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larisa oleynik was born on 7th June1981,with her bright smile and Everygirl aura, Larisa Oleynik became the darling of the pre-teen set playing the title role in "The Secret World of Alex Mack" (Nickelodeon, 1994-98). Her character was a typical teenager on whom some experimental chemicals were spilled causing her to develop telekinetic powers and the ability to "morph" into objects.

A quiet, almost unassuming series, "Alex Mack" was a twist on the long-time standard plot of a common person put in extraordinary circumstances, albeit at a younger age and with a charming sweetness. The series became Nickelodeon's most popular and when its star decided to concentrate on her studies and end its run in 1998, fans were disheartened.

The only child of medical professionals from Northern California, Oleynik broke into show business at age eight when she survived a cattle call audition and won the role of young Cosette in the San Francisco production of "Les Miserables". During the year-long run, the youngster showed her dedication by taking acting lessons and later proved how serious she was by landing roles in a 1993 episode of "Dr. Quinn.

The Swan Princess" (1994) and made a memorable acting debut as the environmentalist Dawn in "The Babysitters' Club" (1995), Oleynik also guested starred on two 1996 episodes of "Boy Meets World" (ABC), playing a girlfriend to Shawn (Rider Strong, who also appeared in the San Francisco production of "Les Miserables"), though she at first, would rather pair with the more stable Cory (Ben Savage). Oleynik's popularity with "tweens" led to an advice column published in TIGER BEAT magazine.

Vidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala. She is from the Iyer community. She comes from a middleclass family from Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. She did her schooling from St Antony's School and later on joined St Xavier's College from where she graduated in sociology.

When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled Chakram with Mohanlal, one of Vidya’s favorite actors. However, the project was shelved mid-way and Vidya had to wait for few more years to make her movie debut.

She made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She has acted in scores of ad films, most of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.A couple of months later, she featured in three music videos (again directed by Sarkar) for ‘Euphoria’, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas. She started work as an actress in the Malayalam movie Chakram, paired against Mohanlal, however the film was abandoned mid-way through production.

After making her debut in television advertising as a model for a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998, she proceeded to do over 25 TV ads, (mostly directed by Pradeep Sarkar), followed with a variety of acting stints in music videos (Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas), Hindi TV soap operas (Hanste Khelte and Hum Paanch) and a Bengali movie, Bhaalo Theko, for which she won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award in Kolkata.