Daniela Ruah is one of the TV stars who will capture you on-screen with her captivating performances. Because of her skills and achievements, a lot of fans have gathered around her and we understand why. The actress is best known for her performance as Special Agent Kensi Blye in the CBS series NCIS: Los Angeles. She’s known for her robust TV career, but her exploits are not limited to television. She has several film projects under her name and has played several roles in Portuguese projects.
Besides the actress you see on screen, there is more to learn about Daniela. Here is everything you need to know about the actress, on and off-screen.
Daniela Ruah’s background information
She was born on 2 December 1983 and although her birth took place in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, she only spent the first five years of her life there. At the age of five, Daniela’s Portuguese Jewish parents – Katharina Lia Azancot Korn (mother) and Moisés Carlos Bentes Ruah (father) – moved back with the family to her native Portugal. While the mother is an ear specialist, the father is an ENT doctor. In search of her origins, she is of Sephardic Jewish and Ashkenazi Jewish descent; her father is of Portuguese-Moroccan Jewish descent and her mother’s family, who immigrated to Portugal, were Russian-Ukrainian Jews.
Back in Portugal, she attended St. Julian’s School in Carcavelos, near Lisbon, where her acting career began. She got her first acting role at the age of 16 when she played Sara in the soap opera Jardins Proibidos (Forbidden Gardens), and she continued acting until her A-levels, after which she moved to England to study.
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Daniela obtained a Bachelor of Arts and graduated with distinction from London Metropolitan University. Afterward, she returned to Portugal where she continued her acting career. She took part in a dance competition organized by Portuguese television and won the Dança Comigo (the Portuguese version of Dança Comigo, Dancing with the Stars) in 2006.
In 2007 she moved to New York City to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She currently plays the lead role in the popular CBS TV show NCIS: Los Angeles.
Career exploitation and claim to fame
She officially started her acting career in high school and was subsequently recognized among the popular actresses in America and Portugal (mainly in telenovelas). Her claim to fame began when she starred in the CBS TV series NCIS: Los Angeles as Special Agent Kensi Blye. The series premiered on September 22, 2009. She was a guest star as her character in the series Hawaii Five-0.
The actress expanded her craft to the theatre and in 2013 joined the cast of David Auburn’s play Proof at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. Her television appearances include a performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, alongside Catarina Furtado, Sílvia Alberto, and Filomena Cautela.
Over time, she has built up an estimated net worth of $7 million and is still strong in her craft.
Who is Daniela Ruah’s husband?
Daniela has been with NCIS for nine years, since 2009, when she turned 25 and is now well over 30, and has experienced many wonderful things in her life over those years. Interestingly, her NCIS colleague Eric Christian Olsen played a matchmaker in real life between his brother David and Daniela. Apparently the love blossomed to its peak and Daniela is now David Paul Olsen’s wife.
Her husband is Eric’s older brother and stunts double and he is known as a stuntman and actor with remarkable work in movies and shows like NCIS: Los Angeles, Swiss Army Man, G-Force, Aquarius, General Hospital and Transformers: “The Revenge of the Fallen” to his credit.
The couple has one son, River Ruah Olsen, born on December 30, 2013, six months before their wedding on June 17, 2014, and their second child, a daughter named Sierra Esther Ruah Olsen, joined the family on September 4, 2016.
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Daniela Ruah got married in an interreligious ceremony
Daniela and her husband David have a Jewish and Lutheran background respectively. However, this has in no way affected their commitment to each other or hindered their marriage. They concluded the covenant of marriage in an interreligious ceremony in Portugal.
The wedding rites were performed by the fathers of the couple. David’s father delivered the sermon while he was ordained, but since Daniella’s father is not a rabbi, a minyan (quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations) confirmed his role. The intimate ceremony took place under a chuppah, a canopy used in Jewish weddings. To identify with their side as well, they had the wine ceremony and drank from the Kiddush cup.
One of their eyes is unique.
Daniela was born with an unusual birthmark in her right eye, while the other eye is hazel. This feature is known as nevus of Ota, also known as congenital melanosis bulbi or oculodermal melanocytosis. It is hyperpigmentation that covers the white part of the eye (sclera) but not the iris. Consequently, the eye appears darkened when viewed by other people but does not impair vision.
