Who is Rya Kihlstedt?
Rya Kihlstedt is an American actress, perhaps best recognized as Alex Ribbons in the film “Home Alone 3” (1997), while she recently portrayed Sandy Walker in the TV mini-series “A Teacher” (2020), among several other notable roles that she’s secured so far in her career.
Where is Rya Kihlstedt Today?
Rya is now in her early 50s and still very active – in recent years, she appeared in the television movie “Red Bird Lane” (2021), and in 2022 she joined the main cast of the TV series “Superman & Lois”, co-starring Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch and Jordan Elsass.
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Rya Kihlstedt Biography: Age, Childhood, and Education
Rya Kihlsted was born on 23 July 1970, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Of Swedish ancestry, she is the daughter of Andrea Kihlsted, while there is no information about her father, other than that he has been married to her mother for more than four decades.
She has a younger sister, Carla, born in 1971, who is an acclaimed violinist and member of such bands as Charming Hostess, Tin Hat, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and has worked with numerous other musicians as a guest or session musician.
Rya attended J.P. McCaskey High School in her hometown, after which she enrolled at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, from which she graduated with a theater major in 1991.
Career Beginnings
After obtaining her degree, Rya launched a career on-stage, before her on-screen debut as Leah Woodward in the Primetime Emmy Award-winning TV drama series “Tribeca” (1993), which starred Phili Bosco, Joe Morton and Antonia Jones.
She co-starred with Rutger Hauer and Dylan Walsh in the action-thriller “Arctic Blue” the following yea, then continued her career with the role of Willa in the TV mini-series “North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell” (1994), and the same year Rya was Arleen in the television movie “The Second Greatest Story Ever Told”, starring alongside Mira Sorvino and Malcolm McDowell.
Early Success
The following year, Rya starred as Lizzy Elmsworth in the TV series “The Buccaneers”, based on Edith Wharton’s last novel of the same name, and the same year starred in the television movie drama “Alchemy”.
She continued her acting career rather successfully into the second half of the ’90s, with such prominent roles as Laura in the drama film “Hudson River Blues” (1997), and the same year, she starred in the action crime-comedy film “Home Alone 3”, next to Alex D. Linz and Olek Krupa.
Before the decade ended, Rya starred with Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy in the sci-fi drama film “Brave New World”, then appeared in the award-winning sci-fi drama “Deep Impact”, and finished the ’90s with the lead role next to Jason London in the drama film “Frontline”.
Hiatus
Rya went on an hiatus from acting from 2001 to 2009, during which time she was focused on motherhood, as she gave birth to her children, Ava and Giovanni, in 1999 and 2001.
Return and Continued Success
Rya then continued her career in a stunning fashion, first portraying Rita in the comedy-drama film “Women in Trouble” (2009), with Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki and Connie Britton in the lead roles.
In 2011, she joined the main cast of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning series “Dexter”, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
From 2012 to 2013, she portrayed Marilyn Rhodes in the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated romantic drama series “Nashville”, with Hayden Panettiere, Clare Bowen and Charles Esten as the main stars.
She appeared next to her husband, Gil Bellows, in the 2013 film “3 Days in Havana”, then in 2015 she starred in the horror film “The Atticus Institute”, written and directed by Chris Sparling, co-starring William Mapother and Sharon Maughan.
The same year, Rya won the role of Erica Kravid in the TV mini-series “Heroes Reborn”, while in Tig Notaro’s award-winning semi-autobiographical dark comedy “One Mississippi”, she appeared as Caroline in the first season.
She continued her career with the lead role in the thriller film “Her Last Will” in 2016, while in 2017, Rya starred in the TV mini-series “Law & Order True Crime”, and had a guest role of Basha in the TV series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”.
In 2018, she starred in the romantic comedy-drama film “After Everything”, written and directed by Hannah Marks and Joey Power, and the next year starred in the comedy-drama film “The Untold Story”, with Ellen Greene, Miko Hughes and Jordan Ladd, among other stars.
She joined the main cast of the award-winning TV crime-drama mystery series “Cardinal” that consisted of Billy Campbell, Karine Vanasse, and Kristen Thomson, appearing in five episodes in 2019.
She was Esther Jarret in the thriller film “Rattlesnakes”, and continued her career with television roles, such as Helen in the TV series “Jett”, and Sam the Vet in the TV series “Yellowstone”, all in 2019.
Rya was swamped in 2020, firstly appearing in the horror comedy-drama film “The Nowhere Inn”, which starred Annie Clark, St. Vincent, and Ezra Buzzington, and then in the TV series “Love in the Time of Corona”, a series about the search for love and connection during a time of quarantine.
Moreover, she starred with Kate Mara, Nick Robinson, and others in the TV mini-series “A Teacher”, while in 2021, she had the lead role in the award-winning comedy music-drama film “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise”.
Net Worth
As of early 2022, Rya Khlstedt’s net worth has been estimated to be around $1 million, earned through her successful career as an actress, during which she has appeared in more than 60 film and TV titles.
Personal Life, Marriage, Husband, Children
Regarding her personal life, Rya has been married to Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director Gil Bellows since 1994. The two met in 1991 when both were working at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Gil has a Primetime Emmy Award to his name, for his work as a producer on the television movie “Temple Grandin” from 2010.
He has appeared in more than 110 film and TV series, and some of his most popular roles include Watty Watts in the film “Love and a .45” (1994), then as Tommy in the film “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), and as Lawrence Lacroix in the TV series “Patriot” (2015-2018).
Appearance and Vital Statistics
The prominent actress has dark brown hair and blue eyes. She stands at a height of 5ft 8ins (1.73m), weighs approximately 120lbs (58kgs), with vital statistics of 36-26-35, bra size 34B.
