The Secret World of Larisa Oleynik
By Cheryl Family
On the TV show The Secret World of Alex Mack, Larisa Oleynik plays a character who gains mysterious powers through a freak accident. CHERYL FAMILY spoke with the 14-year-old actress about movie stars, Animal Farm, and cranberry sauce.
Nickelodeon Magazine: What's the biggest secert you can tell us about yourself?
Larisa Oleynik: I think I'm a pretty open person; I don't have too many secrets. I can put my leg behind my head--that's a secret.
NM: If you could have any one of Alex's superpowers, which one would you want?
LO: Probably the levitating one. It would be fun. If there were some person you didn't like, you could pull down their pants. Also, I'm not really good at sports, so if I were playing softball, I'd want to be able to whack the ball.
NM: Do you think Alex Mack is a superhero?
LO: No, because she hasn't used her powers to save the world. She just uses them to get through junior high.
NM: How did you get started as an actress?
LO: The first thing that I ever did was [the musical] Les Miserables , in San Fransico. There was an article in the newspaper about the audition. I had done school plays, and I enjoyed that. I decided to go to see what it was like, and I ended up getting the part. I was eight years old. After the show ended, I got an agent and started auditioning.
NM: Why did you want to play Alex Mack?
LO: I was sent a description of the Alex Mack character, and I liked her from the beginning. It talked about her being embarrassed because her mom gives her a Barbie lunch box for her first day of junior high. I thought that was funny.
NM: Did you watch Nickelodeon before you did Alex Mack?
LO: I used to watch Clarissa Explains It All. And my favorite show on Nickelodeon was Double Dare.
NM: Are you ever going to cut your hair short?
LO: Actually, I did last year, after we finished filming for the season, and before school started. I loved it. Then I auditioned for the movie The Baby-Sitters Club, and the character I was playing was supposed to have really, really long, white-blonde hair. After I heard I got the part, I just let it grow and grow. But they still had to use hair extensions for the movie. I heard there's the slightest possibility that we'll do a sequel, and because of that, I'm going to keep growing it out.
NM: What was it like doing The Baby-Sitters Club?
LO: Very cool. The six other girls in it are close to my age, and we all got along really well. Most of us lived more than an hour away from where we were shooting, so we stayed in the same hotel, and became friends. We'd go swimming, and go out to the hotel restaurant together.
NM: What was your favorite Baby-Sitters Club book?
LO: My favorite character, when I read them, was Stacey, and my favorite book was Boy Crazy Stacey. When I first auditioned for the movie, they asked me which part I wanted to be, and I said Stacey. But after I read the script, I really clicked with the character Dawn, and that's the character that I ended up playing. She's the enviornmentalist of the group, and she's really sweet and sensitive.
NM: What's your best subject in school?
LO: I like literature class, because I love to read.
NM: What's your favorite book?
LO: Right now, I have to start reading Animal Farm. And I'm also in the middle of Congo. But I think my favorite book was a book that we read last year, Of Mice and Men.
NM: Who is your favorite actress?
LO: My favorite actress is Claire Danes [from My So-Called Life].
NM: Have you met ever met her?
LO: No. I would probably faint if I did. I still get really starstruck. If I ever met her, I would probably go insane.
NM: Who is your favorite celebrity you've met?
LO: Kevin Costner's daughters were in The Baby-Sitters Club. They were so sweet. When I first met them, I didn't know that their dad was Kevin Costner. I became really good friends with them, and they asked, "Do you want to meet our dad?" I said, "Okay, sure." And then, all I said was, "Oh (gasp) hi! Nice to meet you."
NM: Do you like Thanksgiving?
LO: Yes. We get school off!
NM: Which do you like better: stuffing or cranberry sauce?
LO: Cranberry sauce. I don't like the real stuff--I like the wiggly kind that you get out of the can.
Nickelodeon Magazine November, 1995
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