First, the doe-eyed girl from Ohio became the girl-next-door of "Dawson's Creek." Then, she made smart movie choices by appearing in GO, Wonder Boys and The Gift. Now, Katie Holmes is taking on her biggest challenge by starring opposite Benjamin Bratt in the thriller Abandon. According to insiders, though, this is just the start of something very big.
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The thing you notice right off about Katie Holmes is just how much the Joey Potter from "Dawson's Creek" has grown up. She must be 5' 9" now, and with a natural tan set off by her white sleeveless shirt and pants, she's a knockout, what hasn't changed are those eyes--could they be any larger? "On my desk I still keep the very first photo of Katie when she came to 'Dawson's Creek,'" says Kevin Williamson, who created the show and directed Holmes in Teaching Mrs. Tingle. "Those eyes, they anchored the show for the first two seasons. The editors called her 'Cut-to Katie,' because whenever we were having problems compiling footage we cut to those eyes. It always worked."
Stephen Gaghan, the Oscar-winning writer of Traffic who makes his directorial debut with Abandon, the film that gives Holmes her first important starring role, gets nearly rapturous on the subject of those eyes and all that goes with them. "As I was living with her image for so many days during postproduction, Katie obliterated every other actress in history for me. In preproduction I'd noticed something amazing happening to her-- that time in a young woman's life when the balance tilts and she goes from a girl-woman who's mostly girl to being a woman. I saw it coming on video from month to month. I feel very privileged to have done my first film during this time in her life. I think she is the real deal."
Up until now, Holmes has been all about potential. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and, with almost no formal training, suddenly found herself first in the small, brilliant movie The Ice Storm and then in the big TV series "Dawson's Creek." While working nine months a year on the series, which is filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, she smartly elevated her standing by leaving most of the teen films to other stars and choosing instead to spend her time accessorizing hip ensemble pieces with distinctive directors like Doug Liman (GO), Curtis Hanson (Wonder Boys) and Sam Raimi (The Gift). She held her own in each of these challenging films.
Holmes's true test on the big screen comes with the new film Abandon, in which she plays a troubled college coed who is being haunted by an old boyfriend who went missing, and who is falling in love with an equally troubled alcoholic detective (Benjamin Bratt) who's investigating the disappearance. After Abandon, there will be Phone Booth, Joel Schumacher's film in which she has a small part opposite Colin Farrell. If either of these movies does well, she'll finish what could be her last year on "Dawson's Creek" in an excellent position to shift into a new phase as an adult actress on the big screen.
MICHAEL FLEMING: Is this your North Carolina beach tan?
KATIE HOLMES: No, this is my Ohio tan. It was 95 degrees all week and my family has a pool, so on the fourth of July we had 30 people over and my dad decides we're having a belly-flop contest. Then relay races. Quite fun.
Q: This is Movieline's "Money" issue, so I wanted to start out with a money question. It must be heady for a young person to be making so much money. Are you fiscally savvy?
A: I shop too much, I know that. My dad manages all of my money. His buddy does my taxes every year for free. It's done out of Ohio and every six months I'll sit down with my dad and go through it. I have no idea what he's talking about. I let him do his thing.
Q: What are your extravagances?
A: Besides shopping--I have about 50 pairs of shoes--I take a lot of nice trips. But I have the same townhouse I bought a couple of years ago in North Carolina, and I don't even have a place in L.A.
Q: You haven't bought a mansion?
A: Are you kidding? It would be a pigsty. I'd have to have three maids. I have a little Honda and a bike. No Mercedes.
Q: You've taken on your first adult starring role after doing mostly supporting roles. Was it a conscious decision to wait?
A: Yes and no. When I first began on "Dawson's Creek," opportunities were thrown at me and I did some movies in which I was almost carrying the picture, and I felt overwhelmed. I had no idea what it even meant to "carry" a movie--I'd think, "Wow, I'm number two on the call sheet." These were wonderful experiences and I wouldn't speak badly of them. But then I worked with better scripts and really good directors. I felt ready to try Abandon.
Q: Your costar Benjamin Bratt is another person who's emerged from TV and is finally testing himself after doing good supporting work in film. What quality about him do you think might make him a star?
A: His kindness comes off on-screen. He's warm, a really good actor. I immediately felt comfortable with him. He's got a peace and confidence about him.
Q: In an interview with this magazine, John McTiernan said Bratt's strength was an edge that had just begun to show and that once he stopped trying to be nice all the time, he could be a big star.
A: There is so much going on inside of him. He's got a lot of experience and has been pigeonholed.
Q: Your other new movie, Phone Booth, was an interesting choice--about a guy, played by Colin Farrell, stuck at a pay phone because the caller at the other end of the line is aiming a gun at him from afar.
A: I wanted to be part of something that was different. It could go either way, but the idea of doing a movie in one place in 20 days sounded cool to me.
Q: How many days did you shoot?
A: Only five. I play a young actress who Colin's character is after, but she's smarter than he thinks.
Q: What did you think of Colin?
A: The amount of dialogue I saw him deliver while standing in that phone booth, I couldn't have imagined doing it. The days I was there, he was really doing a good job. Now, he might have been really bad on the days I wasn't there...
Q: Your director on Phone Booth, Joel Schumacher, said you're unusual because most young actors are "inappropriate" and you're not.
A: I've never seen inappropriate behavior from other actors because I've spent the last few years in Wilmington and fortunately the cast and crew I work with are well-behaved.
Q: "Dawson's Creek" hit just as the teen craze was starting. Did the whole cast feel lucky?
A: The show was like lightning in a bottle and we caught it just when the teen thing exploded.
Q: "Dawson's Creek" got you into the movies, but now it is probably keeping you from doing as much as you want.
A: We went through that period of, "It's not fair, we have to be down here, we can't get to those meetings." That was my immaturity, I won't say that for everybody. At this point, we all have done a lot of different things. There have been ups and downs. We know we are going to miss certain opportunities. But we wouldn't have those if we didn't have the show.
Q: Has it ever caused anxiety when one of you does well in a movie, as James Van Der Beek did with Varsity Blues?
A: We're hard on ourselves. I don't know that we're that competitive with each other. We're very different actors. So you can understand that if they're going to cast Michelle [Williams], then they want someone like Michelle. Good for her. If we're the one not working when everyone else is, that's when it gets hard.
Q: How did you get your very first movie, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm?
A: It was before "Dawson's Creek." I got discovered in New York at a modeling convention and a manager asked me to come to LA. One of his clients had an audition, so I got in the door, too. I thought I had no business being there, but they were nice. At first I tried out for Christina Ricci's part and I was too old. So they said, "Why don't you look at this other part?" Then they wanted to put me on tape. It was a long shot, the first movie I'd ever tried for. I remember that morning well--we went down to get something to drink and there were all these young people talking about auditions. I thought, "Nothing is going to happen."
Q: Weren't you intimidated by the cast of The Ice Storm--Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen? Even Tobey Maguire was pretty experienced.
A: I didn't know who anybody was. Coming from Ohio, I knew about Steven Spielberg, but no other directors. I did know who Kevin Kline was, and thank God I didn't have scenes with him because I would have been nervous. I met Tobey and I thought, He seems nice. I remember having lunch with him and he told me he was good friends with Leonardo DiCaprio. I was like, "Oh, my God!" I had a crush on Leonardo. I owe a lot to Tobey--he helped me. I was lucky to have that as my first movie because I was surrounded by so many artists. I didn't know what I was doing and I'm sure I had to do many takes, but Tobey was so good to me that I started to understand.
Q: How did you land "Dawson's Creek"?
A: My manager sent me the script and I loved the part of Joey. So I put myself on tape. My mother played Dawson and we had this setup in the basement. Kevin Williamson got it and said, "Bring her out." I got the show at the right time. I'd tried out for another series before called "Mr. Rhodes." This was just before my senior year, in between The Ice Storm and "Dawson's Creek." I did my table read and then my manager got a call. I was fired.
Q: Were you devastated?
A: It was a taste of rejection, but it happened so fast. My mom and I started looking for apartments in the Valley and the thought of getting a tutor for my senior year seemed tough. There was a false happiness, but in the end, it was nice to have a senior year.
Q: When you got "Dawson's Creek," were your parents upset that you weren't going to college?
A: They're very education-oriented and I had been accepted to Columbia, so I have a pact with my father to go back and do college. It'll be after the series.
Q: You made Teaching Mrs. Tingle after your first season on "Dawson's." Were you upset it didn't do better?
A: Yes, but it was a great experience.
Q: The next film you made was Wonder Boys, which was a critical hit. How did it come about?
A: When the script came out my agent said, "Stop what you're doing and read this. You've got to go to New York because you have an audition with Curtis Hanson."
Q: Was it odd to go from the teen set of "Dawson's Creek" to the adult-dominated Wonder Boys?
A: That was a whole different world. Very humbling. Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr., Jane Adams, Tobey. You get put in your place. I'd done some movies and I was on this show that people were watching and I had a little ego--I thought this wasn't that hard. Then it was like, whoa. I just wanted to pick their brains.
Q: Which actor offered you the most practical advice?
A: Michael gave me some real wise words. He made me look more polished.
Q: Do you choose films mostly by script or by director?
A: I'd say I go director first, actors second, script third, because so many times what you read isn't what goes on the screen.
Q: After Wonder Boys, what was your thinking?
A: I didn't go after every opportunity that was out there. That's when I read The Gift and heard Cate Blanchett was going to be in it. I love her.
Q: This was different from anything else you'd done. Your character was a sexually charged girl. Did you campaign for the role?
A: I had to work for it. When I auditioned they said, "You're going to have to not wear your shirt. You're going to have to be underwater. Do you still want to do this?" I was like, "What, are you challenging me? What else have you got?" I thought I could pull this off. I wanted to prove I wasn't just the girl from "Dawson's Creek." It was kind of rebellious, I've got to admit that.
Q: What's the movie that's helped you most in your effort to have a career beyond "Dawson's Creek"?
A: Wonder Boys. That opened a lot of doors for me. "Dawson's Creek" put me in a box, and that got me out.
Q: Neither The Ice Storm nor Wonder Boys nor the The Gift did that well at the box office. Does that bother you?
A: A little, but not like with Teaching Mrs. Tingle, which I thought was going to be a big hit and I had a big part in. But I've never really been in a movie that has done well.
Q: Do you feel pressure to be in a hit?
A: I'd love for those movies to have done well, but you can never tell. I'd love to be in a hit. I'm really trying. And I'm saving my money.
Q: You've gotten many important roles, but there must have been one that you really wanted and didn't win.
A: I auditioned for Captain Corelli's Mandolin and I really liked that one. I was pretty bummed. But at the same time it was like--well, they'd be casting you against Nicolas Cage. I mean, c'mon. Then Penelope Cruz was better and more beautiful. I never saw the movie.
Q: How do you deal with reviews?
A: I do try not to read too many reviews. My mom will send me clippings, and I trust they're not going to be like, "Katie was horrible." But you can't take this too seriously. Some movies get terrible reviews and do great at the box office and most movies that get great reviews don't do so well at the box office. But you know what? I just read Katharine Hepburn's book Me: Stories of My Life and she didn't do very well at the box office. So, there's hope for us all.
Q: Were you a big movie fan growing up? Was there an actress you really admired?
A: I loved Julia Roberts. But I didn't see many movies. My parents were strict about R- and PG-13-rated films. I just saw Dirty Dancing a couple of years ago.
Q: What was your first R-rated movie?
A: I saw Basic Instinct in eighth grade. At a friend's house. We just giggled. Rewind. Giggle. Rewind. Giggle. I got more into movies in high school, and of course Leonardo's films.
Q: So you saw Titanic how many times?
A: Just three.
Q: What's your favorite movie?
A: I don't think I really have one. Back in the days it was Sixteen Candles. I loved Sense and Sensibility and Gosford Park.
Q: So you have highbrow tastes?
A: Oh, do I? Well, I also love Dumb & Dumber.
Q: What do you do when you're not working?
A: I read books. And, while you mention it, look at this--my blister. My dad is getting heavy into golf and he thought I was getting bored so he got me a golfing lesson.
Q: You've been dating actor Chris Klein for a while. Isn't that hard, since it's a long-distance relationship?
A: It is hard. Recently we've been able to see each other more. I go out there a lot. Talking on the phone gets a bit old. It keeps it interesting, but it makes it hard.
Q: Does it frustrate you that he can go make movies any time while you're shackled to a series?
A: He says, "You don't know how lucky you are to have something steady in beautiful North Carolina." The grass is always greener. We both have different experiences in which we can involve the other. It's nice.
Q: Do you get hounded by the tabloids?
A: I'm not newsworthy so I don't have a problem.
Q: Do you feel the clock on your future career starts with Abandon, or not until the series ends?
A: When the series is finished I'm going to have to find something else to do. I'm so used to having something to do-- I'll go crazy. I'm going to have to go to school, though, while I'm auditioning. I hope. I don't want to put a lot of pressure on Abandon. I've done that before and been disappointed. If it does work, maybe it will open some doors. If not, I'll just keep trying.