Olesya Yurivna Rulina (; born March 17, 1986) is a Russian-American actress. She is best known for co-starring in all three films of the High School Musical franchise as Kelsi Nielsen. She also starred in the films Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008), Flying By (2009), Expecting Mary (2010), and Family Weekend (2013).
Early life Olesya Rulin was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia). She spent her early childhood in Likhoslavl.
When Rulin was eight, she immigrated to the United States to rejoin her father who had done so two years earlier. They first lived in Texas, then later in Utah. Rulin graduated from West Jordan High School in 2005.
Rulin is also a trained ballet dancer. When she was 12, she entered a model-search contest at the urging of her mother and won representation by four different agencies. She can also play the piano.
Prior to acting full-time, she worked for a year as a certified nursing assistant and also at stores such as Victoria's Secret; she was working at a Nordstrom store when the first High School Musical came out. She was studying economics in Paris when the casting for High School Musical 2 took place.
Acting career In addition to her role in High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Rulin's credits include the Disney Channel original films Halloweentown High, The Poof Point and Hounded, the television series Everwood and the feature films Forever Strong, Mobsters and Mormons and The Dance.
Rulin's part in High School Musical 2 was significantly larger than that in the first film, including a solo in "You Are the Music in Me" and a few lines in "Work This Out." Rulin reprised her role as Kelsi Nielsen in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, also with a larger part, and performed three songs, including a duet with Lucas Grabeel.High School Musical 3 page on Olesya's Official Site Friday, April 11, 2008
Rulin co-starred with Jessica Simpson in the film Major Movie Star (released in the United States under the title Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous).‘High School Musical’ Star Reports For Duty In ‘Simpson’s ‘Major Movie Star’ Monday, August 20, 2007 at 9:30 amRulin is From Russia with Love Retrieved Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 In 2009, Rulin co-starred with Billy Ray Cyrus and Heather Locklear in the drama film Flying By.Flying high: Cyrus, Rulin join indie pic Wednesday, October 24, 2007
In 2010, Rulin starred in Expecting Mary, which also starred Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons and Fred Willard.
In 2013, she starred in Family Weekend with Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Modine.
In August 2014, it was announced that Rulin would be playing the role of Callista Secor in the PlayStation Network series Powers, which ran for two seasons from 2015 to 2016.
Personal life On November 11, 2021, Rulin married entrepreneur Joseph Noel Pauline.
In August 2022, the couple announced that they had welcomed their first child, a daughter.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2005 Urban Legends: Bloody Mary Mindy Direct-to-video 2005 Mobsters and Mormons Julie Jaymes 2006 High School Musical Kelsi Nielsen 2006 Vampire Chicks with Chainsaws Sariah Direct-to-video 2007 American Pastime Cathy Reyes 2007 High School Musical 2 Kelsi Nielsen 2007 The Dance Britney 2008 Forever Strong Emily's Friend 2008 Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous Petrovich 2008 High School Musical 3: Senior Year Kelsi Nielsen 2009 Chuckle Boy Assistant Short film 2009 Flying By Ellie Direct-to-video 2010 Expecting Mary Mary 2011 Apart Emily Gates 2011 A Thousand Cuts Melanie 2013 Family Weekend Emily Smith-Dungy
Television Year Title Role Notes 2001 Hounded Girl #1 Television film The Poof Point Annie Television film 2002 Touched by an Angel High School Student Episode: "Bring on the Rain" 2004 Halloweentown High Natalie the Pink Troll Television film Everwood The Drunk Girl Episode: "No Sure Thing" 2009–2011 Greek Abby Recurring role, 10 episodes 2010 CSI: Miami Andrea Williams Episode: "Mommie Deadest" The Mentalist Sam Starks Episode: "The Red Ponies" 2011 Drop Dead Diva Mia Dalton Episode: "He Said, She Said" 2012 Touch Girl in the Red Dress Episode: "Safety in Numbers" Dirty Work Bambi Episode: "Temporary Midnight" 2013 Underemployed Pixie Dexter 2 episodes 2014 NCIS Kim Troutman Episode: "Page Not Found" 2015–2016 Powers Calista Secor Main role 2015 The Night Shift Maya Episode: "Darkest Before Dawn" 2017 Family Guy Russian Meg Griffin Double (voice) Episode: "A House Full of Peters" 2018 Devious Nanny Amber Deschanel Television film; also known as Nanny Betrayal 2019 SEAL Team Jenna Robertson Episode: "Things Not Seen" 2020–2022 NCIS: Los Angeles Zasha Gagrin 5 episodes 2022 The Rookie Danielle Bloomfield Episode: "Backstabbers" 2023 Black Bags Tess Television film
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