Leelee Sobieski appeared to be a typical New Yorker running errands in the Big Apple on Thursday, dressed casually in a hoodie, Zamberlan sneakers and a John Deere baseball cap.
Other passersby didn’t seem to notice that they were walking by a woman who was once hailed as Hollywood’s most attractive young actress, having starred in several successful films, such as Eyes Wide Shut, Never Been Kissed, and Here on Earth.
Sobieski, now 42, seemed to be ubiquitous in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ready to emerge as one of her generation’s defining stars, but she abruptly vanished from the public eye.
Ten years have passed since Sobieski last appeared on film. The New York native is now a married mother of two who works as an abstract painter in Red Hook, a trendy industrial area of Brooklyn.
Additionally, friends say she doesn’t regret leaving Hollywood.
“Leelee is content with her new life in Brooklyn,” a pal told the Daily Mail.She was raised close by, and it has always been a happy location for her. She is excited to raise her children there.
On Thursday, Leelee Sobieski appeared to be a typical New Yorker while running errands in Manhattan.
Since 2019, the mother of two, who now lives in Brooklyn, has not been spotted on a red carpet.
“She feels the city has so much to offer as far as culture and she likes to connect to people there,” the friend continued. Sobieski was once one of Hollywood’s most celebrated rising stars, even starring alongside heavyweight Tom Cruise in 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut.
Sobieski, a former Ivy Leaguer who attended Brown University to study literature and fine art, blends in far better with Big Apple bohemians than with Tinseltown insiders.
Leelee’s friend told Daily Mail, “A lot of people don’t know this about her, but she is an intellectual who attended college and has a very keen mind. She is curious about the arts, history, languages, is fluent in French, and her mind is always hungry for information.”
“They added, “She finds like-minded people in New York City.” “She prefers more grounded things than glitz and superstars.
Since 2010, Sobieski has been wed to fashion designer Adam Kimmel. The couple has two children: an 11-year-old son named Martin and a 16-year-old daughter named Lewi.
The former actress fell in love with painting at a young age and frequently paints under her married name, Leelee Kimmel.
“She loved painting more than acting,” the insider said, alluding to Sobieski’s renowned artist father, Jean Sobieski. “She started painting at a young age because her father was a painter.”
The former actress, Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski, was found while still in school by a talent scout.
Living in bohemian Brooklyn with her husband and two kids, the former actress enjoys her life.
In 2007, Sobieski was photographed on the red carpet. When a talent scout found the New York native while she was still in school, she was lifted out of obscurity.
The celebrity starred alongside Paul Walker in the 2002 film Joy Ride.
At the age of fifteen, she landed her first significant role opposite Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, and Morgan Freeman in the 1998 catastrophe picture Deep Impact.
Soon after, Sobieski was cast opposite Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Stanley Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut.
Then came prominent roles in teen films that defined the era, such as Joy Ride with Paul Walker, Here on Earth with Josh Hartnett, and Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore.
Sobieski kept up her acting career into the 2010s, making brief appearances in television series including The Good Wife, but her time at Brown University and her love of painting caused her career to stall.
She last appeared on screen with Dennis Hopper in the comedy The Last Film Festival in 2016.
The last time she was spotted on the red carpet was in 2019.
According to her pal, Sobieski now won’t talk about her Hollywood co-stars or her time in the spotlight despite having a successful career.
They told Daily Mail, “She would prefer not to discuss her Hollywood past; that is a phase that is behind her.” She may act once more in the future, but for now, she is content with her existence. She adores the bohemian way of living.
Deep Impact (1998) was Sobieski’s first significant role. Elijah Wood and Tea Leoni costarred with her.
The actress who starred alongside Drew Barrymore in the 1999 teen romantic comedy Never Been Kissed
In the 2000 teen romance Here on Earth, Sobieski costarred with Josh Hartnett.
Her most recent red carpet appearance was at the 2019 AmfAR Gala in New York City.
Sobieski’s painting career is still continuing strong. “Fans push her to talk about her old Hollywood days and what Paul Walker and Tom Cruise were like, but she was a kid when she made films with those guys, that was another life for her, another ‘vibration’ as she would say,” the friend continued. The former actress was photographed on Thursday.
Sobieski had previously discussed her experiences in Tinseltown, but she is now reticent about it.
“Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don’t want to do that,” she clarified in a 2012 Vogue interview.
In Another Magazine, she went into further detail, claiming that intimate scenes made her feel “really cheap” and acknowledging that she would cry during filming romantic scenes because they were too painful and real.
“It’s kind of a gross industry—well, when you look at them all—but you’re selling your appearance so much when you act,” she remarked.
Every time I had to kiss someone, I would cry because I couldn’t handle it. I would think, “I don’t like this person, so I don’t want to kiss them,” or “I like this person, so I don’t think they should pay me to kiss them.” Why am I selling my kiss? I felt so cheap because of that.
“I was confused because it was my first or third kiss, so even though it was acting, it felt real to me.”
She did not regret her acting career, though, as she stated in an open interview with Artnet News in 2018: “I had a really happy childhood, and had a lot of fun, and did some work that I feel good about.”
In 2018, she debuted as a solo artist with Channels at The Journal Gallery in Williamsburg. Her first UK exhibition, Wormhole, took place at Simon Lee Gallery in London.
Sobieski uses her married name, Leeelee Kimmel, on her Instagram account to share her paintings.
Pictured in Connecticut in 2012, the celebrity and her spouse, Adam Kimmel, have been raising their son Martin (2014) and daughter Lewi (born 2009) away from the spotlight.
In the meantime, Sobieski’s artistic career is currently flourishing.
In 2018, she debuted as a solo artist with Channels at The Journal Gallery in Williamsburg. Her first UK exhibition, Wormhole, took place at Simon Lee Gallery in London.
She has also had exhibitions in Shanghai and Los Angeles, as well as at Almine Rech in Paris.
Her large-scale abstract paintings have reportedly sold for five figures, indicating that collectors have taken notice.
But her artistic career isn’t primarily driven by money. Instead, it’s the creative pleasure that comes from painting. She has always been a painter first, but she values her time in Hollywood and wouldn’t exchange it for anything because it shaped who she is. She is drawn to painting because it stimulates her creativity, according to her acquaintance.
Sobieski has been contacted by The Daily Mail for comment.
