What happened to Leelee Sobeski's career?
Looking back at Never Been Kissed, I forget how many people you could say, were about to blow up or were already kind of famous but were about to reach the next level. You had Jessica Alba, James Franco, Octavia Spencer, Molly Shannon from SNL, Michael Vartan, who soon landed Alias, John C. Reilly, Cress Williams from Black Lightening, etc. Back in the late '90s-early 2000s, Leelee Sobieski as this blog article lays out, was briefly hyped up as being the "next big thing". She was especially gaining a lot of attention because of her resemblance to Helen Hunt, at a time in which Helen Hunt was at the peak of her career:
https://lebeauleblog.com/2014/02/02/what-the-hell-happened-to-leelee-sobieski/
Sobieski kicked off a busy year in 1999 with a supporting role opposite Drew Barrymore in the comedy, Never Been Kissed.
Drew Barrymore played a reporter sent back to high school to pose as a student for a story. Sobieski played the nerdy girl who befriends her as she falls back into her old high school persona.
The cast included David Arquette as Barrymore’s brother who was popular in high school, Michael Vartan as her teacher and love interest, Molly Shannon, Garry Marshall and John C. Reilly. James Franco made his movie debut. And Jessica Alba played one of the mean girls who torments Barrymore. Sobieski was originally offered Alba’s role but opted for the nerdy best friend because she found the role more interesting.
Reviews were mixed. But Never Been Kissed was a hit at the box office.
The blog that I mentioned believes that Leelee had a very small window in which to become a household name. She needed to capitalize on the success of Joan of Arc. If either Joy Ride or The Glass House had been successful, then her career might have played out differently. But instead, when her chances at mainstream stardom fizzled out, she retreated to France, indies and television. share