Olesya Yurivna Rulina (russian: Oлeся Юрьевна Pулина; 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 ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, t ...

'' franchise as Kelsi Nielsen. She also starred in the films '' Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous'' (2008), '' Flying By'' (2009), ''

Expecting Mary ''Expecting Mary'' is a 2010 American comedy-drama film starring Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Olesya Rulin, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, and Fred Willard. It was written and directed by Dan Gordon and ...

'' (2010) and '' Family Weekend'' (2013).

Early life

Olesya Rulin was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(now Russia). She spent her early childhood in

Likhoslavl Likhoslavl (russian: Лихосла́вль) is a town and the administrative center of Likhoslavlsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Moscow–St. Petersburg Railway, northwest of Tver, the administrative center of the o ...

. When Rulin was eight, she emigrated to the United States to rejoin her father who had done so two years earlier. They first lived in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, then later in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. Rulin graduated from West Jordan High School in 2005. Rulin is also a trained

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. 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 Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includi ...

and also at stores such as

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest re ...

; she was working at a

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

store when the first ''

'' came out. She was studying economics in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

when the casting for ''

High School Musical 2 ''High School Musical 2'' is a 2007 American musical television film written by Peter Barsocchini and directed by Kenny Ortega. The 70th Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), it is the sequel to '' High School Musical'' (2006) and the second in ...

'' 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 Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compa ...

original films '' Halloweentown High'', ''

The Poof Point ''The Poof Point'' is a Disney Channel Original Movie, based on the children's novel "The Poof Point" by Ellen Weiss, M. Friedman. Plot Two 40-year-old scientists, Norton ( Mark Curry) and Marigold Ballard (Dawnn Lewis), invent a time machine. O ...

'' and '' Hounded'', the television series ''

Everwood ''Everwood'' (known as ''Our New Life in Everwood'' in the United Kingdom) is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti. Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Rina Mimoun, Andrew A. Ackerman and Michael Green served as executive produc ...

'' and the feature films ''

Forever Strong ''Forever Strong'' is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Little, written by David Pliler and released on September 26, 2008. The film stars Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Sean Astin, Penn Badgley and Arielle Kebbel. The f ...

'', '' 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 Lucas Stephen Grabeel ( ; born November 23, 1984) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his role as Ryan Evans in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006–2008). His other film appearances include '' Hallowee ...

. Rulin co-starred with

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...

in the film '' Major Movie Star'' (released in the United States under the title ''Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous''). In 2009, Rulin co-starred with

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and b ...

and

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

in the drama film '' Flying By''. In 2010, Rulin starred in ''

'', which also starred

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination f ...

Linda Gray Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940) is an American film, stage and television actress, director, producer and former model, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman's character J.R. Ewing on the C ...

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actre ...

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won List of awards and nominations received by Cloris Leachman, many accolades, including eight Primetime ...

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

and

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' Wa ...

. In 2013, she starred in '' Family Weekend'' with

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

and

Matthew Modine Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...

. In August 2014, it was announced that Rulin would be playing the role of Callista Secor in the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

series '' Powers'', which ran for two seasons from 2015-16.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rulin, Olesya 1986 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Moscow Actresses from Texas Actresses from Utah American child actresses American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Living people Russian emigrants to the United States