- Born
- Birth nameVanessa Leonor Vanderpluym
- Nickname
- Van
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Born in the beach city of Manhattan Beach and raised in Redondo Beach, California, Vanessa has the movie business in her blood. Her great grandmother was a silent movie actress and writer but her interest in performing & acting is all her own.
Vanessa attended the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) obtaining a mechanical engineering degree and was a member of Tau Beta Pi, an exclusive national engineering honors society.
A world class rhythmic gymnast, Vanessa competed for the United States for five years.
Vander Pluym is an expert in martial arts and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do to show for it. Vanessa's athleticism is also evident in her abilities as a circus performer, performing stilt walking, contortionist and aerial acts, as well as in her current sport of roller derby.
As an actress, Vander Pluym is an all-around performer. She is a veteran actor of comedy, drama and action roles. Vanessa has performed motion capture for numerous video game characters and has appeared in an array of television hit shows and feature films including: NCIS: Los Angeles, Southland, Castle, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Piranha 3D.
- IMDb mini biography by: Putnam & Smith
- Parents
- RelativesBeatrice Van(Great Grandparent)
- Race / EthnicityAsian, Hispanic / Latino / Latina / Latine, Native American / Alaska Native, White
- She is also a circus performer and does stunts for movies and video games.
- She has a degree in mechanical aerospace engineering from UCLA.
- She was on the U.S. National team in rhythmic gymnastics and represented the U.S. in international competitions for 5 years and competed in the Olympic Trials in 1992. In 1994 She was voted Sportswoman of the Year by her fellow competitors. She was the Chair of the Athletes Council and sat on the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors.
- Her great grandmother, Beatrice Van, was a silent movie actress and a writer and great grandfather, was actor James Gruen.
- Plays roller derby under the name "Mental Skate" for the LA Derby Dolls' Varsity Brawlers.
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