Leelee Sobieski
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski (born June 10, 1982 in New York City), better known as Leelee (or LeeLee) Sobieski, is an American actress. Her father, Jean Sobieski (a painter), was born in France to Polish parents who claim descent from 17th century Polish King Jan Sobieski, although the Sobieski family tree does not support this claim as Jan Sobieski died without any heirs. Her mother, Elizabeth Salomon, is a writer of Jewish-American descent.
She 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 Leelee was not even seventeen 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 a Golden Globe nomination and a second nomination followed her portrayal of Tosia Altman in the TV movie Uprising (2001).
Leelee speaks fluent French which enabled her to land roles in L'Idole (2002), A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998), and the miniseries Les Liaisons dangereuses (2003), an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's classic novel of sexual intrigue. Other movies Leelee 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).
In March 2008, Leelee began dating actor Matt Davis. In September of the same year, they got married, but filed for divorce just two months later - The divorce was finalised in February 2009.
On May 28, 2009, Leelee married her fashion designer boyfriend Adam Kimmel in a small private ceremony in New York, attended only by family and close friends. The couple chose to keep news of their marriage private, and did not make the news public until June 24, the day after Leelee appeared at the premiere for her new movie, Public Enemies, where observent fans spotted that she was wearing a gold wedding band. On September 15, 2009, after several weeks speculation on fansites and gossip blogs, the newlyweds confirmed that Leelee was several months pregnant with their first child. On December 16, 2009, Leelee gave birth to a daughter, Louisanna Ray Kimmel, in New York City.
Having retired from acting, she now works full-time as an artist under her married name of Leelee Kimmel.
Trivia
- Despite the strong sexual content of a number of her movies, Leelee has admitted in interviews that she remained a virgin until her wedding night in September 2008.
- In My First Mister, Leelee's character, Jennifer, is a tattooed and multiply-pierced Goth. Although sporting quite a number of facial and other piercings, she notable does not have pierced earlobes - to which a reference is made during the movie. Coincidentally, at the time the movie was shot, Leelee herself did not have pierced earlobes, as she did not have them pierced until 2006 at the age of 24. She did, however, have both nostrils, both eyebrows, her lower lip, the cartilage of both ears and her navel temporarily pierced especially for the movie, but removed the piercings once filming was completed.
- She enjoys painting, ceramics, poetry, martial arts and horseback riding.
- She is the youngest actress ever to portray Joan of Arc in a movie and, because of that, the one who is the closest to the real age of the historical figure at the time the story takes place. She also stated in interviews that hers was the most realistic performance, as she was still a virgin at the time the movie was made.
- She was discovered by a casting director in her New York City school cafeteria.
- She didn't get her ears pierced until 2006, when she had them done at the age of 24 especially to be able to wear a pair of valuable antique earrings given to her by her then-boyfriend, Frank E. Flowers. The earrings were made for pierced ears, and he didn't realise that she'd not had hers done, but Leelee liked them so much she decided to have her ears pierced so that she could wear them.
- She used to collect locks of hair from major stars appearing with her in films. Tom Cruise refused to participate when filming Eyes Wide Shut.
- She registered to vote in the 2008 Presidential election under what was then her married name of Liliane Davis. The name presently (2010) on her driving license is her current married name - Liliane Kimmel.
- In 2003, during a publicity visit to Europe to promote the TV mini-series Dangerous Liaisons, she made an appearance on Dutch TV where she acted as the assistant to magician Hans Klok in two illusions. First, she was sawed in half in the Impossible Sawing illusion, and then had her head cut off in the Block Beheading illusion.
- An Australian girl band called Primitive Whore wrote and performed a song called "Why Leelee Won't Love Me".
- Her younger brother, Robert "Roby" Sobieski (born 1988), is a magician who sometimes performs at the famous Magic castle. For his 16th birthday in 2004, his parents gave him a Thin Model sawing illusion, and Leelee agreed to be his assistant as he learned how to perform it. Over the years, Leelee has continued to be his occasional assistant in the sawing in half and other tricks such as the Zig Zag Girl.
Quotes
- "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."
- (On getting her ears pierced at the age of 24) "It didn't hurt like I thought it would, but it still feels a bit weird - and I'm still getting used to the thought that I've now got bits of metal going through holes in my earlobes that weren't there when I woke up this morning, but I guess I'll get used to that..."
- "My kid brother, Roby, is a really keen magician, and for his last birthday my parents decided to give him a box for sawing people in half. As I'd already been sawed in half before, he asked me if I'd help him practice it, so I spent the next few days letting him saw me in half over and over - I think he sawed me in half about forty or fifty times until he got the performance of it right."