Olesya Rulin - Biography

Bright-eyed Olesya Rulin may have found tremendous success as an actress and singer at a young age, but her beginnings were decidedly humble. Born in a destitute village in Russia, she immigrated to the United States with her family in 1994, at the age of eight, and subsequently began studying singing and ballet. At 12, she started modeling, and within a few years she was appearing on shows like Touched by an Angel. In 2006, she was cast as Kelsi Nielsen in High School Musical, a project that would become a major phenomenon and make her a familiar face to legions of fans. Rulin would go on to appear in the film's sequels, but she had no plans to abandon her education, studying economics in Paris and enrolling at Columbia College Chicago, majoring in musical theater. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Corbin Bleu - Biography

As the son of ever-present television star David Reivers (Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), African-American actor Corbin Bleu (born Corbin Bleu Reivers) was ushered into the spotlight by his parents at a remarkably early age. Before his third birthday, Bleu's face had adorned television commercials for such consumer brands as Nabisco, Life Cereal, and Bounty paper towels; by the age of four, he had secured representation with the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency in Manhattan, and promoted American chains such as Toys 'R' Us and Macy's, via inclusion in their print ads. As a youngster, Bleu also happened upon a deep-seated love of dancing -- a passion that carried him through his adolescent years. Bleu moved with his family to the City of Angels in 1996, and thus transposed his acting ambitions to Hollywood. After bit parts in such movies as Mystery Men and Galaxy Quest (both 1999) and such series as Malcolm & Eddie and ER, Bleu landed his first starring role in a feature: that of Austin, the Afroed accomplice of pint-sized bank robber Maddy (Kristen Stewart), in Bart Freundlich's family-oriented action comedy Catch That Kid (2003). Bleu gained his broadest exposure, however (and truly found his niche), via the Disney Channel pay-cable service, with several original telemovie musicals that enabled the rising young star to exhibit his singing and dancing skills onscreen -- and then some. These included High School Musical (2006) and Jump In! (2007). The former attained such popularity among young people that it spawned two successful sequels: the 2007 High School Musical 2 and the 2008 Haunted High School Musical. In each of those successive installments, Bleu reprises his role as basketball player Chad -- a teammate of lead character Troy Bolton (Zac Efron). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide