Leelee's Filmography· In the Name of the King (2006) ( post-production ) .... Muriella · The Wicker Man (2006) ( post-production ) .... Honey · 88 Minutes (2006) ( post-production ) .... Lauren Douglas · Lying (2006) ( post-production ) .... Sarah · London (2005) .... French Woman · "Hercules" (2005) (mini) TV Series .... Deianeira |
· Dark Places (2005/I) .... Anna · Heavens Fall (2005) .... Victoria Price · The Optimist (2005) .... Lolita · "Liaisons dangereuses, Les" (2003) (mini) TV Series .... Cécile de Volanges · Max (2002/I) .... Liselore von Peltz · Idole, L' (2002) .... Sarah Silver IMDB |
Leelee's Bio
Leelee Sobieski was just a preteen, but she held a vision - instilled in her by her artistic parents - of what she thought she'd become. Like many her age, she could recite a long list of possible career choices, and those in the top running were following in her parents footsteps. Her dream was to be a writer like Elizabeth, her mom, or a painter like Jean, her father. However when the casting director approached her in her New York City school, Leelee became curious about acting.
"They asked me to come into the casting director's office and meet with them," Leelee says. "I was absolutely awful. I didn't do a very good job. But that's not important. I thought: 'Well, that's kind of strange and I really sucked but it is kind of amusing that, out of the blue, I get asked to do this when it's the last thing I expected, so I might as well give it a try.' And that was kind of my approach. If, all of a sudden, something changes in one direction, I'll give it a try. And then, if it works, go for it. If not, then change to another direction. Then I took some acting lessons and started to like it more and more."
Before long Leelee was getting parts in commercials and guesting in TV shows. What started as a fun curiosity, was becoming a new creative outlet, and was starting to change her life.
The Background
Leelee was born in New York City as Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1982. Her birth name is rich with her French and Polish heritage. "Liliane is the name of my father's mother," says Leelee. "It was a little too serious and formal for a little girl. So they called me Leelee. Elsveta comes from my mother's side of the family. It's Elizabeth in Polish."
Leelee grew up in New York City's Upper West Side, and spent time in France with her father's family. "We were never very wealthy," she says "but we had the luxury of going to Häagen-Dazs and getting ice cream. Those little, childish, sweet luxuries."
Besides ice cream, her parents helped her and her brother Roby (born 1989) to appreciate the culture that surrounded them. At a very young age Leelee went to art galleries and attended Shakespearean plays. "My parents are my best friends," says Leelee. "They kept me very protected, so I couldn't get hurt physically or emotionally by anybody."
The Sobieski family is a direct descendant of Polish royalty. "Many generations back," says Leelee, "there was a king in Poland and he was my great great great great Uncle. The Bagel was [invented] for him. A Jewish baker made it for him, in the shape of a saddle."
The Rap Sheet
As Leelee's acting ability increased she was seen more and more on TV. She racked up appearances on Grace Under Fire and the TV movies Reunion and A Horse For Danny. Her feature film debut occurred in 1997, when she appeared in Disney's Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen and Martin Short.
In 1998 Leelee's career was taken to new heights by two films. She played Channe Willis, In the independent Merchant-Ivory production of A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. The film won her critical acclaim and boosted her stardom among art-house patrons. In sharp contrast to the limited release of A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, the blockbuster film Deep Impact brought Leelee's likeness to the mainstream audience.
1999 proved to be a banner year for Leelee. She received an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for her role as Joan in the CBS miniseries Joan Of Arc. She costarred in Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore; turning down the role of the popular girl to play the more interesting math nerd. 1999 also saw the much anticipated release of the late Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Leelee appeared opposite Tom Cruise in the role she acted for Kubrick when she was just 14.
Here On Earth-a teen romance set in the woods of Massachusetts-was released in the spring of 2000. Leelee played a girl torn between her childhood sweetheart and a rich prep-school student. In the coming months Leelee can be seen in Fox's thriller Squelch and the independent film My First Mister, costarring Albert Brooks. In 2001 Leelee is scheduled to star with Diane Lane in Glass House.
The Present And Beyond
Leelee currently divides her time between New York City and Los Angeles, as she works and completes high school. After graduating in 2001, Leelee plans to attend college, although at the moment she is still undecided as to the school and major.
"The country is beautiful," she says. "But if you're in the country at a small college, you're just dealing with a small group of people, and I think a lot of different people is nice. I just want to be around creative people."
When Leelee's busy life gives her a short break she enjoys the diversions of painting, writing poetry, and collecting key chains and locks of hair from her costars.
The 5' 9" blue eyed young woman has achieved more in her 18 short years than some actresses do in a lifetime, but traveling at a pace that would make Richard Petty proud is just what Leelee intends to keep doing. Among her future goals remain her originals. She still wants to paint and write, but she adds to her ambitions to be a screenwriter and a director. She says, "[In 25 years] I'll be married, I'll have 2 kids - boy and a girl. I will have directed five movies, if not more. I will have had many expositions. I will be with my kids all the time. I will travel a lot. I won't be acting as much as I am now - maybe just one movie a year. I'll be creating; I don't know what, maybe designing chairs or something!"