“Never Been Kissed” Actress Leelee Sobieski Looks Ageless as She Marks Her 43rd Birthday During Rare Sighting in New York City

“Never Been Kissed” Actress Leelee Sobieski Looks Ageless as She Marks Her 43rd Birthday During Rare Sighting in New York City https://ift.tt/YKJ95xS

Sobieski has stepped back from the spotlight since retiring from acting in 2012

Leelee Sobieski in 2026
Credit: Elder Ordonez/INSTARimages

NEED TO KNOW

• Leelee Sobieski rose to fame in films like Deep Impact, Never Been Kissed, Joy Ride
• Sobieski celebrated her 43rd birthday in New York City, spotted strolling there on June 10
• Sobieski has moved on from acting and is a painter and VR artist

Leelee Sobieski is enjoying a beautiful birthday in New York City.

The retired actress, who turns 43 on June 10, was seen enjoying a stroll through the streets of the city on the occasion. The actress is rarely seen since leaving acting in 2012.

Sobieski shot to fame with some impactful roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She starred in Deep Impact (1998), Never Been Kissed and Eyes Wide Shut (both 1999), Here on Earth (2000), Joy Ride and The Glass House (both 2001).

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Leelee Sobieski walking through New York City on her 43rd birthday
Credit: Elder Ordonez/INSTARimages

Today, Sobieski focuses her creative efforts on visual arts, as seen on her Instagram, which bears her married name, Leelee Kimmel. She married designer Adam Kimmel in 2010.

Her large-scale, colorful abstract paintings are inspired by what she's feeling in life, she shared with Vogue in 2012. "When I look at it, I experience all these feelings about motherhood and being in love with Adam. It has the corniest things attached to it, but also it's, like, life," she said.

It was the passion and pride she felt in her personal life that led Sobieski away from acting. She shared, "Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don't want to do that."

"It's such a strange fire to play with, and our relationship is surely strong enough to handle it, but if you're going to walk through fire, there has to be something incredible on the other side."

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In a 2017 feature in Interview Magazine, Sobieski talked about getting into acting to help her family financially, but then her career took off, leaving her creatively locked in to a medium that wasn't her preferred one.

“I always said, ‘I don't want to act. I paint,' ” she recalled. When she'd share this with her parents, they replied, "You can't say that, because it sounds like you're not grateful. You are grateful, so you have to hold it in."

In more recent years, Sobieski has turned her love of art to VR art, something that felt natural to her because, "I've always been lost in time and space."

"When I first started doing VR, I was like, ‘Ahh! I feel space this way,' " she continued, noting her pride in where her career has taken her.

"The fight in life is always worthwhile, no matter what the end result is.”