Searching for Alex Mack

Alex Mack, where art thou? Or more specifically where is , Larissa Oleynik the actress who played the spunky super powered cutie on Nickelodeon?

By COED Staff

When the Alex Mack series wrapped up, many wondered what would become of Larissa’s career; would it fly like the teen angel we believed her to be or vanish into obscurity like Gary Colman? She had been cast as a regular on NBC’s 3rd Rock from the Sun, and had secured the lead role in the film, Ten Things I Hate About You, alongside Heath Ledger. All was right with the world. We would still see the girl that brought us through puberty become a woman. But the world moves in mysterious ways, and Larissa broke our hearts.

In the fall of 2000, Larissa decided to betray us by hanging up the acting skirt and focusing on her education. She enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College, saying it was “the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Over the years several valiant attempts were made by local high school students (including my friends and I) to contact the elusive Larissa only to be repelled by the ogre force that is Campus Security. Other than a few sightings in local delis and bars, it would’ve appeared that our princess was gone. But once again, the world moves in mysterious ways.

Upon graduating in 2004, Larissa returned to acting, playing a lesbian soldier in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle (appropriate?) and appearing in low-budget films like Pope Dreams and the appropriately titled Relative Obscurity. Finally, Larissa was cast in a supporting role on the TV series Pepper Dennis. (Which aired on the WB but wasn’t picked up by the CW)

It’s time for Larissa to come back to the boys she made men during those pre-pubescent days when we were still watching SNICK and just discovering girls. It’s time for Larissa Oleynik to step out of the shadows and back into the spotlight, the spotlight that’s offered through the loving arms of nostalgia.

The final scene of the Alex Mack series… soo that’s what happens!