Olesya Rulin

Olesya Yurivna Rulina is a Russian-American actress. She is best known for her role as Kelsi Nielsen in all three films of the Disney High School Musical franchise. In addition to her franchise work, she has appeared in feature films such as Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous, Flying By, Expecting Mary, and Family Weekend.

Rulin was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, and spent her early childhood in Likhoslavl. At age eight, she immigrated to the United States to join her father, living first in Texas and later in Utah. She graduated from West Jordan High School in 2005. Rulin is a trained ballet dancer and can play the piano. When she was 12 years old, she entered a model-search contest at her mother's urging and earned representation from four agencies.

Before pursuing acting full-time, Rulin worked for a year as a certified nursing assistant and held retail jobs at stores including Victoria's Secret and Nordstrom, working at the latter when the first High School Musical released. She was also studying economics in Paris when casting took place for High School Musical 2.

Her early acting credits include the Disney Channel original films Halloweentown High, The Poof Point, and Hounded, as well as the television series Everwood and the films Forever Strong, Mobsters and Mormons, and The Dance. Her role as Kelsi Nielsen expanded in High School Musical 2, where she performed a solo in "You Are the Music in Me" and lines in "Work This Out." She returned for High School Musical 3: Senior Year with a larger part, performing three songs, including a duet with Lucas Grabeel.

Rulin co-starred alongside Jessica Simpson in Major Movie Star, released in the United States as Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous. In 2009, she appeared alongside Billy Ray Cyrus and Heather Locklear in the drama Flying By. She followed this with a starring role in the 2010 film Expecting Mary, appearing alongside an ensemble cast that included Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, and Fred Willard.

In 2013, Rulin starred in Family Weekend with Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Modine. In August 2014, she joined the PlayStation Network series Powers to play the role of Callista Secor, a series that ran for two seasons from 2015 to 2016.

In her personal life, Rulin married entrepreneur Joseph Noel Pauline on November 11, 2021. The couple announced the birth of their first child, a daughter, in August 2022.