Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah (born December 2, 1983) is an American-Portuguese actress and film director best known for playing NCIS Special Agent

Kensi Blye Kensi Marie Blye (; portrayed by Daniela Ruah) is a fictional character in the show '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. She is a Junior Field Agent in the NCIS Office of Special Projects Team stationed in Los Angeles. She first appeared in the ''NCIS'' seaso ...

in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

police procedural series '' NCIS: Los Angeles''.

Early life

Ruah was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, U.S., to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where her mother is an

otologist Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal and pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing and vestibular sensory systems and related structures and functions) as well as their diseases, diagnosis and treatment. Otologic ...

and her father is an

ENT Ents are a species of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for giant. The Ents appear in ''The Lord of ...

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 A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include ''teleserye'' (P ...

. She won a Portuguese-television dance competition. Ruah moved to the U.K at the age of 18 and earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in performing arts from

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

. She returned to Portugal where she continued acting, and in 2007 moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to study at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

. Ruah stated that she grew up in an environment that was both

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

and

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

; her father is of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry, and her mother's Jewish roots are in Russia, Ukraine and Portugal. She holds both 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 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to attend college. After graduation, she returned to Portugal to pursue her acting career. She was the winner of the celebrity dancing competition ''Dança Comigo'' (the Portuguese version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'') and got main roles in television series, short films, and theatre. In 2007, she moved to New York to study at the

. Ruah stars as Special Agent

in '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', which first aired on September 22, 2009. In 2011, she portrayed the character in a crossover guest appearance on the series ''

Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...

''. In 2013, Ruah appeared in

David Auburn David Auburn (born 30 November 1969) is an American playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. He is best known for his 2000 play '' Proof'', which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote the screen ...

's play '' Proof'' at Los Angeles'

Hayworth Theatre The Hayworth Theatre is a theater and performing arts center at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The facility houses 99-seat, 42-seat and 49-seat auditoriums and a 1,500 square-foot ballroom used f ...

. On January 8, 2018, it was confirmed that Ruah would co-host the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

alongside

Catarina Furtado Catarina Cardoso Garcia da Fonseca Furtado (born 25 August 1972) is a Portuguese television presenter, actress and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. Catarina was born in Lisbon and is a daughter of RTP journalist Joaquim Furtado. Career Throughout h ...

Sílvia Alberto Sílvia Alberto (born 18 May 1981) is a Portuguese television presenter and actress, currently employed by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. She began her career in 2000, presenting ''Clube Disney'' on RTP1. She was one of the hosts of the 2018 ...

and

Filomena Cautela Filomena Cautela (born 16 December 1984) is a Portuguese television presenter and actress. Cautela started her acting career in the theatre in the year 2000. In 2004, she made her debut in cinema, and in 2005, she was cast as a presenter by MTV Po ...

Personal life

Ruah has a distinguishable

birthmark A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...

in her right eye, called the

nevus of Ota Nevus of Ota is a hyperpigmentation that occurs on the face, most often appearing on the white of the eye. It also occurs on the forehead, nose, cheek, periorbital region, and temple. It was first reported by Masao Ōta of Japan in 1939. Cau ...

. Ruah married David Olsen, the older brother and stunt double of Ruah's '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' co-star

Eric Christian Olsen Eric Christian Olsen (born May 31, 1977), is an American actor. He is known for his portrayals of Investigator Marty Deeks on the CBS television series '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', and of Austin in the film ''Not Another Teen Movie''. Early life O ...

, in an interfaith ceremony in 2014. Olsen is Lutheran. They have 2 children, a son, River Isaac Ruah Olsen (born December 2013), and a daughter, Sierra Esther Ruah Olsen (born September 2016).

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruah, Daniela 1983 births 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Boston Portuguese actresses Jewish Portuguese actresses Portuguese people of Ukrainian descent Portuguese people of Russian descent American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American television actresses Golden Globes (Portugal) winners Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Living people