The Untold Truth Of Katie Holmes

The teen coming-of-age drama "Dawson's Creek" was one of the hottest shows on TV until its 2003 finale. At the heart of the story of teens living in fictional town Capeside, Massachusetts, was the title character played by James Van Der Beek and his childhood friend Joey Potter, played by Katie Holmes. The show was known for its sharp dialogue and ability to represent teens in a more mature way than similar series in the past. As for its place in the genre, Entertainment Weekly ranked "Dawson's Creek" as the 10th best teen TV show of all time. After finishing her role as Joey, Holmes landed a high-profile role in director Christopher Nolan's first take on the superhero genre with "Batman Begins." She was unable to return as Batman's love interest for the rest of the Batman trilogy and was famously replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. This didn't stop Holmes, who continued in a wide variety of projects like the action film "Logan Lucky" and as the director of "All We Had."

For her place in entertainment, Holmes has been in the spotlight from her teenage years thanks to her acting roles and famous exes, including one of the biggest movie stars in the world. From humble beginnings, Holmes encountered difficulties along the way, but ultimately showed her cross-generational appeal through it all. "Don't Wait" for the untold truth of Katie Holmes.

Growing up in Ohio, Katie Holmes said she enjoyed her home life. This included being the youngest of five siblings, including her three older sisters and brother. "I loved being the baby," she told Rolling Stone. This included following her siblings wherever possible and going to all their athletic events. While she got along well with her parents, Holmes admitted to receiving discipline a few times. On those few times her parents grounded her, Holmes remembered she felt awful. Not that it was all negative for the youngster. As a kid, Holmes was especially interested in Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and remembered going to her closest Disney store, she told Vogue.

After moving out to become an actor, Holmes kept her family ties. Even with all the perks and money that come along with being a famous actor, Holmes still loved going back to her home state of Ohio during holidays. "I take time off, and I like to spend it with my family," she explained to Town & Country. "I have a lot of nieces and nephews, and they grow up so fast. I really miss them, so it's nice to have those moments with board games and normal stuff," Holmes added. The actor was spotted in Ohio during Thanksgiving in 2012 with her family, per the Daily Mail.

Teen Katie Holmes already had her sights set on entertaining others. To see how she stacked up against other performers, she competed in competitions for the International Modeling and Talent Association, or IMTA. Holmes entered the yearly event held in New York City for the first time as a hopeful model when she was 14 years old. Around this time, Holmes also honed her skills at Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio. "You learn proper manners and stuff, and she thought it would be nice," Holmes told Rolling Stone as to why her mom signed her up. Of course, talent agents attend the event, which would later help Holmes work in entertainment. While she went on to become an actor, Holmes continued to model even as her film resume kept expanding. For example, she modeled extravagant dresses for her friend Zac Posen, a fashion designer, Hello! reported. Holmes also worked with Bobbi Brown, a famous makeup artist who also has her own line of cosmetics, IMTA showed in a video.

Showing the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Holmes' daughter Suri had reportedly been approached by several modeling agencies when she was 13 years old. While Holmes was cautious of letting her kid jump right into the entertainment industry, the actor knew it probably wouldn't be long until her daughter became a star. "Suri's really excited — she's very much a little performer," a source told Radar Online.

While living and growing up in Ohio, Katie Holmes attended the all-girls Notre Dame Academy in Toledo. Looking back on her experience, Holmes recalled that most of her classmates cared deeply about their grades. "Everyday you'd walk down the hall and see girls crying about getting a ninety-two instead of a ninety-three," Holmes told Rolling Stone about the school. The young girl thrived in the environment and was a straight-A honor student. For extracurricular activities, Holmes performed in her school's drama department and also took dance lessons. With her excellent academic record, Holmes shocked her dad when she announced her plan to become a professional actor. Before this career choice, Holmes secured a spot at Columbia University in New York City with plans on becoming a doctor. As the only one of her four other siblings to not attend college, Holmes promised her dad that she would one day go back and get a college degree.

While she didn't go back for a full-time degree, Holmes still pursued higher education in smaller doses. She shared a photo on Instagram in 2017 that showed her in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the prestigious Harvard Business School. "I am so thankful and excited to be @harvardhbs with so many brilliant people," she captioned alongside the photo with a pen and blank notepad ready to go. Holmes attended the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports class for a few days within Harvard's executive education track, according to Vanity Fair.

After first participating in the International Modeling and Talent Association convention as a model, Holmes returned to the competition with acting classes under her belt and won. To take home the award, Holmes performed a monologue from "To Kill a Mockingbird," which resulted in an overwhelming 30 callbacks from various agents, her acting coach told Rolling Stone. As a result, she flew to Los Angeles, had her first audition, and landed her first credited role in the film "The Ice Storm." That film's screenwriter James Schamus claimed he knew after a few minutes of Holmes reading lines that she would be a movie star. Holmes impressed others in Hollywood too. Allegedly, Holmes turned down the lead role of the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to finish out high school, according to the Mirror.

The actor even first passed on the offer to screen test for Joey because it didn't fit into her high school drama schedule. Holmes was in her school's production of "Damn Yankees" and allegedly said, "I refuse to let any of my friends down," per Rolling Stone. The tactic worked and the studio allowed Holmes to come at a later date, where she proved to producers her fit as Joey. Yet, Holmes admitted her acting experience was limited at the time and she was still just a teenager. "The experience was very overwhelming because I was brand new. It was my second job," she told Entertainment Weekly.

Few shows were as influential in the late '90s as "Dawson's Creek." The show, which lasted six seasons, was ahead of its time too, when it aired a passionate kiss between two men, played by Kerr Smith and Adam Kaufman, for the first time ever on primetime TV, per Us Weekly. The show also turned its main actors, including Katie Holmes, into instant stars. Shockingly, Holmes almost never had a chance to play Joey Potter because she wasn't the first choice for the role. Selma Blair, who became famous with the 1999 film "Cruel Intentions," was the original plan to portray Joey. "I really loved Selma until, of course, I got the infamous videotape from the basement of the Holmes family in Toledo, Ohio," show creator Kevin Williamson told Entertainment Weekly. "And when that video showed up, it changed my whole life," he added. He was referring to Holmes' audition tape that she made with the help of her mom, per Rolling Stone.

Even decades after other acting roles, Holmes' connection to "Dawson's Creek" continues to stick with her. "I don't know if I have moved past it, but I don't really care," Holmes told Elle about the teen drama. "I had a ball doing it, and it's really nice to be a part of something that did affect people. And it created a lot of opportunities for all of us. You can't really ask for much more than that," she added.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise officially announced they were dating in mid-April of 2005 after photos surfaced of them holding hands in Rome, People reported. A source close to the couple claimed that Cruise made the first move and asked Holmes out on a date. The romance was swift, and at a press conference in Paris about two months after going public, Cruise and Holmes announced their engagement. "Yes, I proposed to her. It was early this morning at the Eiffel Tower, so I haven't slept at all," Cruise shared, per People. As a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Cruise famously became so excited by his relationship with Holmes that he literally jumped for joy onto the interview couch. As Cruise told Playboy (via ABC), "I'm just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her."

Holmes, meanwhile, was equally head over heels for the actor. "Tom is the most incredible man in the world," she gushed to W Magazine. "He makes me laugh, we have fun, we understand each other, everything is so aligned," Holmes added about Cruise.

For their 2006 wedding held in Italy, the bride, groom, and the entire wedding party all wore clothing by designer Giorgio Armani, who was also in attendance amongst the many celebrities. Other guests included directors J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer, Cameron Crowe, and former Scientology member Leah Remini, People recapped. As we all remember, around this time, the famous couple became known in entertainment as TomKat.

In his previous marriage, Tom Cruise completely surprised his wife Nicole Kidman when he asked for divorce. He then knew exactly how that felt when Katie Holmes flipped the script and blindsided Cruise by asking for a divorce after six years of marriage, a source told ABC. Rumors began to circulate that one of the main reasons Holmes wanted out the relationship was due to her beau's involvement in Scientology. 

During a deposition as part of Cruise's lawsuit against two publications, lawyers questioned Cruise if Holmes ever indicated that she asked for a divorce "to protect Suri from Scientology," per TMZ. Cruise responded, "That was one of the assertions, yes." Another surprising aspect of the divorce was the rapid speed to completely separate, especially between two celebrities with a vast array of assets. It only took two weeks after announcing their split to settle the divorce, according to TV Guide.

After leaving Cruise, Holmes moved to New York City in 2012 for a fresh start. Unsurprisingly, it came with a lot of media speculation as to what her next moves would be. "That time was intense. It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it," Holmes explained to InStyle. She said her early days in the city involved some strange moments but she had a strong support system. "So many people I didn't know became my friends and helped us out," Holmes said.

Early in her career, Katie Holmes appeared to fall hard for Joshua Jackson, her "Dawson's Creek" co-star. During the peak of the show's popularity, Holmes revealed she was seeing a special someone. "I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always," she told Rolling Stone in 1998. The actor explained how she considered this special guy as one of her best friends who also helped her navigate the entertainment industry. Going into her early 20s, Holmes linked up with actor Chris Klein known for his role as Oz in the "American Pie" franchise. After a few years of dating, Klein and Holmes announced their engagement in 2003, People reported, only to break it off before the wedding. Looking back on her five year relationship with Klein, Holmes admitted that there was no bad blood between the two. "Chris and I care about each other and we're still friends," she told W Magazine.

Immediately following her separation from Klein, people spotted Holmes around New York City with Josh Hartnett. Despite witnesses claiming to see the two actors kissing passionately in town, Hartnett's representative denied he and Holmes were romantically involved, per Hollywood. After ending her marriage to Tom Cruise, Holmes spent six years with Jamie Foxx in a rather secretive relationship, per ET. As of 2022, Holmes was together with musician Bobby Wooten III, according to Vanity Fair.

Katie Holmes announced in 2005 that she was expecting a child with Tom Cruise. "Tom and Katie are very excited, and the entire family is very excited," Cruise's spokesperson told People at the time. Holmes then gave birth to their daughter Suri about a year after she began dating Cruise. The birth allegedly was a silent procedure common in the Church of Scientology, according to Today.

Part of the terms of divorce between TomKat included full custody for Holmes of their daughter. This also included some financial help from Cruise including 12 years of $400,000 per year in child support plus other expenses like education, TMZ reported. "My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now," Holmes told Town & Country. "It's very important that I'm present and she has a stable, innocent childhood," Holmes added. 

Even though Holmes continued acting after becoming a mom, she considered Suri as one of her best accomplishments. "I feel so blessed to do what I do, but there's nothing in the world better than watching your child succeed," she declared. Holmes and Suri seem to get along well and spend quality mother-daughter time together. For example, paparazzi spotted the two shopping together in New York City on several different occasions, per Hollywood Life. Suri is connected to Holmes' love life too — a source told ET that Suri approved of her mom's boyfriend Bobby Wooten III.

"Saturday Night Live" alum Mike O'Brien grew up in Toledo, Ohio at the same time as Katie Holmes. "She did the musicals at my all-boys high school and everything. So I grew up very aware of her," especially from her "Dawson's Creek" success, O'Brien told Decider. As a shout out, he even created a fictional event called Katie Holmes Day in his show "A.P. Bio," and posted on Twitter that he'd like this holiday to be real in Toledo. While she doesn't have her own dedicated holiday, Holmes went back to her hometown to deliver the 2019 commencement speech at the University of Toledo. Holmes said in an Instagram post that she was honored by the opportunity to share her wisdom to the graduates.

Even after becoming a famous movie star and a leading actor on Broadway, Holmes said her Ohioan mentality never changed. "I still think of myself as Midwestern. I mean, I've had box wine. It's good," Holmes told The New York Times. She even liked to reminisce about her early times back in the Midwest. She posted an adorable throwback high school photo on Instagram during her time in the drama program. Holmes said the shot was taken backstage while she was performing in "The Wiz" musical at St. John's Jesuit High School in Toledo. She even gave a shout out to all the current high school thespians at her alma mater and wished them luck in the drama season.

While glamor is often associated with celebrities, Katie Holmes still stands out amongst her peers for her classy sense of fashion. Holmes said dressing stylishly was a form of self-expression and that she often takes inspiration from what her fellow New Yorkers are wearing. Holmes appears to always have an idea of what styles to wear, whether it's heeled shoes or even men's dress shirts, Holmes told Vogue. The actor was also spotted at New York Fashion Week when she stopped by to see the presentation by Kate Spade. More than just admiring the clothes, brands have used Holmes in the past to push their marketing image. In 2009, Holmes appeared as the face of Italian fashion brand Miu Miu's spring ad campaign, WWD reported.

Holmes also launched her own fashion line Holmes & Yang. "Growing up, I was really into the supermodels," she revealed to Allure. She also cited RuPaul as an inspiration, and similar to the drag queen, Holmes became involved in a reality competition. She once appeared as a guest judge on an episode of "Project Runway: All Stars," per The Hollywood Reporter.

As style changed with the pandemic and new fashion trends, Holmes adapted while still keeping her unique sense of style. This included wearing anything from vintage t-shirts to luxury bags from fashion brand Bottega Veneta. "I just like to look nice, I'm not really a fashion person. We all just want to look good," Holmes told Harper's Bazaar.

Katie Holmes, like most of the world, had to completely alter her daily life as a result of the pandemic. This came with new stresses but also surprising benefits like seeing family. In addition to family time and more opportunities for hobbies, Holmes stayed busy professionally and her real life experiences sometimes reflected the experiences of her on-screen characters. "It's the simple things that you do at home and it's spending time together and it's passing on traditions and rituals," Holmes told Parade.

Holmes spent part of her lockdown in New York City, Hello! claimed. Fortunately, she spent it with her daughter Suri, and the two appeared to have fun together. For example, one shared activity was making DIY tie dye, shown on an Instagram post by Holmes. "I've had more time with my family and more time with my friends on FaceTime. It's nice to just have a pause for a minute and really be present with people you know," Holmes told Parade.

Once free from quarantine, Holmes said she was happy things return more to normal. One aspect of this for her was the chance to get dressed up again. Specifically, she loved wearing shorter kitten heeled shoes around New York. "They're very comfortable — a kitten heel is nice after not wearing heels for a year and a half," she told Vogue. Though, the actor confessed she still carried around an easy wearing pair of flats when the heels became too much.

When it comes to taking care of herself, Katie Holmes subscribes to a holistic approach to well-being. For the physical part, Holmes likes to exercise to stay in shape. "I think it always makes me feel better because even if I do five minutes, it's better than sitting on the couch," Holmes said at an event for the Hoka brand of athletic shoes, per Us Weekly. She revealed that from the time she was 11 years old, running has been one of her favorite activities. "It helps when you're around a lot of different energies, you just run and get back to yourself," she said. Besides workouts and running, Holmes believes that her mental health improves with exercise. "If I'm stressed about something it clears my mind and I can look at it from a different point of view. It gets everything in perspective," she said.

Holmes also learned more about well-being from her role in the 2015 film, "Touched with Fire." In the film, Holmes played a character with bipolar disorder, which helped her think more about her own mental health — a taboo topic growing up. She also hoped the film could bring more awareness and empathy to bipolar disorder, Holmes told Elle. Beyond the film, Holmes revealed she believed in "The Secret" to keep a positive outlook on life. The popular 2006 self-help book then became a feature film "The Secret: Dare to Dream" starring Holmes (via Parade).

Katie Holmes made a lasting imprint into dancing in America as a result of her co-founding the Dizzy Feet Foundation. With "So You Think You Can Dance" judge Nigel Lythgoe and others, Holmes created the foundation to enrich dance programs across the country and to provide scholarships to promising young performers. On the 100th episode of "So You Think You Can Dance," Holmes showed her dance moves on stage to help benefit her foundation. "I think it's important to let kids experience music and dancing and singing and the arts and also sports," she told the show's host (via People). One of the few times Holmes couldn't show her support in person was following her separation from Tom Cruise. She skipped the annual Dizzy Feet Foundation gala in 2012 to not create a distraction at the event, the Los Angeles Times reported. Back when she was dating Cruise, Holmes went to public charity events alongside her famous partner. For example, she and Cruise were on the blue ribbon committee for a 2012 Children's Diabetes Foundation event.

Other causes that Holmes helped with included the fight against extreme poverty. At the star-studded 2014 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, the actor joined Jay Z, Olivia Wilde, and Carrie Underwood among others to inspire audience members and world leaders to help end poverty, People reported. Later, Holmes inspired children to read by working with the Hit the Books organization, per Romper.

In addition to paychecks from her acting roles — a reported $175,00 per episode of "Dawson's Creek" — Katie Holmes has also built an impressive list of partnerships with brands throughout her career, like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. She was also the long-time spokesperson and co-owner of haircare brand Alterna. With all of these sources of income, Holmes has an impressive stack of money. As of 2022, Holmes was worth an estimated $25 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

After splitting from Tom Cruise, Holmes purchased a spectacular new place. She paid a reported $3.795 million in 2014 for a mansion in Calabasas, California. The huge home included six bedrooms, a basketball court, and a sunken fire pit among other lavish amenities. Holmes sold the place for a profit in 2020, taking in over $4 million from the sale, the Los Angeles Times reported. In addition to living in New York City, fans also felt Holmes may also have a residence in Ohio after the actor posted pictures on social media, Hello! reported.

Holmes also enjoys spending money on fashionable pieces. For example, a photo of Holmes wearing a chic set of a matching cashmere bralette and cardigan on the streets of New York City went viral. According to the actor, she believed the brand Khaite made long-lasting clothing so she was willing to invest in the luxury pieces. Holmes reportedly paid $520 for the bralette and $1,540 for the sweater online, per Vogue.