Even though you may not have heard from her as much in recent years,
the good news is that LeeLee Sobieski is living a happy life out of the public eye
along with her family. Here's what really happened to Leelee Sobieski.
Leelee Sobieski was a little girl when she started her acting career.
As noted by the New York Daily News, Sobieski was just 11 when she was discovered in her
school cafeteria by a casting agent. Her career started off slowly in made-for-TV
movies before she landed her big break in the 1997 comedy Jungle 2 Jungle.
While Sobieski had always thought she'd follow a creative path,
following in the footsteps of her artistic parents, acting was not a medium she had thought
of pursuing until the opportunity fell in her lap, telling the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 1999 -
"It was like, this deck of cards and all these chips had been dropped in front of me,
so why not play poker?"
Sobieski took acting lessons and learned the ins and outs of the craft,
setting her down a road that would lead to stardom.
Sobieski racked up a slew of film and television credits in the '90s.
One of her best known roles is that of Aldys in 1999's Never Been Kissed,
which she starred in alongside screen legend Drew Barrymore.
Sobieski didn't shy away from challenging parts, either. That same year she starred in
the titular role in the miniseries Joan of Arc, in which her character was burned at the stake;
she also appeared in Eyes Wide Shut playing a teenage sex worker. It was a difficult subject
matter for someone so young, and Vice noted that since Sobieski was just 14 when she filmed
the movie, she wasn't even allowed to be aware of the full context of her role until she was older.
Leelee Sobieski's momentum carried her through to the 2000s. She starred in a number of productions
at the turn of the millennium, like the films Here on Earth, and My First Mister. Sobieski also had
arcs on several television shows during this time as well, adding to her already impressive resume.
For a time, it looked like Sobieski would remain one of Hollywood's brightest stars for years to
come. And while Sobieski's career continued throughout the 2000s, it had slowed down by
this point. Then the actress only appeared in a handful of roles in the 2010s, and
most of them were in shows rather than films. By the time she was 16, Sobieski was a bona fide
star. And while her early success may have seemed fortuitous, it also prevented her from having a
normal youth. As noted by The New York Times, Sobieski found herself juggling school and her
career, and it wasn't unusual for her to head to a photoshoot straight from school without
having time to change her clothes. That's when she was able to go to school at all — when filming,
Sobieski had to keep up with her classes through the assistance of an on-set tutor.
Sobieski wasn't even able to attend her high school prom because she was filming Joy Ride.
The film's director, John Dahl told The Baltimore Sun that the filmmakers felt bad about her missing
out. The crew all pitched in to buy Sobieski flowers, and Dahl praised her attitude about it,
but it was just one more way that Sobieski had to grow up too fast.
Sobieski felt not only the weight of fame but also the responsibility,
telling AnOther that she took over paying rent for her family's home at the tender age of 15.
Even though Leelee Sobieski was a successful actress by the time she was in her teens, she
always wanted to keep her options open. In 2001, the 19-year-old actress decided to attend college
at Brown University, even moving into a dorm where she shared a room, telling the Baltimore Sun -
"If I'm going to have the college experience, now's my time to do it,"
Sobieski continued to act while she was in school, in spite of people doubting
that she could make it work. Sobieski was determined however, telling The Morning Call -
"It's very important to me."
Sobieski enrolling in college was about more than achieving a milestone - she was
also able to nurture other artistic talents at school. While ArtNet noted that Sobieski
didn't finish her degree in visual arts at Brown University, taking the time to explore
that passion for art would prove to be of critical importance in Sobieski's life.
Despite the fact that she got her start in the industry at a young age, Leelee Sobieski was
never very comfortable being a public figure. In a 2001 interview with the New York Daily News,
Sobieski expressed ambivalence about her growing fame. While she expressed that it'd
be nice to be a bigger star, she added that she would also be fine with not being one.
Sobieski said that she never thought that she would become so well-known, confessing that she'd
be perfectly fine if she never acted again as she had other interests she wanted to pursue, saying -
"I hope to do many things in my life."
That same year, Sobieski told The Baltimore Sun that she didn't like
the fact that her salary had become public knowledge. Dealing with issues like that,
it's not surprising that as she grew older, Sobieski also grew more private.
While Sobieski continued acting through the 2000s, many of the films she appeared
in were not well received. Here on Earth was released in 2000 and was snubbed by critics,
holding a score of just 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Other films she appeared in,
notably In the Name of the King: Dungeon Siege were similarly ill-received, and for good reason.
"You've poisoned me, you've killed me!"
"Don't be so melodramatic."
"Ahhhhh!"
Sobieski even received two Razzie nominations in 2009 for worst actress for her roles in 88 Minutes
and In the Name of the King: Dungeon Siege. It was a surprising turn of events for the talented
actress, who was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2000 for her role in Joan of Arc,
and again in 2002 for her part in Uprising.
A succession of poorly received films would be daunting for any actor, but Sobieski had
other reasons for leaving the acting industry. Sobieski tied the knot in 2010 with menswear
designer Adam Kimmel. At the time of their marriage, the couple already had a daughter
named Louisianna, and a son, Martin, followed in 2014. Sobieski threw herself into motherhood
and married life, and it was a huge part of the reason she said goodbye to her acting career.
In 2012, Sobieski told Vogue that she was happy to be focusing on her real life.
At the time, she was just on a break from acting,
but the groundwork for her retirement from the industry was already there, telling the outlet -
"Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people,
and I don't want to do that."
Four years later, it was clear that Sobieski didn't regret her decision to
step away from Hollywood, telling Us Weekly -
"I [...] am just a mom and an outsider [to the film industry]."
She added that wanting to focus on her children was the main reason she quit acting.
For people who view the profession of an actor as a glamorous and enviable job,
it can be hard to understand why someone would want to leave it all behind.
For Leelee Sobieski, though, being a star was never something she'd really aspired to.
"You might try to enjoy the life you have."
"I just sometimes long for something more."
Things may have been different if Sobieski had truly been passionate about acting,
but while it was something she enjoyed, it was never something that she felt compelled to pursue.
Sobieski explained to AnOther that for her,
acting was more about paying the bills than anything else, saying -
"Acting was never my passion, unless I was working with someone really interesting and smart."
After leaving her acting career behind,
Sobieski grew more candid about the difficulties of the profession. In an interview with AnOther,
Sobieski made reference to many of the flaws in the acting industry.
She also revealed that she hated kissing scenes so much that each one drove her to tears, explaining
that she hated kissing someone she disliked, but that being paid to kiss someone she did like
wasn't much better. Kissing scenes were especially difficult for Sobieski because she was so young.
"You're putting the moves on my 12 year old daughter, OK?"
"That's just not true!"
"Well there see, see maybe you're overreacting Richard."
"I was putting the moves on him!" Some of her earliest kisses were
on film, blurring the line between acting and reality. Sobieski said-
"It might have been acting, but it was real for me."
Sobieski's experiences were so traumatizing that she challenged the idea of children even being
allowed to act at all, pointing out the double standard that children aren't allowed to work in
many professions but that they're able to act. While Sobieski's acting resume lists a credit as
late as 2018, her comeback isn't what it looks like. The Turkish TV movie Amerikali Kiz might
have been released internationally in 2018, but the film was actually released in 2009 in Turkey.
Sobieski also had a role in 2016's The Last Film Festival, but, again, the movie was filmed years
before its wide release. Per IndieWire, the film stars Dennis Hopper in his final role. Director
Linda Yellen explained in a statement on the film's Kickstarter page that filming had stopped
after Hopper passed away. This, combined with funding issues, led to its delayed completion.
Sobieski's true last roles date back to 2012 when she appeared in the movie Branded and
on the show NYC 22. By that point, she already knew that she wanted to step away from acting,
but told ArtNet that she took on her final acting role because she was in need of the money.
While Sobieski told Us Weekly in 2016 that she might consider a return to acting one day,
she's seemed happier to pursue a different creative field:
art. At the time, Sobieski's painting wasn't known to many people,
but it wasn't long before she'd launched an art career exhibiting and selling her work.
While it may seem like an odd transition, Sobieski did study visual arts in college,
telling AnOther in 2018 that she'd been painting for much of her life, and added -
"I always acted to be able to afford paints."
Even when she was acting, Sobieski was constantly painting, going so far as to
line her trailers with plastic so she could paint on breaks from filming, explaining to Artnet -
"Painting was always my goal; I just kept getting distracted with work things and paying bills."
Sobieski's been well-received in the art world, holding art shows featuring virtual
reality pieces and 3D-printed sculptures in addition to paintings she created.
Leelee Sobieski may be a respected figure in the art community, but she still chooses to
stay out of the limelight. While she does have social media, she rarely posts; her Instagram
account is mostly art-related, offering very little insight into her personal life.
The desire for a life out of the public eye seems to be one shared by her husband,
Adam Kimmel. While Kimmel may not have been as well known as his wife,
people have speculated about his whereabouts just as they have wondered what happened to Sobieski.
It even prompted a GQ Style article about what had happened to him.
The simple answer is that, like his wife, Kimmel retired from the
public eye and is focused on his family. Leelee Sobieski has no regrets about leaving
the pressures of Hollywood behind. She's quite happy to focus on her art and raise her family,
making an effort to avoid not just the spotlight but also the pressures of technology.
In an interview with Oprah.com, Sobieski said that she makes a point of disconnecting one day a week.
From Friday night to Saturday night, Sobieski and her family turn off their phones, internet,
and even TV. When they first started doing this, they realized that they were able to
spend more quality time in nature and with loved ones, and live in the moment more.
Sounds like an issue a lot of us are dealing with nowadays.
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