Born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1982, Leelee Sobieski has shot to ingénue stardom in the time it takes to say "Helen Hunt's spitting image." The young actress, who does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Hunt, first came to the attention of art house audiences with her role in A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998). Thanks to her participation in two... (read more) high-profile projects, Deep Impact and Eyes Wide Shut, Sobieski has garnered both widespread recognition and the distinction of being one of the most promising actresses of her generation.
Born and bred in New York City, Sobieski, the eldest of two children, was raised by her father, a French painter, and her mother, a freelance writer. She was "discovered," rather unexpectedly, in her school's cafeteria by Woody Allen's casting director. With the encouragement of her parents, Sobieski began auditioning, trying out at one point for the part that went to Kirsten Dunst in Interview With the Vampire. She landed her first screen role in the 1997 Tim Allen comedy Jungle 2 Jungle, and then was cast as Channe in Merchant/Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998). Sobieski drew raves for the depth and intelligence of her performance and was further rewarded with another leading role, that of Joan of Arc in the 1999 TV miniseries Joan of Arc. Sobieski then turned her back on typical ingénue roles with her portrayal of a geek queen in the Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed. The film's producers had originally wanted Sobieski for the role of the most popular girl in school, but the actress had insisted on that of her antithesis, a choice that reflected her desire to take on more unconventional roles. This choice was made further apparent with her casting in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, in which Sobieski had a brief but memorable appearance as the silent, flirtatious daughter of a costume-shop owner.
In 2000 Sobieski returned to more conventional fare with Here on Earth, a romantic drama in which she starred as a young woman coping with first love and terminal illness. That same year, she could be seen in the teen thriller Squelch and My First Mister, a romantic comedy that featured her as a recent high-school grad who develops a crush on her much older boss (Albert Brooks). Gaining notice for her increasing ability to carry a movie, Sobieski earned her first million-dollar salary that same year for her role in the thriller The Glass House, followed shortly thereafter by another prominent role in the throwback CB thriller Joy Ride. A Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 2001 World War II drama Uprising served well to balance out such lukewarm efforts as the 2001 thriller The Glass House and the 2003 literary adaptation Dangerous Liaisons, and on the heels of a fairly forgettable 2005 Sobieski took a trip to a neo-pagan island where nothing is really as it seems in the Neil LaBute-directed remake The Wicker Man. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Public Enemies
R 2009
Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling...

88 Minutes
R 2008
Jon Avnet directs Al Pacino in the thriller 88 Minutes. Pacino plays university professor Jack Gramm, who occasionally assists the FBI in matters of forensic...

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
PG13 2008
Uwe Boll's fantasy adventure film In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale stars Jason Statham as Farmer, a simple man from the Kingdom of Ehb whose goal as...

Night Train
R 2008
A train conductor (Danny Glover), a pre-med student (LeeleeSobieski), and a fast-talking salesman (Steve Zahn) find their greed clashing with their better judgment after...
Acts of Violence
2008
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Finding Bliss
R 2008
An award-winning film school graduate is forced to confront her sexual hang-ups when she makes the move to Los Angeles and reluctantly becomes an editor at a profitable...

Walk All Over Me
R 2007
A trouble-prone teen navigates a treacherous world of witless gangsters and latex fetish wear in director/screenwriter Robert Cuffley's quirky comic noir. When Alberta...

The Wicker Man
PG13 2006
A young child has gone missing and it's up to a haunted but determined policeman to travel to the remote island community where she was last seen and solve the lingering mystery...

In a Dark Place
R 2006
A young nanny makes a terrifying discovery about the children she is charged with caring for in first-time director Donato Rotunno's unsettling take on {-The Turn of the...

London
R 2005
A party becomes a metaphor for the wasted lives of a handful of young hipsters in this edgy independent drama. Syd (Chris Evans) awakes from the latest in a long series...

Hercules
2005
Advertised as telling the tale of "The Man Behind the Myth," the expensive-looking but economically produced NBC miniseries Hercules stars Paul Telfer as the musclebound...

Heavens Fall
PG13 2005
The tragic court case that forever altered the course of American jurisprudence is dramatized for the screen in this courtroom docudrama starring Timothy Hutton, David...

Dangerous Liaisons
2003
French filmmaker Josée Dayan directs the erotic drama Les Liaisons Dangereuses, based on the 18th century novel by Choderlos de Laclos and updated by screenwriter...
Frasier: Enemy at the Gate
2002
The scene is a parking garage, where a defiant Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) takes a stand -- and blocks traffic -- when he feels he's being unjustly charged for a full 20...

The Idol
2002
A French apartment building's natural order is disrupted by a young, melodramatic touring actress in The Idol, the third film from director Samantha Lang. Sarah (Leelee...

Max
R 2002
In the wake of his rise to power, Adolf Hitler became known as perhaps the most villainous and destructive political leader of the 20th century. But what was he like before he...

The Glass House
PG13 2001
This teen psychological thriller marks the feature film debut of respected television producer and director Daniel Sackheim. Leelee Sobieski stars as Ruby Baker, a high...

My First Mister
R 2001
A first feature from acclaimed actress Christine Lahti (who won an Academy Award for her short film Lieberman in Love in 1995), My First Mister explores the delicate...

Joy Ride
R 2001
After forays into film noir, thrillers, dramas, and even documentaries, director John Dahl tries the teen horror genre on for size. Paul Walker stars as Lewis Thomas, a...

Uprising
2001
Uprising is based on the true story of the Jewish Fighting Organization, a courageous band of youthful Polish guerrillas and freedom fighters who refused to knuckle under to...