Olga Tchakova (russian: Ольга Чакова; known professionally as Olga Fonda) is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

- American film and television actress and model. She is also known for her role as Nadia Petrova in ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, ...

'' (2013–2014).

Early life

Olga Tchakova was born in the Siberian region of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and then lived in

Ukhta Ukhta (russian: Ухта́; kv, Уква, ''Ukva'') is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Chibyu'' (until 1939). History Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known i ...

Komi ASSR The Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Коми Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; kv, Коми Автономнӧй Сӧветскӧй Социалистическӧй ...

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, ...

, in the country's

Komi Republic The Komi Republic (russian: Республика Коми; kv, Коми Республика), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its capital is the city of Syktyvkar. The population of th ...

. Her father, she said, "had grocery stores in one of the Russian villages that I grew up in". She has an older brother. She moved to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

in the United States for a year at age 14, as an

exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but d ...

living with the Auclair family in East Winthrop, Maine, while attending Winthrop High School from 1996 to 1997. She returned to attend the University of Maine at Augusta, majoring in financial management.

Career

While vacationing in Los Angeles, California, Fonda was scouted by agent Paul Fisher to pursue modeling, her longtime ambition. After acting in TV commercials, she played a

ballerina 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 ye ...

in the 2009 independent film ''

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

''. Fonda, who has modeled since at least 2007 in Japan, Italy and the United States, went on to appear in television series including '' How I Met Your Mother'', ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', '' Melrose Place'', and ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', and played

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...

's girlfriend in a nonspeaking role in ''

Little Fockers ''Little Fockers'' (known as ''Meet the Parents: Little Fockers'' in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and the third and final film in the ''Meet the Parents'' film series, serving as a sequel to ''Meet the Par ...

''. She was cast in the 2011 romantic-comedy ''

Crazy, Stupid, Love ''Crazy, Stupid, Love'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, written by Dan Fogelman and starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon. It follows ...

'', though her scene did not make the final cut; she does appear in the film's trailer. In 2010, Fonda was cast in '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn''. She had a supporting role in 2011's ''

Real Steel ''Real Steel'' is a 2011 American science fiction sports drama film starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo and co-produced and directed by Shawn Levy for DreamWorks Pictures. The film is based on the short story "Steel", written by Richard Mathe ...

''. She played Nadia in ''

''. In 2018, she was cast in the role of Sarah in the Netflix series ''

Altered Carbon ''Altered Carbon'' is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by the English writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel and relative immortality is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies ("sleeves"), it follows t ...

''. In 2012, Olga appeared in

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for the related companies

TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...

and

HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooking ...

TV. Fonda was cast in Agent X, appearing opposite

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

. She is unrelated to the Fonda acting family and has said her reason for adopting that stage name "started as a mystery, nd soI'm going to keep it a mystery. There’s really nothing to it but maybe one day I'll tell the story of how I got my name."Fonda in

Philanthropy

Fonda supports the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after being introduced to the charity by Jason Thomas Gordon, who started a campaign for the hospital called, ''Music Gives to St. Jude Kids''. She is also a supporter of ''The Heroes Project'', which was founded by Tim Medvetz to help wounded veterans.

Filmography

References

External links

Audio/video

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonda, Olga 1982 births Living people People from Ukhta Russian female models Russian film actresses Russian emigrants to the United States People from Winthrop, Maine Female models from Maine 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses