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WE'RE HANGIN' WITH HOT TEEN STAR ... LEELEE SOBIESKI! Accomplished
actress Leelee Sobieski has played everything from Joan of Arc to a pre-teen
flirt. She has a cluster of films coming out in rapid-fire succession;
most recently The Glass House and Joy Ride. She also speaks
fluent French and just started college at Brown University. When we spoke
to her in L.A., she looked like a modern Hollywood Golden Girl; in goldish
leather jacket and pants, gold lace tank and the whole package topped
by her long golden hair. However, we learned that this bright young woman
is about much more than her looks. Gracious, when we asked her if she had personal losses in New York, she told us her experiences and asked us about ours. In a very revealing interview she talked about Hollywood's role in these troubled times, her recent films, her studies, about being taped to a chair and therefore missing her Senior prom and her opinion of Joy Ride costar Paul Walker's "beautiful bod". AGW: You have on some interesting jewelry. Leelee: Yeah, my teeth ring, they're not my teeth. They come from the 1920's. I got them at a flea market. I've got hair in this ring from 1791, this girl called Juliana Cromwell who was born in June. Her hair looks just like mine. And I've got a coin with Athena, Goddess of Knowledge on it. AGW: You're a busy girl. Is it good or bad to have so many of your films coming out at the same time (Glass House, Joy Ride, My First Mister)? Leelee: Ideally, I would have them spread out. But there was the (Actor's) strike threat and they held them. But it's kind of fun because there are so many characters (I've played) out at the same time. You get to see my range. Also, I started my first two weeks of Brown University so I'm in college mode. It's funny, it's like 'Oh, okay, I'm going to college. Oh yeah, my film came out yesterday. Whoops, I forgot'. Then the whole world is upside down right now. AGW: Do they know who you are at school? Leelee: Yeah, but they're really nice. At first they were a little bit quizzical. They don't know how they're supposed to act but then they realize that I have ugly toenails that I pick at like them, then they just relax. AGW: What is your major at school? Leelee: Don't know yet. It will probably be Fine Arts. You can create your own major at Brown. It might be a combination of painting and sculpture with literature and film if I can mix those three together. This semester I'm taking a course on Japanese literature in society with a fantastic professor. My teachers are great and I'm taking a studio foundation arts class that's experimenting with all these different medias and a history or art and architecture and inside and outside poetry in relationship to the environment. AGW: Is being in college going to impact your schedule? Leelee: It's difficult right now. I've just started my first two weeks and already I've been away twice. I'm trying to make it work. You've got lots of papers to write and books to read. You go to one less party and do some promotion for your film I guess. I'm taking six months off and not going to work for the first semester. If a fabulous film comes along in the second semester I will do it, take the semester off. I've been working (in films) since I was eleven and it's another half of my life. It's difficult to say while I'm on a train with lots of luck right now, I won't necessarily be able to catch it again. Sometimes really talented people just don't have the luck with them. Like my mom is great writer. Nothing's happened for her. While you have it with you, you have to take advantage of it. Also, it's the experience. If I'm gonna play someone in college, I'd better know what it's like. If I'm gonna play a lawyer I'd better know what a lawyer goes through, the painter, writer, bimbo. I've got to know life to play life. So you sometimes have to take a pause and live it. AGW: Is it refreshing for you to be away from Hollywood in the "normal" world (whatever that is?) Leelee: It's really nice. I'm living in a dorm room and I've got a roommate. I didn't know her until I got to the school and she's really nice. I spoke to her on the telephone when I was working in Paris. (The registration) said my real name, the one on my passport. She said 'Well, does that mean you are Leelee Sobieski the actress?'. I didn't want to say 'no, no. That's not me. This is what I'm really about'. I figured that she'd see me and she'd know so I just said 'uh, yeah'. And she said 'Oh, that's so cool. That's great. I've seen some of your films and read stuff about you and always thought you'd be a cool person' and that was it. That was the end of it. We didn't mention it again and went on with how we are going to decorate our room.
Leelee: I have a nice dorm room. It's got this neon, cold lighting. We're gotta change that. It's terrible. It makes you feel like you're in the hospital. We've got a sink in our room. That's a nice thing. AGW: There were scenes on the news of the big candlelight vigil in Providence. Were you there at school for that? Leelee: Yeah. Everybody went out with candles and stood out. There was an e-mail sent my friends at Berkeley or whatever college they were at that went all over the country. People did that everywhere. AGW: I know you spend a lot of time in New York. Is everyone you know okay there? Leelee: Everybody's okay. My mom was there and I couldn't reach her for a little while but I got in touch with her. Some friends of mine were actually in the building and got out. Some friends were at NYU next door and went to help. They wouldn't let them and they left and then the building fell right where they were standing. But, everybody's okay. AGW: Some people think Hollywood is getting on with things too quickly. Leelee: It's difficult. I was sitting in my room thinking. 'Such 'n such is postponed'. Well what does that mean? So we're only supposed to mourn for one week or two weeks or one month. What does that mean? I almost feel like regular life should continue because I feel that what would make them happy is if all life stopped. It should continue and that, on its own, is a revolt, probably the most powerful one but it's difficult because you'll be okay and then it will hit all of a sudden. On the other hand it bothers me when things are pushed back. One month is not going to make things okay. This is going to be going on for a long time. We have to continue and film is a medium of release from regular life. That's what it always has been. You get transported to another world. AGW: You were at the Toronto Film Festival the weekend before the attack. Leelee: I left before (it happened). Coming out here (to L.A.) my flight number on the way to Los Angeles from Boston was the same. They changed the number. I didn't get back to school until this last Monday. AGW: So you are flying around to promote your films? Leelee: I think airplanes are probably safer now then they ever have been. Everyone is being careful. It's difficult. I got scared on the way to Toronto before anything happened. I was on this really tiny plane and I don't like small planes. They scare me. I went to use the restroom and I opened the door and I opened the cockpit instead! I almost sat down on the pilot's lap and looked for toilet paper. I was like 'I'm sorry', and then I went into the restroom but I shouldn't be able to do that (open the cockpit door). AGW: Regarding Joy Ride. Your director told us that your character changed quite a bit from the original script. What attracted you to the script? Leelee:
It was actually a nicely-chiseled script. It was really scary and really
funny. When I first read it, it was the 'slasher film' era bigtime. And
it was refreshing. This was almost two years ago. I like it a lot and
thought John Dahl was a really brilliant director and I wanted to work
with him. I thought (my character) was a smart chick. AGW: Did it suck to be taped to a chair for a long time? (Leelee's character is tied to a chair by the "bad guy"). Leelee: It was this really thick Saran Wrap and it ended up hurting my arms after a long time. But that wasn't so bad. Every time the chair had to get knocked over, my arm was so bruised because I kept having to land on the arm. When we were doing the reshoots, it would be on the night of my prom. So I'd be 'What time are we finishing tonight? I hope I can get out early'. And then it would be a reshoot that we didn't use. I was 'God, I missed my prom for a scene that's not gonna be in the film'. I just stayed there strapped to the chair and I'd call (my friends) and say, 'Hey guys, is it still happening?' And it's like three in the morning and 'no, the afterparty is kind of not happening anymore. We're all going home'. Oh no! AGW: What did your prom date have to say about that? Leelee: I didn't have a prom date. I would have gone with friends. AGW: When we interviewed your Joy Ride co-star Paul Walker for a film a couple of months ago, he said he saved an article from some magazine because you told the reporter he had a great body. You get to see it in this film. Leelee: (laughs) That was "Movieline" and I said he had the most beautiful body but he really does. It's a perfect body and it's not one of those obnoxious gym bodies. I hate those. I find them so not (hot). I don't even like six-packs. It just doesn't do it for me. I like people that look like real people. (His) is real. It comes from surfing. It comes from life, natural sports, not that 'I'm gonna get that perfect muscle at the gym with my personal trainer'. It's gorgeous. AGW: In
Joy Ride and The Glass House you are looking pretty hot. Leelee: I'm a little bit older now. Wearing a bikini for my scene (in Glass House) worked because my character was really uncomfortable in that situation. She was going swimming and when (guardian) Terry Glass came out she was uncomfortable and it added atmosphere to the film. There's nothing wrong with women being hot. I love Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot or Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That can be appealing. A 'himbo' or a 'bimbo', it can be fun. AGW: Do you think you're hot when you look in the mirror? Leelee: (laughing) Yeah sure. 'Hey, how ya doin'?' I don't know. I think sometimes you'll feel like a slob and then it's 'Okay, I'm doin' all right right now'. Sometimes I'll wear something and I think 'Oh, my God, that's bearing way too much' and laugh. I don't think hot comes from showing skin or looking like something. It comes from the inside. It's warmth and intelligence and a certain suaveness. Of course I'm thinking about a man. AGW: Your next film is My First Mister with Albert Brooks and directed by actress Christine Lahti. Can you tell us a bit about it? Leelee: Albert Brooks is phenomenal. So smart, so funny. My character falls in love with him and it's so easy. He's a really lovable person. It's platonic. It's not older man, younger girl. I've seen that way too many times. It's a friendship. She obsesses over him because he's the first person that's given her love and acceptance of who she is. He's trying to figure her out so he picks up a 'Seventeen' magazine and this woman looks over at him and he says 'Oh, I thought this was about cars' or 'Oh, this is for teenagers' and walks away. He's nervous about the situation. AGW: Was working with Christine Lahti great? Leelee: Because she's an actress, she's good at directing actors. Carol Kane is in the film too and John Goodman, a great cast and she gets nice performances from people. She gave everyone a lot of liberty as well. I was free to jump into different areas. AGW: You are making the transition from child to adult actress. Any concerns? Leelee: I think when that's difficult (for young actors) is maybe when they were on a series where they were only known as one character or they played really cute little kids. I was never a really cute little kid. (Laughs) I would try out for cute little kid parts and I just wouldn't get them. I would try, 'Hey, I'm a really cute little kid. Cast me!' and they were 'Nope, you're not cute'. It wouldn't happen so I don't think it will be difficult. Even when I was younger a lot of the roles that I played had a little bit of sophistication. AGW: Was there a point at which you fell in love with show business? Leelee: I never fell in love with it. There was never a point at which I said 'Oh, my God. I love this' but there was this gradual, creeping up on you, infected with a virus thing where you can't stop. It's one of the best jobs. You get to have so much fun, explore so many different things. You end up falling in love with that. You end up understanding other people better because of where they come from and who they are. It's like a great psych class. And, you travel, like I'll be in the mud in the middle of the Czech Republic or in a fake ghetto in Bratislava when I was doing Uprising and hiding underground in a bunker, all of the different lives you go through. That can be really fascinating. You fall in love with that. AGW: Your character in Joy Ride has a horrible person chasing her. Have you ever had a stalker or weird fan? Leelee: Now I'm going to encourage him. Not really. In a strange way my fans are really nice people. There have been a few people that have been a little bit creepy but they haven't gone to an insane level. It's like "I need a picture with her….now!" There's this really cool guy called Eric Mitchell who has a website that he made for me. He's such a cool guy. He's so nice and smart. If on the website people say things like 'I want to do such-n-such to Leelee' then he'll write back 'That's really disrespectful. I'm sure she doesn't appreciate that'. They've got fun, smart and cynical people. AGW: Are you dating at college? Leelee:
I'm happy to get away from actors. That doesn't sound right. It's nice
to be with "real" people. Maybe I'll find the love of my life
at college. Who knows? I think it's weird when (actors) only go out with
actors. It's nice to be with lots of young, smart people that have so
many goals. Whatever they're interested in, it's just so refreshing and
even when the event happened on Tuesday, we were all sitting in the big
assembly, we were talking and sharing our feelings. To hear everyone's
opinion and have them be so informed and so different was wonderful. That
evening and the evening afterward, it was a beautiful thing because everyone
was respecting everybody else. Everyone had this unity. There was such
an acceptance of everyone's opinion. It's nice to get away from the film industry. It's very exciting but it's also kind of a fake place and it is "la-la land". It is Hollywood but college isn't a real environment either. It's like a bubble but to be in a different bubble is nice.
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AGW:
Your character in Joy Ride had a big dorm room. I remember dorm rooms
being these little cinder block cells. 
