From the small screen to "Eurovision's" stage to the director's chair, Daniela Ruah's career has a bit of everything ... and so does her heartwarming family life.
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00:00From the small screen to Eurovision stage to the director's chair, Daniela Rua's career
00:06has a bit of everything, and so does her heartwarming family life.
00:10Hollywood is a melting pot of many stars from different countries, cultures, and upbringings.
00:15Daniela Rua is the combination of it all as she was born in Boston to Jewish parents,
00:20raised in Portugal, and went to college in the UK and the US.
00:24Speaking to Esquire about Portugal, she said,
00:27We had an unbelievable empire and so many maritime discoveries.
00:31And how is it that we are now reduced to this?
00:33But I still love the country."
00:35Although in the same interview she denied being the face of Portugal, that is where
00:39her career started and people still recognize her when she walks down the street.
00:43She has had some very exciting and emotional encounters while being there.
00:47She recounted one of these moments to Esquire, saying,
00:50I had a four-year-old kid run up to me and wrap his arms around my neck once and I melted.
00:55She takes pride in her culture and mentioned to Esquire that even though Portuguese people
00:59can be loud, they aren't aggressive.
01:01In her opinion, quote, a Portuguese is not going to punch you for no reason.
01:06Some celebrities start their careers in theater or commercials, but that wasn't the route
01:10Daniela Rua took.
01:12Rather, she told Esquire that at the young age of 16, she began acting in telenovelas
01:17in Portugal.
01:18The actress was still in school when she began her acting journey and had no idea what would
01:22come next.
01:23Although she was very young, Rua was able to pursue her dreams because she had, as she
01:28told Yahoo!, her parents' support.
01:30She gushed,
01:31The school itself was wonderfully supportive.
01:34It was an English school, an international school, which also allowed me to maintain
01:37my English.
01:38In 2012, as she celebrated the success of NCISLA, Rua looked back on her past, recalling
01:45how she'd needed to balance both work and school at a very young age.
01:49She told Backstage,
01:50It was a teeny-tiny paycheck and working almost six days a week and hours on end, and there
01:55was kind of no support as a kid in high school.
01:58We had no tutors on set with us or anything like that, so I was literally fighting for
02:02my grades and fighting for a job that I loved."
02:05Her role as Special Agent Kenzie Bly on NCIS Los Angeles was Daniela Rua's first job in
02:11the U.S., as she explained in an interview on The Jeff Probst Show.
02:15However, it wasn't the immense popularity of the NCIS franchise that attracted her to
02:20the show she's been on for over a decade.
02:22It was the role.
02:24She explained to Backstage,
02:25She had everything to do with me in terms of speaking languages and being well-traveled.
02:30Kenzie's a Navy brat, so she lived in different places in the world.
02:34There was something about the character that connected with me.
02:36It is her connection to the character that has made her a fan favorite in the franchise,
02:41along with her chemistry with her co-stars.
02:44As she told TV Fanatic,
02:45We've become a family that has been cemented throughout the years.
02:49Us being together for so long as a cast has brought people comfort.
02:53Being in people's homes every week for 14 years is a big deal."
02:57The cast of NCIS Los Angeles appears to have created a bond beyond the screen.
03:02However, Daniela Rua is closest to co-star Eric Christian Olsen, as she is married to
03:07his stunt double and brother, David Paul Olsen.
03:10Eric Christian Olsen told Queen Latifah that right before the couple got together that
03:15they were both dating awful people.
03:17He explained,
03:18He came on to do stunts and I would say something nice about her to him and then say something
03:22to him about her.
03:23And that was enough to kind of get them started in conversation and it became this wonderful
03:27relationship.
03:28In 2014, the actor announced her marriage in a tweet,
03:31Just lived the best week of my life.
03:33I married my best friend.
03:35Our son was with us.
03:36We were surrounded by our favorite people."
03:39Rua and her husband had a son before they tied the knot, but that isn't where the family
03:43stopped growing.
03:44At the time of this video, they are a happy family of four after their daughter joined
03:49the team.
03:50As a working mom, however, raising a family comes with its challenges, and Rua has occasionally
03:55reminded her followers on Instagram by sharing details of her personal life with her children.
04:01She captioned one of her photos,
04:03In this pic, I was home alone with the kiddos, going through the morning routine.
04:07My hubby is the most present incredible dad, but on this day, he left for work early.
04:11I was and am a very happy mom, but there is no doubt that the first year of motherhood
04:16was challenging, emotionally, mentally, and physically.
04:20As an interfaith marriage raising two kids, Rua shared with 18Doors advice that she learned
04:25from watching other family members in interfaith marriages.
04:28She told the outlet,
04:30Make sure that everything is discussed before you have the baby, otherwise there will be
04:34complications.
04:35Unless one person is like, do whatever you want, I'm okay with it.
04:39For those who may not know, Eurovision is a song contest that takes place in Europe,
04:44hence the name, and hosting it is a pretty big deal.
04:47In 2018, Rua joined three other Portuguese celebrities, specifically Silvia Alberto,
04:52Caterina Furtado, and Filomena Cotella, as hosts.
04:56For Portugal's 2017 win, it was Daniela Rua's husband who encouraged her to put her name
05:02on the list to become the host.
05:04Although she thought it was improbable, she gave her agent a call.
05:08She told Billboard,
05:09My agent said, that's a great idea.
05:11As soon as everything settles down, we are going to look into that and see what we can
05:15make happen.
05:16And, within a few months, it happened.
05:19Even though Rua knows how important Eurovision is, in America, it might be harder for people
05:23to grasp its reach, as not many are familiar with the competition.
05:27According to the actress, Americans who work in the entertainment industry don't understand
05:32the scope of the competition until she reveals how enormous its audience really is.
05:36She explained,
05:37People who work in television ask me, what are the viewer numbers?
05:41When I tell them over 200 million people have watched the live broadcast, that makes people
05:46say, oh, oh, okay.
05:49Not content with limiting her TV career to performing and hosting Eurovision, Daniela
05:53Rua wanted to try something new.
05:56So she took on the role of director.
05:58In 2022, she directed five episodes of NCIS Los Angeles.
06:03Co-star and brother-in-law Eric Christian Olsen told ET Online,
06:07She's great.
06:08She's handling everything really well.
06:10She's exceeding all expectations.
06:12Even though Olsen praised her, Rua didn't shy away from telling The Herald News how
06:16challenging this experience was for her.
06:19She admitted,
06:20Doing it for the first time is interesting because I have many parameters to work with,
06:24which helps me.
06:25I feel really excited and I'm loving it.
06:28It's a passion I've had for a long time, but I never gave it a try out of fear.