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Daniela Ruah: Happy with her roles
Before going deep undercover to infiltrate the underworld and bring down criminals in her special agent role in popular action series NCIS: Los Angeles, actress Daniela Ruah honed her acting skills in Portuguese soap operas
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efore going deep undercover to infiltrate the underworld and bring down criminals in her special agent role in popular action series NCIS: Los Angeles, actress Daniela Ruah honed her acting skills in Portuguese soap operas.
Born in 1983 in Boston to Jewish-Portuguese parents, Ruah lived in the US until she was five. The family returned to Portugal after her father completed his otolaryngology residency in a program run by Boston University and Tufts University.
She first entered the entertainment industry at the age of 16 in Portuguese soap opera Jardins Proibidos (Forbidden Gardens).
At the age of 18, she studied performing arts at the London Metropolitan University in the UK. After earning her bachelor's degree, Ruah returned to Portugal's soap opera industry.
'Doing TV in America now and having gone through school, there is nothing harder than soap opera,' she said laughing while recalling her years in Portugal's showbiz.
'In Portugal, you know, in one day you are shooting scenes from five different episodes. We don't do one from beginning to end. You are all over the place,' she said, adding that a soap opera could cover up to 40 pages of script a day compared to 10 pages a day in the US television industry.
In 2009, she got her big break in Hollywood through NCIS: Los Angeles, the first spin-off of the successful NCIS series that combined military drama and police procedures. The series' sixth season has begun airing at AXN.
She plays the role of Special Agent Kensi Blye, the exceptionally bright daughter of a slain Marine who lives for the adrenaline rush that comes with undercover work.
'She is unbelievably [strong] ['¦]I think all her grievances and anything that caused her pain in the past have definitely made her a better, professional agent,' the 31-year-old Ruah said about her character during a recent phone interview.
'She is impulsive. She is passionate. She is a real woman, she is a human being and I love playing her because of that. I love playing complex characters.'
As a member of a highly trained team of agents led by G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell) and Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), Kensi is tasked to apprehend elusive criminals by assuming false identities and utilizing the most advanced technology.
To achieve the missions, Kensi works with detective Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), who later became romantically involved with her.
Ruah, known for her unique gaze due to discoloration in the white part of her right eye ' a birthmark called nevus of Ota, which does not affect her vision ' promised that 95 percent of NCIS: Los Angeles's episodes were excellent.
'I won't say 100 percent because it is almost impossible to have 100 percent good episodes,' she said.
'The action was better, the emotional fight of the show was better and the relationships were better ' and everything just boom! I am really excited to see what season seven is gonna bring.'
In the latest season, she said Kensi and Deeks are exploring their relationship and trying to make things work.
'They've admitted their relationship to each other. There is an acceptance from the rest of the team on how everything works with Kensi and Deeks. I think the characters are trying to find their ground then trying to figure out what works for them professionally and personally.'
Off the screen, Eric Christian Olsen, who plays Deeks, is Ruah's brother-in-law. In fact, Eric was the one who matched her up with his elder brother, David Paul Olsen, a former Navy SEAL and stunt double to Eric in the show. They are now married and have a 1-year-old boy.
With her husband and Eric having to perform difficult and sometimes dangerous physical feats on the series, Ruah admitted that in the beginning, she felt very concerned about their safety.
'I was always aware that it was either David getting hurt or Eric getting hurt, but I was always prepared call their mother and say 'hey everything is okay, but one of them got burned or scraped' or something like that,' she said.
'It's something that I am always concerned about but I can't express to him [David] while we are at work [...] because I don't want that to be on his mind. I want him to focus on what he is supposed to be doing because he is good at it.'
Having spent six years in the TV series, Ruah noted there had been a 'huge shift' in the US entertainment industry.
'First of all, there are more and more television shows being produced at an unbelievably high standard and it's very competitive nowadays. [...] Then, if you notice, you have all the movie actors jumping into series,' she said.
The competition within the industry aside, Ruah said she enjoyed her time in the series and expected to stay in the business for some time.
'Series give you geographical stability, some monetary stability ['¦] I would love to do some movies someday, but if I do TV for the rest of my life or that is my main job for the rest of my life, I am actually fine with that,' she said.
'Now especially, I have been in a family with a child. I love the stability that TV has given now. And, yeah, the quality is just exceptional.'
