By ISOUL H. HARRIS , Photographs: ROBERTO D'ESTE

t's 11 o'clock in the morning and Leelee Sobieski doesn't seem that alert. The actress is known for her fondness for conversation, but maybe not at this early hour. "I'm not really a morning person," she says in an underwhelming tone. As I prepare myself to deal with her apparent resistance to pre-p.m. banter, I soon realize that she just speaks lightly; oftentimes her tone registers barely above a whisper. Despite the fact that her most boisterous films--the acclaimed miniseries Joan of Arc and Deep Impact--propelled her to the top of young Hollywood--it's the quieter roles that made her a critical darling before she could even drive. Standing five-foot-ten, with striking sapphire-colored eyes and an equally startling translucent complexion, she could easily live la dolce vita in Hollywood with the other celebutantes, scouring the hottest clubs, dating the latest "It" boy and stockpiling scandals along the way. However, she has taken more of a cue from the Natalie Portman and Jodie Foster schools of celebrity, focusing on improving herself and her skills. She's more Inside the Actors Studio than Access Hollywood.

Sobieski is refreshingly thoughtful. Instead of brainless quips and dimwitted sound bites, she speaks with complexity and substance; she believes celebrity obsession and the paparazzi phenomenon speak to a greater societal problem. "Good friends, family and love keep you from needing that fix: 'If I don't get my picture taken then I don't exist tonight,' " Sobieski, who is of Polish and French descent, says from her Los Angeles home. And she believes this disease reaches far beyond Britney. Take heed, MySpace and Facebook citizens, you are culpable as well. "It's really weird. It's almost like the destruction of our society. It makes me sad. You think of all these Internet sites that are fascinating social experiments, where people create [worlds showcasing] themselves. They post music, pictures and 'This is me doing this and me doing that.' When something happens in your life, you post it so all of your friends can see that you're the shit. That experience should only matter to the people that experienced it. This crazy self-publicity is affecting our culture in such a major way, and we don't realize it. Sharing your pictures and experiences with people around the world is amazing, but also very self-obsessed. It can be fun, but every day? It's cyclical vanity."

Her societal beliefs most likely stem from her humble upbringing in New York. Liliane Roudabeh Elvieta Gloria Sobieski was born in New York to Elizabeth, a writer, and Jean, a painter, who denied their offspring Chuck E. Cheese nights, instead exposing Leelee and her younger brother, Robert, to SoHo art galleries and Shakespeare in Central Park. Even though her family was far from wealthy, her ancestral history is loaded. Reportedly, King Jan III Sobieski of Poland was her greatgreat- great-great uncle. . .

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