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Odeya Rushinek (born 12 May 1997),
known professionally as Odeya Rush, is an Israeli actress and model. She
is known for her lead roles in The Giver (2014), Goosebumps (2015), The
Bachelors (2017), Lady Bird (2017), Dumplin' (2018), and Let It Snow
(2019).
Odeya Rushinek was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Haifa, Israel.
Her father Shlomo Rushinek is a sabra, whereas her mother Maya Greenfeld
was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Israel. In Hebrew, her
first name means "I will thank God". As an eight-year-old in Haifa, she
wrote and performed plays.
Her family moved to the United States when she was nine years old so that
her father could take up a job as a security consultant in Alabama. When
she arrived, Rush did not know English and could only speak Hebrew. She
attended the N. E. Miles Jewish Day School in Birmingham, Alabama, where
she lived; she later moved to Midland Park, New Jersey, where she attended
public school.
In the beginning of 2013, Rush moved to Los Angeles with her family. She
has six brothers; four of them are younger than she is—two sets of twins
who reside with their parents in Los Angeles, and two older paternal
half-brothers who reside in Israel.
Before becoming an actress, Rush began her career in her childhood and
adolescence when she was discovered as a model in the United States,
appearing in major campaigns and advertisements for fashion brands Polo
Ralph Lauren, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, and H&M
Her first acting roles began in 2010 in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
in the episode "Branded", in which she played the character Hannah Milner;
and in the television series Curb Your Enthusiasm in the episode "Mister
Softee", as Emily.
Her first film role was in 2012, playing Joni Jerome, the best friend of
Timothy, in the Peter Hedges-directed Disney film The Odd Life of Timothy
Green.
In 2013, Rush was named one of Hollywood's 20 up and coming young
actresses under 20 to watch by The Midwest TV Guys.
Rush co-starred, as Fiona, in the science fiction film The Giver (2014),
based on the 1993 novel of same name from Lois Lowry, and directed by
Phillip Noyce. The film also starred Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl
Streep, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgård and Taylor Swift. In 2014, Rush
was one of two Israeli actresses, along with Gal Gadot, to be named as
Hollywood's newest leading ladies by InStyle magazine.
In 2015, Rush played Ashley Burwood, niece of Johana Burwood (played by
Sarah Hyland), in the comedy film See You in Valhalla. Rush's next role
was the female lead in the film Goosebumps, based on the R. L. Stine's
popular book series. Rush played Hannah Fairchild, the "daughter" of R. L.
Stine (portrayed by Jack Black), who teams up with her neighbor to fight
the Goosebumps monsters.
In 2016, Rush completed filming the satirical comedy film Dear Dictator,
in which she starred with Michael Caine and Katie Holmes. She was also
cast as Ella Hatto, opposite Sam Worthington, in action-thriller film The
Hunter's Prayer directed by Jonathan Mostow.
In 2017, she had a supporting role in Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird; Rush was
nominated along with the rest of the cast for numerous awards. The film
earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
She starred in The Bachelors with J. K. Simmons in 2017.
In 2021, she played the titular role in the Hebrew-language Israeli drama
series Baalat HaChalomot.
She played Macy in the comedy-drama film Cha Cha Real Smooth in 2022. She
also co-stars in the 2022 supernatural horror film Umma. |
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[on her first name] It's an
interesting story, actually . . . I'm Jewish [and] . . . it's from
the [Old Testament] . . . They thought of many other names, but they
couldn't exactly agree. My dad just opened the book and the first
sentence he saw, it was in Hebrew . . . My name, Odeya, means "Thank
God." So that's where they found it.
When I came to America, I told my dad I wanted to be an actress. He
was like, "OK, calm down. Learn English." |
