Leelee Sobieski resurfaced in New York City on Wednesday for a rare public outing, turning heads on her 43rd birthday after vanishing from the spotlight for years.Once Tinseltown’s golden girl, Sobieski ruled late?90s screens, starring in blockbusters like Deep Impact, teen rom-coms like Never Been Kissed, and cult thrillers like Joy Ride.She rubbed elbows with A-listers from Tom Cruise to Drew Barrymore and racked up Emmy and Golden Globe nods, cementing her status as one of the era’s hottest young stars. Even Stanley Kubrick noticed, handpicking her for Eyes Wide Shut at just 14.By the 2010s, film roles had dried up, guest spots on TV dwindled, and Sobieski quietly slipped out of Hollywood altogether by 2016.A few years later, she reemerged in Manhattan as an abstract painter, working under her married name, Leelee Kimmel.Now, the former It Girl is commanding attention once again – but this time in a pared-down skirt-and-shirt combo, a far cry from the glittering red-carpet gowns of her heyday. Leelee Sobieski resurfaced in New York City on Wednesday for a rare public outing The former It Girl is commanding attention once again – but this time in a pared-down skirt-and-shirt combo, a far cry from the glittering red-carpet gowns of her heyday Dressed in a white long-sleeved top tucked into a baby blue skirt, Sobieski kept things effortlessly chic, wearing her sandy-blonde hair swept back in a simple style.At one point, she stopped to speak with two officials in the park, her striking features and model-like stature serving as a reminder of why Hollywood once saw her as its next big thing.Born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski in New York City, Sobieski was discovered by a talent scout while still in school.By her mid?teens, she was lighting up screens in hits like Deep Impact (which grossed over $349 million worldwide), Here on Earth, and Joy Ride, sharing scenes with stars like Paul Walker and Josh Hartnett.Her starring role in the TV miniseries Joan of Arc wasn’t just another gig – it made her the youngest actress ever to play the iconic saint and earned her Emmy and Golden Globe nods at just 16.Critics noticed: Variety called her ‘technically skilled’, and Young Artist Award groups praised her early standout performances.She pushed herself into riskier, adult roles too – from the thriller The Glass House to indie experiments like Lying – proving she could pivot from commercial hits to art?house fare.Yet even as applause followed, something about the industry rubbed her the wrong way.After years of feeling uncomfortable with the industry, Sobieski walked away from acting and never looked back. In a 2012 Vogue interview she explained: ‘Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don’t want to do that.’She doubled down in Another Magazine, saying intimate scenes made her feel ‘really cheap’ and admitting she would cry while filming romantic scenes because they felt too real and uncomfortable. ‘I started paying the rent on our house when I was 15, so I had a lot of pressure and things got complicated for me… So when I could, I stopped,’ she said.’It’s kind of a gross industry – well, they all are, when you examine them – but in acting you’re selling your appearance so much. ‘I would cry every time I had to kiss somebody; I couldn’t stomach it. I would think ‘I like this person, so I don’t think they should pay me to kiss them,’ or ‘I don’t like this person, so I don’t want to kiss them’. Why is my kiss for sale?’ It made me feel really cheap.’“It might have been acting, but it was real for me as it was my first or third kiss, so it was confusing for me.’I don’t know why it’s legal for a child to act unless they can sell oranges or whatever legally too. It’s a crazy double standard and that’s super weird for me. At the peak of her powers in late?90s Hollywood, Sobieski was everywhere – the It Girl directors swooned over, the Oscar buzz machine’s next big thing, and the name you had to know; (pictured 2007) She shared screens with heavyweights from Tom Cruise to Drew Barrymore, racking up Emmyand Golden Globenods that made her a serious contender for Hollywood’s A-list crown; (pictured with Cruise in 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut) The actress seen here with Chris Klein in Heaven On Earth in 2000 Born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski in New York City, Sobieski was discovered by a talent scout while still in school – basically a real-life casting fairy tale; (pictured 2000) In a 2012 Vogue interview she dropped what felt like a truth bomb: ‘Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don’t want to do that.’ (pictured 2002 in Joy Ride)’Now that the MeToo movement has come forward, people understand more that it’s pretty gross and uncomfortable.’ By 2012, Sobieski was mostly done with Tinseltown, her last thriller role coming in Branded. She made a final bow in 2016 with the comedy The Last Film Festival alongside Dennis Hopper.Sobieski and husband Adam Kimmel, whom she married in 2010, have been raising their daughter Lewi (born 2009) and son Martin (2014) out of the spotlight.And at a rare 2016 appearance at a Chanel Tribeca Artist Dinner, she told UsWeekly: ‘I don’t do movie stuff anymore. I am totally an outsider! I … am just focused on my kids.’That’s mainly why I stopped.’Art clearly runs in her veins: she studied visual arts at Brown University, and her father Jean Sobieski is a celebrated painter.She made her solo gallery debut in 2018 with Channels at The Journal Gallery in Williamsburg, followed by Wormhole, her first UK show at Simon Lee Gallery in London. She’s also exhibited at Almine Rech in Paris, with additional shows in Shanghai and Los Angeles.Collectors have taken notice: her large-scale abstract paintings have reportedly sold in the five-figure range.In her own words, art gives her something acting never did – real experience. ‘In my paintings there’s a lot about energy and vibrations and the whole world being connected,’ she explained to ArtNet, contrasting it with the ‘artificiality’ of film sets. She made her solo gallery debut in 2018 with Channels at The Journal Gallery in Williamsburg, followed by Wormhole, her first UK show at Simon Lee Gallery in London Sobieski shares her paintings on her Instagram The star majored in visual arts at Brown University, and her father Jean Sobieski is a renowned painter; (pictured 2024) Sobieski married Adam Kimmel in 2010; (pictured 2012) Leelee and Adam have been raising their daughter Lewi (born 2009) and son Martin (2014) out of the spotlight; (pictured 2012)‘If you’re on a crew and 150 people are pushing for you to fall in love with somebody else, everybody is rooting for it,’ she continued.’That’s the energy of a lot of people, but it’s fake.’’This is really what’s inside of me, and I’m not trying to be anybody else.… It was almost like coming out of the closet or something’Sobieski lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she and her husband are raising their two children.