Best Known As: She was Joan on TV in 1999's Joan of Arc
Name at birth: Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski
In 2001 Leelee Sobieski appeared in the films My First Mister, The Glass House and Joy Ride, and in the television production Uprising. Sobieski started appearing on television in 1993 and in films in 1997, making her big screen debut in Jungle 2 Jungle. She was nominated for an Emmy award for her performance in the CBS production of Joan of Arc (1999), and she has appeared in the feature films Deep Impact (1998, with Elijah Wood), Eyes Wide Shut (1999, opposite Tom Cruise) and Never Been Kissed (1999), with Drew Barrymore).
Career Highlights: Joy Ride, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, My First Mister
First Major Screen Credit: Reunion (1994)
Biography
Born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1982, Leelee Sobieski has shot to ingénue stardom in the time it takes to say "Helen Hunt's spitting image." The young actress, who does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Hunt, first came to the attention of art house audiences with her role in A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998). Thanks to her participation in two high-profile projects, Deep Impact and Eyes Wide Shut, Sobieski has garnered both widespread recognition and the distinction of being one of the most promising actresses of her generation.
Born and bred in New York City, Sobieski, the eldest of two children, was raised by her father, a French painter, and her mother, a freelance writer. She was "discovered," rather unexpectedly, in her school's cafeteria by Woody Allen's casting director. With the encouragement of her parents, Sobieski began auditioning, trying out at one point for the part that went to Kirsten Dunst in Interview With the Vampire. She landed her first screen role in the 1997 Tim Allen comedy Jungle 2 Jungle, and then was cast as Channe in Merchant/Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998). Sobieski drew raves for the depth and intelligence of her performance and was further rewarded with another leading role, that of Joan of Arc in the 1999 TV miniseries Joan of Arc. Sobieski then turned her back on typical ingénue roles with her portrayal of a geek queen in the Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed. The film's producers had originally wanted Sobieski for the role of the most popular girl in school, but the actress had insisted on that of her antithesis, a choice that reflected her desire to take on more unconventional roles. This choice was made further apparent with her casting in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, in which Sobieski had a brief but memorable appearance as the silent, flirtatious daughter of a costume-shop owner.
In 2000 Sobieski returned to more conventional fare with Here on Earth, a romantic drama in which she starred as a young woman coping with first love and terminal illness. That same year, she could be seen in the teen thriller Squelch and My First Mister, a romantic comedy that featured her as a recent high-school grad who develops a crush on her much older boss (Albert Brooks). Gaining notice for her increasing ability to carry a movie, Sobieski earned her first million-dollar salary that same year for her role in the thriller The Glass House, followed shortly thereafter by another prominent role in the throwback CB thriller Joy Ride. A Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 2001 World War II drama Uprising served well to balance out such lukewarm efforts as the 2001 thriller The Glass House and the 2003 literary adaptation Dangerous Liaisons, and on the heels of a fairly forgettable 2005 Sobieski took a trip to a neo-pagan island where nothing is really as it seems in the Neil LaBute-directed remake The Wicker Man. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski
June 10, 1982 (1982-06-10)(age 27) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation
Actress
Years active
1995–present
Leelee Sobieski (born June 10, 1982[1][2]) is an American actress. Sobieski rose to fame in her mid-teens with her appearance in the movie Deep Impact. She has received an Emmy nomination for the 1999 TV movie Joan of Arc, and two Golden Globe nominations for Joan of Arc and the TV movie Uprising.
Sobieski was born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski in New York City. Her parents are American novelist/screenwriter Elizabeth (née Salomon), who also works as Sobieski's manager, and French painter and former actor Jean Sobieski.[3][4]
Sobieski's first name, "Liliane", was the name of her paternal grandmother. One of her middle names, "Elsveta", is derived from "Elżbieta" which is the Polish equivalent of "Elizabeth".[5] Sobieski's younger brother Robert attends Princeton University.[6][7] Sobieski's maternal grandfather, United States Navy captain Robert Salomon, was Jewish and Sobieski grew up in a "pan-religious" family; she has said that she is "proud of [her] Jewish roots".[8][9]
She attended Trevor Day School[10] and studied literature and fine art at Brown University.
Career
Sobieski rose to fame in her mid-teens with her appearance in the movie Deep Impact (1998)[11] and played a modern Lolita in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (released in 1999, she was not even fifteen when her nymphet-like scenes were shot). She was playing alongside Tom Cruise: she recalls he was "very kind and considerate with me," and says her most vivid recollection of Stanley Kubrick was that he "genuinely seemed to hold something magic".[12]
The title role in the TV movie Joan of Arc (1999) earned her an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination and a second nomination followed her portrayal of Tosia Altman in the 2001 TV movie Uprising.
Sobieski speaks fluent French, which she picked up from her father, who currently lives in France.[13][14]
Sobieski is engaged to fashion designer Adam Kimmel.[15] In mid-September 2009, the couple confirmed that Sobieski was expecting her first child with Kimmel.[16] Sobieski gave birth to a baby girl, named Louisanna Ray Kimmel on Dec. 15, 2009.[17][18]
