."

"Would prefer to live up North. I mean I like it here [but] I'm not really that much into LA."

"It's almost too comfortable to just keep acting… I definitely want to challenge myself and see what else I might possibly be good at."

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