From hopelessly pining after her geeky teenaged best friend in Dawson’s Creek to stealthily (and sexily) bringing down the tobacco industry in Thank You For Smoking, to flying around Gotham City on the shadowy wings of her vigilante superhero boyfriend in Batman Begins, Katie Holmes has conquered the small screen, the silver screen, and the tabloid racks with her disarming grin and child-like charm. One thing’s for sure: this girl-next-door turned movie star turned style and fashion icon wife-bot isn’t in Capeside anymore. Although casual readers of ribald rags might be inclined to think that Katie’s trapped deep inside the Cruise estate, performing Scientology rituals and clawing at the walls of the domestic sphere, her next destination is, in fact, the Great White Way.
Though recently the 29-year-old Holmes was most famous for her regal role as half of the pop-culture feline phenomenon TomKat, and subsequently under the media’s microscope that feeds public demand for the details from her husband to her haircuts, the graceful Holmes is about to switch gears and jump in the driver’s seat. After taking a serious acting hiatus, Holmes is steering her career in a new direction: theater.
The transition won’t be a quiet one. Holmes will make her Broadway debut as the leading lady in a new production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, directed by Simon McBurney. With award-winning Broadway veterans John Lithgow, Diane Weist, and Patrick Wilson as co-stars, she’ll take the stage for previews on September 18 at the Gerald Shoenfield Theatre, with an official opening to follow on October 16.
Holmes’ hot career definitely cooled somewhat after her whirlwind marriage to the couch-jumping religious eccentric Tom Cruise, and the birth of their daughter Suri. The recent success of a Holmes-less Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, a project which she allegedly turned down due to “scheduling conflicts,” prompted further rumors of Tom’s control over the young mother. Holmes insists, however, that she turned down director Christopher Nolan’s offer to once again play Batman’s love interest, Rachel, for another reason:
“I just felt the role wasn’t right for me, and in light of my Batman Begins schedule and everything, it was just not the right time. When I pick roles, I ask, first, ‘Is this a story that I would want to tell? Can I help move this story along, and will I be an asset to it?’”
Introspective as ever, the young Holmes is following in the footsteps of the former Mrs. Cruise, Nicole Kidman, who debuted in the Broadway production of David Hare’s The Blue Room, and who also coincidentally made an appearance in a rendition of Batman. One big difference: Kidman appeared in the nude, whereas Holmes will appear fully clad in post-WWII garb, which may not be too much less sexy. Though pre-order ticket sales are a bit low, grossing only a fraction of the $4 million that Kidman drew in, Holmes is determined to headline Broadway, adding to her full-time occupation as a doting mother, obedient wife and page six staple.
Broadway aside, Holmes is making a second attempt to re-familiarize audiences with her face as an actress. In October, she will appear as a guest-star on ABC’s occasionally musical drama, Eli Stone. Holmes will play a not-for-profit attorney in the second episode of the series, scheduled to air October 21.
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Katie and Tom with Sarah Jessica Parker at The 2008 MTV Movie Awards,
June 1, 2008. |
Katie and Tom at The Museum of the Moving Image Salutes Tom Cruise, November 11, 2007. |
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Tom and Katie, Victoria Beckham, David Beckham at
The Costume Institute Gala: “Superheroes” on May 5, 2008 |
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Katie and Tom, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale at UNICEF event, February 6, 2008.
photos by PatrickMcMullan.com |
Such a talented young actress, Holmes is clear that her “favorite role is motherhood.” For the past three years, her family has clearly been her very public priority. Since meeting Cruise, the majority of her interviews discuss not only her acting career but also her marriage, and inevitably her involvement in the Church of Scientology.
In a 2005 interview with W magazine that is widely considered to be unsettling, Holmes seemed to have little else to say other than how happy she was to be marrying Cruise. According to author Robert Haskell, she was accompanied to the interview by her “scientologist chaperone,” Jessica Rodriguez, who took the liberty of answering undesirable questions for her.
Haskell also speculates, as do countless tabloids and critics, fans and gossip columnists, that Cruise encourages Holmes to turn down roles that deal directly with topics of which Scientology disapproves. Offered the role Edie Sedgewick, Andy Warhol’s muse who had a mean drug addiction, in George Hickenlooper’s Factory Girl, Holmes turned it down. (The role was eventually played remarkably well by Sienna Miller.) When Holmes does open up about her career, she insists that she is “excited to keep expanding and finding different roles to play.” From 2005 until now, however, those roles have been limited, and played out more on celebrity sheets and evening magazines than in movie houses.
But not so long ago, Holmes was a fresh-faced newbie that filmmakers couldn’t wait to get their hands on, foisting scripts into her hands weekly. Born in Toledo, Ohio, the youngest in a large family, she exploded onto the scene in Ang Lee’s 1997 film, The Ice Storm and, shortly after, was offered her signature role as Joey Potter on Dawson’s Creek, which lasted for six remarkably successful seasons for the new network WB. While shooting Dawson’s Creek, Holmes landed roles in two films, Disturbing Behavior and Go, the latter of which earned her a golden popcorn trophy for Best Breakthrough Female Performance at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. The following year, she appeared in the film Wonder Boys with the fresh-faced Tobey Maguire. Her first starring role came in 2002 with Abandon, and her second immediately after in 2003 with Pieces of April. She appeared in two more films before the 2005 blockbuster, Batman Begins, which marked the beginning of a quieter time in Holmes’ career.
“ ... Tom makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and has since the day I met him. I love being with him. I love calling him husband.”
In the beginning of her career, Holmes spoke excitedly about acting, with the delightful energy of a youth on the edge of a new stardom, explaining that she “got into this business to become an actress and to work with great people.” Though in recent interviews she speaks of acting more rarely, one still hears traces of that previous enthusiasm. Her latest film, Mad Money, was released in December of 2007, and received very little media attention—her personal life, it seemed, proved much more interesting. Holmes seems not to be bothered by the soundbites and opines: “I understand the curiosity,” she says earnestly. “And I appreciate the man I’m with, my family and my work. I feel very lucky to be able to say that.”
The public may never be satisfied, but it seems Holmes has found contentment. “I feel very lucky. I have a husband and children that I adore. I have a career that I really love. When I sit back and reflect, it’s - wow! I am very grateful. Tom makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and has since the day I met him. I love being with him. I love calling him husband.” Adding, with no irony, “I mean, I’m married to Tom Cruise. What we do in a week is extraordinary.”
And what Holmes has done in her career is nothing less. As she wraps up her first decade in the American Hollywood pantheon, she looks only to the future. And with a new acting venture approaching, and the bright lights of Broadway beckoning, fans, followers, and fotogs look there, too, awaiting her next big surprise.
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