This is the one-year update of the Larisa Oleynik biography. Larisa will be 18 on June 7, 1999. She is a senior in high school. This year we learned the origin of Larisa’s name, "it’s actually Russian but my parents took the name from the movie ‘Dr Zhivago’." In the summer of 1997 Larisa left the TV series "The Secret World of Alex Mack" because she didn’t want to miss all the experiences of being in high school. One of the things she learned from this is that she really enjoys acting, "I missed school, but I REALLY miss acting. I think I kind of need to have an equal balance." "Taking this time off from the show makes me realize how much I’m hooked, how much I need to be around that atmosphere." So while having more time for her personal life Larisa has also continued with her acting career. Larisa co-stars in the movie ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ which was made in the summer of 1998, mostly in Tacoma Washington. ‘10 Things’ is loosely based on Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.

In an August online chat Larisa was asked about getting the role of Bianca in ‘10 Things’. Larisa’s response was "I had quite a few auditions and meetings and it was a big process. My first meeting was back in December [1997]. When Larisa was asked what was best and worst about making the movie she replied "The best thing HAS been hanging out with everyone. We all got along so amazingly well. There have been no bad things really. Sometimes it gets a bit boring but I love everyone so much".

Larisa also has a reoccurring role in the TV series "3rd Rock from the Sun" where she plays Tommy’s girl friend ‘Alissa’. Larisa says the role is "pretty permanent". Larisa also appeared on Nickelodeon’s ‘Big-Help-Athon’ and ‘Kids Choice Awards’ in 1998. And Larisa appeared in the winter edition of MoXieGirl magazine.