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Biography magazine
September 2002
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Katie Holmes Edging Her Way Into People's Hearts
Written by John Griffiths.
Katie Holmes is relaxing this morning in a Los Angeles beach hotel, quietly mapping out what is a rare free day (tomorrow, it's back to the set of "The Singing Detective," a dark musical based on a British TV show, co-staring and produced by Mel Gibson). She wants to work out, hit her favorite book store (Santa Monica's beatnikish Midnight Special), and has to pick up some toothpaste. But right now she's indulging in some coffee and the Los Angeles Times. "I got as far as my horoscope," she says in her wry way. And what's the Sagittarian's fate today? "I think this means I'm going to have a good day," she starts, sounding a little embarrassed. "It says that I will be attractive to somebody."
Try everybody. For five years now, the deep-dimpled, soulful-eyed Holmes has been adored by a legion of young TV viewers for her role as cute, sardonic Joey Potter on the WB series "Dawson's Creek." And between her duties on that provocative drama about a close, flirtatious cadre of New England teens, Holmes has appeared in sexier, more layered roles in edgy movies like "Go" and "Wonder Boys." At just 23, she's also gained a reputation among top Hollywood directors like Ang Lee and Curtis Hanson for having that "movie star" quality. That's left her head and shoulders above many of her fellow teen idols (at 5'9", she's also literally towering over some of her brethren).
Maybe that's because, behind the girl with the unassuming smile, there's a woman who's willing to take risks. Like many of her spirited defiant movie characters, "I'm a fighter," says Holmes. In the tricky thriller "Abandon" (out next month), she puts up her dukes again, playing Katie Burke, a bright college student who's thrown into a spiral of depressing when her beau vanishes. Said the film's writer and director Stephen Gaghan, "With Katie, you see a lot of wheels spinning, and that's the mark of a great actress. The fact that she's been drawn to characters that haven't been whitewashed, who seem like real people speaks to her depth.... She never complains, even when she's been working all night."
This being her first starring role, she was a little nervous. "It was one of the hardest things for me to play," she confides. "I think there's a bit of me in the character, the part of her that hides her feelings in work sometimes. But I'm not that dark, really. I just want to do a good job. And I want to find interesting parts. That's my No. 1 goal."
Turns out the poised girl from Toledo, Ohio, has long had her eye on the prize. Her mom, Kathy, a homemaker, and dad Martin, a prominent lawyer, raised her and her four older (and even taller) siblings with the confidence to take on the world. "My mom and dad taught all of us that there is a life outside of what we knew," Holmes says. "We were taught we could do anything we want, and if you work very hard and treat people the way you want to be treated, everything will work out."
Growing up in a comfortable four-bed-room brick house, she was a good girl who collected Barbie dolls and mowed neighbors' lawns for $20 a pop. (Okay, she was grounded a couple of times.) Her parents also encouraged her to take singing lessons and piano lessons. At Toledo's Notre Dame Academy, a Catholic girls school her mother had attended, Holmes managed to get straight A's while excelling in chorus, dance, and drama. But she admits her uniform - not to mention being "really shy" - put a damper on dating. "I got dumped a couple of times," she says. "But I always managed to find someone for prom."
When Katie was 14, her mom enrolled her in the nearby Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School. At 16, she wowed the crowd and an agent - with a monologue from To Kill A Mockingbird at the International Modeling and Talent Association convention in New York. Suddenly, she had an agent. But her dad, who pictured his daughter as a doctor (she'd been accepted at Columbia University), nearly but the kibosh on her budding career. "He had plans for me," she says. "But Mom knew it was something I wanted to try, so we got Dad on our side eventually."
From there, it was a breeze. In her senior year, Katie nabbed her movie debut, playing a bored youth in 1997's critically lauded drama "The Ice Storm." That year, she also auditioned for "Dawson's Creek" via videotape. The show's creator, Kevin Williamson, liked what he saw, and after one more meeting, summoned Katie to Wilmington, North Carolina, where the show is filmed.
Dawson's quickly became one of the WB's top series. Joey's on/off romance with Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek) - not to mention her more recent fling with a college professor - keeps viewers tuning in. But while the attention has been "very exciting and all," Katie insists she and her castmates have "always kept the focus on trying to make something we're proud of and not be distracted [by fame]."
Katie has done the inevitable slogging - her initial success led her into teen sci-fi territory with 1998's "Disturbing Behavior" - but she hit her stride playing a mixed-up kid in 1999's drug-minded comedy "Go," and a two-timing southern belle the same year in "The Gift." Her topless turn in the latter "wasn't really easy on my family," she admits. Her bold move might have been easier if not for Dawson's, which has handed her the topsy-turvy crown of Miss Youth Role Model. "It's flattering when kids look up to me, but I always say to them, 'You should look up to your parents. I don't have all the answers'" Still, she adds, "I try not to do anything bad, and I don't think I ever would."
Katie can be a bit guarded sometimes in the press - especially when it comes to talking about her two-year-old romance with fellow teen heartthrob Chris Klein (American Pie). The protective Katie was just a little less mum about her 1998 dalliance with Dawson's co-star Joshua Jackson (Pacey Witter). But she's clearly not someone with an endless string of past loves. "Unlike some actresses," says Gaghan, "Katie's talent is unencumbered by having a drug habit and a history of 19 ex-boyfriends."
She's also been far away from the glare of Hollywood. Holmes and her castmates have "been very protected and spoiled," says the actress, who zips around Wilmington in a Honda and keeps a modest condo by the beach.
She counts a number of older adults among her friends - including "Wonder Boys" co-star Michael Douglas. After working nonstop for two years, Katie was "exhausted" by the time she played a coed with designs on Douglas, who played a professor in the quirky 2000 comedy. "Michael told me to make sure I find hobbies and to take care of myself." So, she's taken up painting and mellows out with runs and yoga. Not much of a club-goer, she prefers downing sushi with buddies or just gabbing on the phone with the bestfriend she's had since high school. When things are really crazy, "I'll talk to my three little nephews, and suddenly I have no stress."
She'll no doubt be talking with those tykes a lot over the next few months. Dawson's may well dry up after it's sixth season, and that's going to be tough on Holmes. "I really think we're all going to miss it a lot. We had a lot of good times and we also shared this incredible growing-up period. I'm not good with change, but I think I'll be okay."
Right now, Holmes is at a crossroads. She plays an ingénue in the upcoming thriller "Phone Booth." And she'll be seen as April in "Pieces of April," another offbeat production co-starring Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace." After that, she may put her career on hold to study English lit.
More, pressing though, is deciding whether or not to base her career in L.A. or New York. Or, she muses, "I might just go back to Ohio and live with my parents for a while.
"If I ever want to get away, that's the place to go."
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There's also another section called Celebrity Dossier in her article.
Name: Kate Noelle Holmes
Date of Birth: December 18th, 1978
Place of Birth: Toledo, Ohio
Parents: Martin, a lawyer; Kathy, a homemaker
Siblings: Four older brothers and sisters
Education: Accepted to Columbia University; she never began classes. She has promised her father she will get a college degree at some point.
FYI: During the filming of "Abandon," even writer/director Stephen Gaghan thought Katie was being too hard on herself. "There were many times when everyone thought she had nailed a scene, but she would ask, "Are you sure?"