At the age of 19, Leelee Sobieski has a pretty outstanding reputation. With several films behind her ("Eyes Wide Shut," "Never Been Kissed" and "Deep Impact"), and the title role in the popular CBS television miniseries "Joan of Arc," the confident young woman finds herself with yet another opportunity to use her talent.

"The most difficult thing about "Joy Ride" is that Steve Zahn ("Saving Silverman) is really funny. It"s difficult to remain scared when you are laughing so much."

Sobieski loved working with Zahn and Paul Walker ("Fast and the Furious"), but her biggest attraction to the film was the director.

"I just really wanted to work with John Dahl ("Rounders"), actually. It was two years ago when I read the script." Sobieski said. "It was a nice combination between something that was really suspenseful and funny at the same time and it was kind of "real.""

Speaking of real, Sobieski is as real as they get. Far from being isolated in the film industry, she has the hefty challenge of attending school at the same time.

After searching for colleges that could be the most flexible in terms of her other commitments, she chose Brown University, which would let her take off a semester for her work. It must be difficult to do both, but she is working hard and handling it the best she can.

"Uh, it"s going well. I"m here right now. I"m not at school so it"s difficult. I just finished my paper the other night for my history of modern architecture class."

Along with this class, she is taking Japanese literature and society, studio arts and a poetry class. This is far from surprising. With a mother who paints and a father who is a writer, it"s no wonder this girl is so artistically inclined.

When asked if she would like to pursue other avenues, such as directing, her response was "I want to be a director, a painter, a writer, a mother, an actress lots of things."

So how must it be for her, walking around campus, knowing that many know of her already?

"It is a little strange at first. But everybody that"s there is interesting. Everybody there has a goal of their own something they want to do something they"re interested in ... something they"ve already done. You know, lots of things going on in their minds. It"s kind of a momentary shock. But then it goes away really fast and everyone jumps back into their regular lives, which is great."

One might wonder how it waslike for her working with legendary director Stanley Kubrick ("The Shining," "Clockwork Orange") in his final film "Eyes Wide Shut."

"It was incredible. It"s definitely going to be one of the most incredible experiences of my life. He was so kind and nice and open. Really open. People say he controlled everything was a control freak. That"s not true. If you are making a film, you want to control everything down to the poster."

Sobieski encountered some minor difficulties on the set of "Joy Ride."

"It was challenging to drive in "Joy Ride" because I don"t have my driver"s license."

"Joy Ride" was also filmed with three different endings.

"In one of the endings, I got to shoot the guy. That was really challenging because I"m really scared of guns. It was the first time I"ve ever held one and that was kind of a little scary"

As for the moment, Sobieski is churning out some more roles. In "My First Mister," a drama/comedy, she plays a nerdy golf girl who falls in love. She also stars in "L"Idole," a French film that will be released in the United States with subtitles.

In addition, she stars in the upcoming series "Uprising," which is about the rebellion of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto who held back the Nazis in 1943.