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Leelee Sobieski (born Liliane Rudabet
Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1983) is an American
actress.
Early life: Sobieski was born in New York City;
her first name, "Liliane", was the name of her
paternal grandmother. Sobieski's French father, Jean
Sobieski, is a painter who appeared in French and
Italian spaghetti Westerns during his youth, as well as
dated actress Jean Seberg. Her mother, Elizabeth
Salomon, is an American writer who also works as
Sobieski's manager. She has a younger brother, Roby.
Sobieski's late maternal grandfather,
United States Navy captain Robert Salomon, was Jewish
and Sobieski grew up exposed to the Jewish religion. She
has noted that her "great, great, great, great
uncle" was John III Sobieski, "the last [sic]
king of Poland".Sobieski speaks fluent French,
although she does not speak Polish. Her father currently
lives in France.
Sobieski has described her upbringing as
"bohemian", having often attended Shakespeare
in the Park and art galleries in SoHo during her
childhood. During this time, she spent her summers in
her paternal grandfather's ranch in the Camargue.
Career: Sobieski rose to fame in her mid-teens
with her appearance in the movie Deep Impact (1998) and
went on to play a modern Lolita in Stanley Kubrick's
Eyes Wide Shut (Released in 1999, although she was not
even fifteen when her nymphet-like scenes were shot),
which led to the forming of a firm friendship with the
director. 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 TV movie Uprising
(2001).
Sobieski's fluency in French landed her roles in the
Merchant Ivory Film A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries
(1998), L'Idole (2002) and the miniseries Les Liaisons
dangereuses (2003) with Catherine Deneuve and Rupert
Everett, an adaptation of Laclos's classic novel of
sexual intrigue.
Other movies she has starred in include Jungle 2 Jungle
(1997), Never Been Kissed (1999), Here on Earth (2000),
My First Mister (2001), The Glass House (2001), Uprising
(2001), Joy Ride (2001), Max (2002), Hercules (NBC,
2005), and alongside Nicolas Cage in the remake of The
Wicker Man directed by Neil LaBute. One of her upcoming
film roles is alongside Al Pacino in Jon Avnet's 88
Minutes.
An attractive blonde teen player of TV and film who
bears a passing resemblance to Helen Hunt, Leelee
Sobieski achieved her big screen breakthrough in 1998 as
Elijah Wood's young bride in the disaster-themed hit
"Deep Impact" and as the daughter of an
expatriate family in the Merchant-Ivory production
"A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries".
The latter in particular offered the
young actress a meaty role as she took her character
from puberty through adolescence and the scenes she
shared with her onscreen father (Kris Kristofferson),
who offered guidance without judgment, were quite
moving. Sobieski demonstrated a maturity beyond her
years that ranked with other former child players like
Hunt and Jodie Foster.
The daughter of artist and a novelist, she was
christened Liliane which was shortened to Leelee. Raised
on a ranch in the Carmarque region of France and in
Manhattan, Sobieski was spotted by a casting director
who was visiting her school and was cast as Marlo
Thomas' daughter in the 1994 CBS TV-movie
"Reunion.” She then played the daughter of a
detective (Mark Harmon) in "Charlie Grace"
(ABC, 1995) and made guest appearances on such sitcoms
as "Grace Under Fire" and "The Home
Court". Sobieski moved to features as Martin
Short's daughter in Disney's "Jungle2Jungle"
(1997) before landing her star-making roles.
Director Stanley Kubrick also tapped the
rising starlet for a supporting role in his
much-anticipated "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999). The
actress also earned critical plaudits and a Best Actress
Emmy nomination for her strong portrayal of "Joan
of Arc" in the 1999 CBS miniseries, though her
pronouncement that she was the first virgin to play Joan
gave grist to the tabloid mill.
Sobieski continued her fast and inexhaustible rise with
a leading role opposite Chris Klein in the teen romantic
drama, “Here on Earth” (2000), then played Tosia
Altman, a young Jewish woman who sees her family
deported to a Nazi death camp and joins the resistance
movement inside the Warsaw ghetto in the NBC miniseries,
“Uprising” (2001). Back in the feature world, she
had a banner year in 2001, starring in the psychological
thriller, “The Glass House,” the cross-country road
thriller “Joy Ride” and the dark comedy “My First
Mister,” playing a tattooed Goth girl who falls into
an unlikely friendship with her rigid, middle-aged boss
(Albert Brooks). In “Max” (2002), a fictional look
at the life of Adolf Hitler as a failed artist before
his rise to power, Sobieski was the tantalizing mistress
of an art dealer (John Cusack) trying to convince the
future Führer to channel his dark thoughts into his
paintings.
Though prominent onscreen throughout 2000-2001, Sobieski
began to settle into the background because of her
matriculation at Brown University. Her career as a
student, however, lasted only a year, as she put college
on hold to return to acting. After appearing as the
young Cécile Volanges in a miniseries version of the
oft-adapted “Dangerous Liaisons” (Women’s
Entertainment Television, 2004), she costarred in the
NBC movie-of-the-week, “Hercules” (2004), playing
the half-man, half-god’s main squeeze, Deianeira.
Returning to features, she was part of
an ensemble that included Nicolas Cage in “The Wicker
Man” (2006), playing the curiously-named Sister Honey
in a remake of the 1973 horror classic. She then signed
on to star opposite John Rhys-Davies in “Dungeon
Siege” (2006), an adaptation of the epic fantasy video
game.
Personal life: Sobieski attended Brown University
but dropped out after two and a half years. She is an
ardent fan of Nina Simone and has a half Yorkshire
Terrier, half Pomeranian dog named after her. In an
August 30, 2006 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno, she mentioned that she is currently single and has
a younger brother (Roby) attending Princeton University.
Cultural references: Because of her resemblance
to actress Helen Hunt, they were both pitted against
each other on the 59th episode of the satirical
claymation television series, Celebrity Deathmatch. Nine
Days released a song "Leelee" in tribute to
Sobieski. In the song "Wonder (If She'll Get
It)" by Superchick, Sobieski and one of her movies,
"Here on Earth", were mentioned. |
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