Daniela Ruah

Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah Olsen (born December 2, 1983) is an American-Portuguese actress and film director best known for playing NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye in the CBS police procedural series NCIS: Los Angeles.

Early life

Ruah was born in Boston, U.S., to Jewish parents from Portugal, where her mother is an otologist and her father is an ENT surgeon. When Ruah was 5, the family moved back to Portugal, where she attended St Julian's School and, at 16, began acting in telenovelas. She won a Portuguese-television dance competition.

Ruah moved to the UK at the age of 18 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in performing arts from London Metropolitan University. She returned to Portugal where she continued acting, and in 2007 moved to New York City to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Ruah stated that she grew up in an environment that was both Sephardic and Ashkenazi; her father is of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry, and her mother's Jewish roots are in Russia, Ukraine and Portugal. She holds Portuguese and American citizenship.

Career

Ruah started acting in Portuguese soap operas when she was a teen. She made her acting debut at 16, when she played Sara on the soap opera Jardins Proibidos ("Forbidden Gardens").

At 18, Ruah moved to London to attend college. After graduation, she returned to Portugal to pursue her acting career. She was the winner of the celebrity dance competition Dança Comigo (the Portuguese version of Dancing with the Stars) and got main roles in television series, short films, and theatre. In 2007, she moved to New York to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.