Acting didn't come so natural
On a not unusual day in the early 90's, the Trevor Day School cafeteria was busy feeding a mixture of children and teachers, but on this seemingly normal day there happened to be a casting director with a sharp eye for talent among the mix. Though unbeknownst to anyone, this casting director was about to spark a change in a young girls life.

Leelee Sobieski was just a preteen, but she held a vision - instilled in her by her artistic parents - of what she thought she'd become. Like many her age, she could recite a long list of possible career choices, and those in the top running were following in her parents footsteps. Her dream was to be a writer like Elizabeth, her mom, or a painter like Jean, her father. However when the casting director approached her in her New York City school, Leelee became curious about acting.

"They asked me to come into the casting director's office and meet with them," Leelee says. "I was absolutely awful. I didn't do a very good job. But that's not important. I thought: 'Well, that's kind of strange and I really sucked but it is kind of amusing that, out of the blue, I get asked to do this when it's the last thing I expected, so I might as well give it a try.' And that was kind of my approach. If, all of a sudden, something changes in one direction, I'll give it a try. And then, if
Before long Leelee was getting parts in commercials and guesting in TV shows. What started as a fun curiosity, was becoming a new creative outlet, and was starting to change her life. it works, go for it. If not, then change to another direction. Then I took some acting lessons and started to like it more and more."

To rap it up!
As Leelee's acting ability increased she was seen more and more on TV. She racked up appearances on Grace Under Fire and the TV movies Reunion and A Horse For Danny. Her feature film debut occurred in 1997, when she appeared in Disney's Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen and Martin Short.

In 1998 Leelee's career was taken to new heights by two films. She played Channe Willis, In the independent Merchant-Ivory production of A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. The film won her critical acclaim and boosted her stardom among art-house patrons. In sharp contrast to the limited release of A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, the blockbuster film Deep Impact brought Leelee's likeness to the mainstream audience.

1999 proved to be a banner year for Leelee. She received an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for her role as Joan in the CBS miniseries Joan Of Arc. She costarred in Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore; turning down the role of the popular girl to play the more interesting math nerd. 1999 also saw the much anticipated release of the late Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Leelee appeared opposite Tom Cruise in the role she acted for Kubrick when she was just 14.

Here On Earth-a teen romance set in the woods of Massachusetts-was released in the spring of 2000. Leelee played a girl torn between her childhood sweetheart and a rich prep-school student. In the coming months Leelee can be seen in Fox's thriller Squelch and the independent film My First Mister, costarring Albert Brooks. This year Leelee is scheduled to star with Diane Lane in Glass House.

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By David Campion
http://pyroboy.8m.net