 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Katie was born Katherine Noelle Holmes in Toledo, Ohio on December 18th, 1978. Born two months premature, she spent the first few months of her life building her strength in the hospital, with her parents Marty and Kathleen Holmes, a lawyer and homemaker, by her side. The youngest of five siblings, Katie has always had a strong and encouraging relationship with her family, and she attributes much of her success to their ceaseless support. Her position in the family group taught her to be a strong-willed individual and as a child, Katie liked to be in control, she enjoyed play acting with her immense Barbie collection and observing her elder siblings. As an indication of the cohesive group they formed, Katie has remarked that some of the hardest days of her early life were when her siblings departed for College.
Like most of her family, Katie took part in athletics in elementary school. Despite being a talented and competitive basketball player, she soon discovered that her passions lay not in sports, but in the performing arts. Supported by her family at every step, from the age of 13, Katie spent her free time attending acting classes, dance classes and voice coaching lessons. She had great ambitions, yet she remained modest and pragmatic about her chances. Katie worried that her small-town upbringing would hold her back in the acting profession. She enrolled in Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School in Toledo and in the summer of 1995, 16 year old Katie attended an International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention, a prestigious semi-annual talent scouting event, in New York City. Katie was determined to have fun and treat the occasion as a life experience, but once there, she modeled, danced and performed a monologue from To Kill A Mockingbird, impressing the judges with a variety of skills. It was during this time that Katie decided she preferred the challenges that acting offered and from then on decided to focus her energies on performing rather than modeling. IMTA helped to procure Katie a talent manager, who in January 1996 convinced 17 year old Katie to journey to Los Angeles for pilot season. On her second day there she met with director Ang Lee and won her first role on the critically acclaimed feature, The Ice Storm, a disturbing look at one family’s experimentation with casual sex, drink and coming of age. Katie played Libbets Casey, a precocious literature student who captures the attention of Paul "Charles" Hood played by Tobey Maguire. New to the industry, Katie was in awe of Tobey's experience and the two became good friends. Tobey later commented in an E! Revealed special that, "Katie was a beautiful, natural actress and is just a sweetheart".
After the success of The Ice Storm, Katie decided to spend her senior year at home in Toledo. She continued to indulge in her acting passions and won the lead role of Lola in the St. John's Jesuit High School production of Damn Yankees. During the 1997 pilot season, Katie balanced her studies with acting, and playing opposite her mom, she created audition tapes to send to an assortment of casting directors. It was at this time that the producers of Dawson's Creek were searching for leads, and when Katie's tape arrived they were keen to offer her a second audition in Los Angeles; but when the timing coincided with the opening night of Damn Yankees, she remained loyal to her friends and commitments, and boldly delayed the audition. Still amazed by her talent and now impressed by her dedication and maturity, the producers rearranged her audition and a few weeks later she was awarded the role of Joey Potter, a sharp witted firebrand who strives to escape her humble beginnings. In the summer of 1997, Katie graduated from Notre Dame Academy, a Catholic girls school in Toledo, with an excellent SAT score total of 1310. She was offered a chance to study at the prestigious Columbia University, but after Dawson's Creek was picked up by the Warner Bros. television network, she deferred her entry and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where the show was filmed. Away from the pressures of Hollywood, the cast quickly became good friends. Katie had an eight month romance with fellow Dawson's Creek actor, Joshua Jackson, whom she described as her 'first love'. They still remain good friends to this day.
The success of Dawson's Creek took the young stars by surprise, and within months Katie had been on the cover of Rolling Stone, Seventeen and Entertainment Weekly. Having now appeared on the front of more than 60 magazines to date, Katie is no stranger to being interviewed. Her down-to-earth composure and natural charm has since won the heart and respect of reporters from Cosmopolitan to Arena to GQ. Her second movie role came in the form of lead actress in the 1998 feature Disturbing Behavior, accompanied by upstarts James Marsden (X-Men) and Nick Stahl (In the Bedroom). Directed by David Nutter (X-Files, Roswell), Katie played Rachel Wagner, "Cradle Bay’s trailer trash", an outsider who discovers that all the rebellious teens in town are being lobotomized into submission. The role was a welcome change for Katie, who appreciated the retreat from the "good girl" image that she was contending with on a daily basis during the filming of Dawson's Creek.
Also in 1999 was the teen drama Teaching Mrs. Tingle, directed by Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson. Katie inherited the role of Leigh Ann Watson, a straight-A student unfairly accused of cheating on an important final exam. As well as strengthening her friendship with Kevin Williamson, with whom she stayed while shooting the movie, the job gave Katie the chance to work with the legendary Helen Mirren, an experience she said she treasures. Other cast members included Marisa Coughlan (Freddy Got Fingered) and Barry Watson, who was also simultaneously working on a television series in the role of Matt Camden for the Warner Bros. production 7th Heaven. As a duo, Barry Watson and Katie were nominated for Best Kiss at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. In December 1999, Katie began dating Chris Klein, a young actor building a resume of his own, with performances in American Pie, Election and We Were Soldiers. He and Katie enjoy going to baseball games and follow the minor league Toledo Mudhens of Katie's hometown. Due to the vast distances between their filming locations and variable work schedules, the pair often don't see each other for long periods of time, but during the filming of Dawson's Creek, Chris would frequently visit Katie in Wilmington, NC
Katie’s next feature was in the 2000 release of Wonder Boys, featuring Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, and Robert Downey Jr., with direction provided by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential). Katie’s character Hannah Green is both a published writer and a student renting a room from her English professor, Grady Tripp (Douglas), who she tries to seduce. With a script that was eventually nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, Wonder Boys received great critical acclaim. Clips of Katie’s performance from the movie were also featured in the music video for Bob Dylan’s 'Things Have Changed', which won an Oscar for Best Song. 2000 also saw the release of The Gift. In this southern gothic thriller about extrasensory perception, Katie was able to work with one of her acting idols, Cate Blanchett, as well as Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank and Greg Kinnear. Directed by Sam Raimi, who would find huge success just a short time later with the blockbuster Spiderman, Sam had nothing but good things to say about Katie and her performance, remarking in particular about Katie’s level of maturity. Over the years, Katie has become a regular and popular guest on talk shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and MTV's Total Request Live. During appearances on The Rosie O'Donnell show, she demonstrated her singing abilities with excerpts from Damn Yankees
A couple of weeks later, Katie was the host for Saturday Night Live, where she was given the opportunity to showcase some of her hard earned skills in front of a live audience. The nationwide broadcast was her first chance to sing and dance outside of the high school productions back in her hometown of Toledo. After a nervous start in which her first joke about Dawson’s Creek bombed, Katie slowly but surely won the love of the audience. A tap dance routine with Will Ferrell surprised the viewers, a worthy impression of Drew Barrymore and a particularly funny episode of SNL’s Peepers drew large applause. The night was turned into a family reunion of sorts, with the entire Holmes clan making the trip to NYC to support her and attend the party afterwards. It was an insightful experience that showed a large audience the many possibilities of what was yet to come
Katie became the new spokesperson for Garnier Lumia towards the end of 2001, producing an advertisement for their brightening hair color product and gracing our screens with her new red locks. Over the years, the naturally brunette Katie has tried many different shades and continues to experiment with the products Garnier offers. In 2002's Abandon, Katie had her first chance to topline a major motion picture, which included the likes of Benjamin Bratt (Pinero) and Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous). Her character was named Katie Burke by Stephan Gaghan, the writer and director of Abandon, who stated that he named the character with Katie Holmes in mind as a suggestion of the "power of positive thinking," in the hope that he could acquire Katie for the role. Katie Burke is a student at an elite college working under severe pressure to complete her thesis and land a prestigious job when she has to confront the sudden reappearance of an old boyfriend who disappeared two years before under suspicious circumstances. Gaghan was also impressed with her vocal abilities and in addition to singing in the movie, Katie provides vocals on the Abandon soundtrack.
In October 2002, the Holmes family graciously allowed film crews into their lives to record a special one hour program: 'Revealed with Jules Asner: Katie Holmes'. This amazing opportunity allowed the fans to learn about Katie's childhood, her experiences and her reflections, with in-depth interviews from Katie and many of her family members. Throughout her escalsting television and film career, Katie has remained close with her family. As well as returning home every few weeks, family members frequently accompany her to talk show appearances and film premeires. Katie remains faithful to her hometown, and continues to attend many galas and charity events in Toledo, as well as appearing at the 2002 Reebok Human Right Awards in Salt Lake City and in a Ford Foundation Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign with her mom. Christmas 2002 and Katie was honored to be asked to host a national holiday celebration held by President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. The Christmas in Washington gala was a national broadcast, the proceeds of which benefited the Children's National Medical Center.
April 2003 saw the long awaited release of Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth, an action thriller in which a sleazy publicist Stu Shepard, played by wild child Colin Farrell (Minority Report), is held hostage by a sniper. Katie plays Pamela McFadden, an aspiring actress who is being pursued by Stu. The release date for Phone Booth has been pushed back repeatedly in an attempt to distance itself from the real life events that mirrored the storyline shortly before its scheduled debut. After a protracted delay Phone Booth debuted as the number one movie, a first for a movie that included Katie. Expected to be released in the fall of 2003 is Keith Gordon’s remake of Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective. Once again Katie had the opportunity of working with some of the biggest names in show business. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Dan Dark, a writer suffering from a paralyzing skin disease who copes by hallucinating musical numbers and dreaming up paranoid plots. Katie plays Nurse Mills, attending to Dan Dark’s every need. The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2003 to mixed reviews, but had already offered Katie the chance to try out some dance steps and lip synch a musical number; "It was nice, I was allowed to pretend I was a dancer for a couple of days," Katie said. It is slated for release in the U.S. on Oct. 24, 2003. Another film making its debut at Sundance 2003 was the Peter Hedges (About A Boy) story, Pieces of April. Katie plays the title role of April Burns, a black sheep in her family who decides to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the entire clan in her tiny Lower East Side apartment, despite not knowing how to cook, a broken oven, and group of neighbors who would prefer to be left in peace. A small, independent film with a tiny budget, it boasts an impressive cast that includes Patricia Clarkson (Far From Heaven) as April’s mother and Oliver Platt (West Wing) as April’s father. The movie moves back and forth between the dinner preparation by April and her boyfriend, Bobby (Antwone Fischer’s Derek Luke), and the family’s road trip. Added into the mix is the fact that April’s mother is dying of cancer. This movie has garnered Katie the best notices for her acting abilities thus far in her career. The movie was greeted with standing ovations at Sundance and promises to be a pivotal performance in her resume. Pieces of April opens October 17th, 2003.
In May 2003, Dawson's Creek aired the series finale to the highest ratings the WB had ever received for an original program. After six successful seasons network executives, cast and crew decided that the Creek had run its course. Shortly afterward Katie teamed with Regency Pictures to star in a romantic comedy entitled First Daughter. Katie toplines as Samatha Mackenzie, the daughter of the President of the United States in her first year of college. Also cast is Marc Blucas (The Alamo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Michael Keaton. The film was released in 2004 after several delays due to similarities with the film Chasing Liberty starring Mandy Moore. Overall the film received very mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. December 2003 brought many rumours of a possible new Katie project, Batman Begins. Katie stars as Rachel Dawes, an Assistant District Attorney and childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Filming began in February 2004 and moved from England to Iceland to the US, drawing to a close in September 2004. With a formidable cast, including Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, and directed by Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins is scheduled for release in June 2005. As 2003 drew to a close, news of Katie's engagement to long time boyfriend, Chris Klein, was announced. After dating for four years, the couple confirmed their plans to marry. Sadly, fourteen months later, in March 2005, a representative for Katie announced the pair had split but remain good friends. Two new movies are on the horizon for Katie. Thank You for Smoking, a satirical comedy about the tobacco industry based on a book by Christopher Buckley, began filming in January 2005 and Katie rented an apartment in New York. Katie is playing the role of Heather Holloway and will be starring opposite Aaron Eckhart, Robert Duvall and William H. Macy. Next will be Shame on You, starring Dennis Quaid and based on the life of western singer Wade Cooley. Katie has been in talks to play Cooley's wife, Ella Mae, who he stomps to death in front of their teenage daughter. In April 2005, Katie surprised fans and critics alike when her publicist confirmed she had recently begun dating Tom Cruise. With the news splashed across every tabloid and news entertainment site, and a 16 year age gap between the couple, many questioned whether the pairing was a publicity stunt perfectly timed for the upcoming release of Batman Begins and Tom Cruise's War of the Worlds; but with two films destined to do well without any extra publicity, the budding romance looked genuine to many onlookers.
A proposal in June atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris was the next surprise in Tom and Katie's relationship. Then in October, six months after they first started dating, news was announced that Katie and Tom were expecting a baby. 2005 has turned into a life-altering year for Katie, and the beginning of many more things to come. On April 18th, 2006, baby Suri was born at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica to proud parents Katie and Tom. Weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 inches in length, Suri is said to have been born with 'lots of dark hair and big, blue eyes'. The name Suri means different things in different cultures, but the couple celebrate the fact it is Hebrew for "princess" and the Persian for "red rose".
|
|
||||
