From their seasons-long relationship on NCIS: Los Angeles to real-life relationship as brother- and sister-in-law, Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah spend a lot of time with each other. When Ruah spoke at this year’s United States Holocaust Memorial Museum “What You Do Matters” gala in Los Angeles on March 2, Olsen made it a point to attend for support.
It was Ruah’s third consecutive year at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton, but it was the first for Olsen, whose father teaches about Holocaust remembrance as a college professor, the actor told THR. Both consider Holocaust remembrance to lie at the core of their identities, Olsen said.
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“I was reading Sophie’s Choice at age 13,” Olsen, starring next opposite Steve Carell and Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes, revealed to THR.
Reflecting on her support for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Ruah said, “It’s actually hard to say this — I don’t even like to say it out loud because [it’s] assuming someone’s end to life, but the fact is, all the survivors are in their 80s and 90s now. They unfortunately will not be around for much longer. So, to come to an event like this and sit with them, talk to them and meet their families and the legacy that they are now leaving — so many people celebrate their survival and memory.”
Ruah has been flexing her dramatic muscles on this season of NCIS: Los Angeles as Special Agent Kensi, with Olsen as her fiance Deeks. The onscreen couple even has their own Twitter hashtag: #Densi.
Other attendees included Killing Reagan alum Tim Matheson, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress Rachel Bloom and event regular Hogan’s Heroes star Robert Clary. Matheson paid tribute onstage to Anthony Acevedo, the first Mexican-American to sign the Holocaust Heroes list, and who worked as a medic during WWII.
THR was a co-sponsor of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 2017 “What You Do Matters” dinner.
