Leelee Sobieski: A Big Start for a Little Girl
On June 10, 1983, a blond, blue-eyed baby was given a whopper of a name. Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski made her debut. "Liliane is the name of my father's mother," explained Leelee Sobieski. "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." The family roots don't end there. It seems the Sobieski family is also a direct descendant of Polish royalty. According to Leelee, "Many generations back 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."
Leelee Sobieski's artistic roots:
Leelee Sobieski grew up in New York City's Upper West Side. Even thought they traveled frequently to France to spend time with her father's family there, Leelee said, "We were never very wealthy, but we had the luxury of going to Häagen-Dazs and getting ice cream." Leelee grew up attending art galleries and Shakespearean plays with her family. Understandably, as a young preteen, Leelee Sobieski looked forward to becoming a writer like her mom or a painter like her dad.
Leelee Sobieski gives new meaning to preteen drama.
I can just picture a young Leelee Sobieski trying to swap her broccoli for her neighbor's ice cream bar in the school cafeteria when Woody Allen's casting director approached and effectively opened up another world.
"They asked me to come into the casting director's office and meet with them," Ms. Sobieski 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."
She auditioned for a role in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), but lost the role to Kirsten Dunst. That was hardly the end of the story for Leelee Sobieski. She kept studying her newfound craft and before long she landed parts in commercials and TV shows.
"I did try to get a few of those teen high-school movies, but they just didn't like me. I guess I wasn't a certain type." -Leelee Sobieski
Leelee Sobieski's big Impact.
A few years later, in 1998, Leelee Sobieski starred opposite Elijah Wood in Deep Impact, garnering her great reviews. Her work in the film brought her to the attention of many casting directors, earning her the lead in Joan of Arc for which she received an Emmy nomination. She also began shooting with Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.
She went on to star with other big names like Drew Barrymore, Diane Lane and Josh Hartnett. It seems that, despite her incredible success in such a short time, Leelee Sobieski has hardly become the typical drama queen. Rather, the young star seems to have kept to her somewhat Bohemian roots.
"I think when you're doing a lead role, there is so much more pressure. If you fail, not only do you fail, but everybody else fails, too. As opposed to when it's a supporting role and it's only you that sucked." Leelee Sobieski
After watching her excellent work alongside Johnny Depp in Public Enemies, I don't think that's something she needs to worry about.
Leelee Sobieski: And now?
Leelee Sobieski is currently engaged to fashion designer Adam Kimmel and just gave birth to a baby girl, named Louisanna Ray Kimmel on Dec. 15, 2009.
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