"There's a weight to her, and it's not forced. There's just something going on behind her eyes that makes her compelling, She's always looking for a way to evolve and be better than she was yesterday," —Director Steven Soderbergh on Katie Holmes.
You might remember Katie Holmes for her marriage to Tom Cruise, but she’s pretty famous for her acting too. Holmes has a career that’s spanned two decades and is still going strong. She was catapulted to stardom in the late 90s in her breakout role as Joey Potter in Dawson’s Creek. Since then, she’s captured the public’s heart with roles ranging from the sweet girl next door to America’s First Lady. And of course, there’s her strange romance with Cruise. Here are 40 entertaining facts about Midwestern American actress Katie Holmes.
Katie Holmes Facts
1. All American Girl
Holmes was born in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo is a midwestern American city that’s famous for being, well, the birth place of Katie Holmes. She graduated from Notre Dame academy in Toledo, an all girl’s Catholic school.
2. What’s That Short For?
While oftentimes Katie is a nickname for longer names like Kathleen or Katherine, Holmes’s first name is just Kate.
3.“If She Were a President, She’d be Baberaham Lincoln.”
Holmes has appeared a couple times on lists of hottest and most beautiful people. In 1998, she was “Babe of the Year” in Expressen Fredag, a Swedish Magazine. A year later in 1999, Teen People magazine chose her as one of the “21 Hottest Stars under 21.” In 2002, Stuff magazine ranked her #35 on their list of 102 sexiest women in the world. Then in 2005, she was #22 on Maxim’s hot 100, and she was #72 on FHM’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005.” FHM ranked her #90 the following year in “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006.”
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
4. Ivy League Bound
Holmes was supposed to attend the Ivy League school Columbia University. She didn’t end up actually attending and only took a single photography class from the school. Smart way to avoid those student loans!
5. Southern Charm
While filming Dawson’s Creek, Holmes bought a home in Wilmington North Carolina, where the show was filmed. She lived there 10 months out of the year while they were filming the show.
6. The Perfect Muse
Holmes has been mentioned in—or the subject of–a few different songs by completely different bands. One is a small band from Japan, who have dedicated their song “Katie” to her. The other is the band Bowling For Soup, who mention her in their song “High School Never Ends.” Firexit—an underground British outfit—has two songs Holmes is the subject of, “K H” and “The Reason I Can’t Have Her.” I suspect any day Taylor Swift should be releasing the next big hit about Holmes.
Crisco 1492, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
7. I’ll Be There For You (So Long as My Schedule Allows)
Holmes was supposed to have a three episode arc on the hit show Friends. She had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. Guess we’ll never know if she hooked up with Chandler, Ross, or Joey.
8. On Her Own
Holmes is not only a gifted actress, but a gifted singer as well. She sang “On My Own” from Les Misérables in an episode on Dawson’s Creek where Holmes’s character competes in a beauty pageant.
Sony Pictures Television, Dawson's Creek (1998-2003)
9. Baby Sister
Holmes is the youngest of five children. She has three older sisters, and one older brother.
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10. Smart Cookie
Holmes auditioned for the role of Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was reportedly offered the job, but turned it down to focus on her studies.
Getty Images, Getty Images
11. You’re Once, Twice, a First Lady
Holmes has played First Lady Jackie Kennedy twice in her career as an actress. The first time she played Jackie was in The Kennedys, a Canadian-American mini-series. The second time she played Jackie O was in The Kennedys: After Camelot (sometimes called The Kennedys: The Decline and Fall) a follow up series to The Kennedys.
Asylum Entertainment, The Kennedys (miniseries - 2011)
12. Holy Double Batmans, Batman!
Holmes has worked with two Batmen. Or rather, she’s worked with their actors. Holmes was in Batman Begins playing opposite Christian Bale. She played his childhood friend and love interest Rachel Dawes before the character was recast for The Dark Knight. Holmes has also worked with Michael Keaton. Keaton and Holmes worked together in the film First Daughter. As you may know, Keaton was Batman in the Tim Burton Batman films.
Sean Gallup, Getty Images
13. That Was Fast!
Holmes and Tom Cruise were only dating for six weeks before they decided to get married. They might have set a new definition for “whirlwind romance.”
s_bukley, Shutterstock
14. Convert
Holmes converted to Scientology for her relationship to Cruise. In 2005, Holmes said she converted without any pressure from Cruise. Since her divorce from the movie star, however, she no longer practices scientology.
15. Born Too Early
Holmes was a premature baby, weighing only four pounds when she was born!
16. Serious Commitment
Holmes turned down an audition for Dawson’s Creek in order to go to her school play’s opening night. She said that she had to do the right thing, and for her that meant honoring the commitments she’d already made for her school. Luckily, Holmes got the part of Joey Potter anyways. She just sent in an audition tape!
17. And I Will Always Love You
Speaking of firsts, Holmes’s first concert was a Whitney Houston concert. She attended it with her mom and her sister.
Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
18. Passing the Bat-ton.
Before Maggie Gyllenhaal took over the role of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, she called and asked for Holmes’s blessing. "I wanted to be sure, first of all, that I had her blessing. And I was assured that I did. I'm a big fan of hers. I think she was really great,” Gyllenhaal said of her decision to reach out to Holmes. It’s really gracious on Gyllenhaal’s part to make sure Holmes was okay with it. And Holmes of course was, and only wanted great things for the movie. I love it when we can all just get along.
Jun Sato, Getty Images
19. Oh la la!
Cruise proposed to Holmes at the Eiffel Tower in France. Trés romantic!
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
20. Dream Guy
Holmes used to have a poster of Cruise in her bedroom, and reportedly dreamed of marrying him when she was a teenager. I guess some of us do get to marry our celebrity crush, so there must still be hope for me and Chris Hemsworth.
Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
21. Here Kitty Kitty.
Cruise and Holmes had a celebrity nickname; the press often referred to them as “TomKat.”
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
22. Stranger Behavior
In a now infamous interview with Oprah, Cruise jumped around the set–and even on top of the couch–because he was so in love with Holmes. That classic moment has been an easy target of parody, as seen in Scary Movie 4.
Jon Furniss, Getty Images
23. That’s (Not) Real Love
Holmes and Cruise’s relationship was immediately called into question by the public. According to a People magazine poll, 62% of readers thought the relationship was fake. The media also wasn’t buying it. For everyone, Cruise’s strange, over-the-top behavior just called the whole thing into question. Most people thought the relationship was a publicity stunt. If so, Holmes had a lot of dedication for that publicity stunt, considering she converted to scientology, got married, and had a kid with Cruise.
Franco Origlia, Getty Images
24. Oh Baby!
In October 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child together. The internet was quick to react with horror. One columnist wrote, “The impregnation of sweet, sweet Katie Holmes by that little man -- it's horrific.” The news shocked the world, and the internet ate up details of the pregnancy. 
The Sydney Morning Herald, Getty Images
25. Paging Dr. Holmes
Holmes’s father didn’t want her to be an actress; he had his hopes set on her being a doctor. I guess to make her dad happy she could always play a doctor in a movie, or guest star on Grey’s Anatomy?
26. A Quiet Birth
Holmes is set to have a cameo appearance in Oceans 8, and she is really excited for the movie to come out this summer (me too, Katie). She told People Magazine that Oceans 8 is “going to be a great female caper film. It won’t disappoint.” Holmes’s cameo in the movie is just one more reason to be excited for this heist movie.
27. Wedding Bells Are Ringing
A few months later in November of 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married in a castle near Rome in a scientology ceremony. Holmes’s marriage to the father of her child did nothing to dispel the rumors this was all a publicity stunt gone too far.
Handout, Getty Images
28. Fashion Do or Don’t?
Holmes stepped out of the house in Cruise’s jeans back in 2008 and caused a fashion firestorm. While some bloggers credit Holmes with kick starting a trend of boyfriend jeans, one fashion blogger thought it was “cuckoo.” Well, boyfriend jeans became a hot fashion trend, so Holmes 1, fashion blogger who called her cuckoo, 0.
James Devaney, Getty Images
29. Bye Bye, Selma
Holmes’s breakout role as Joey Potter almost went to Selma Blair. That was until the creator got Holmes’s audition tape. Creator of Dawson’s Creek Kevin Williamson said, “when that video showed up, it changed my whole life.” I think it’s safe to say it changed Holmes’s life too!
30. Guest Pumpkin
Holmes has guest starred on CBS hit How I Met Your Mother where she played Naomi, whose distinguishing trait on the show was that she dressed as a sexually provocative pumpkin for Halloween.
20th Century Fox, How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
31. Foxxy Lady
Holmes is currently dating actor and singer Jamie Foxx. The two reportedly are keeping their relationship very private and are careful about avoiding being photographed together. 
Kevin Tachman/MG19, Getty Images
32. Just Wait Until My Lawyer Hears About This!
Holmes successfully sued Star magazine for libel when they published a magazine calling her a drug addict. Not every celebrity wins a case against tabloids, even if what they’re printing is false, but Holmes did. Court cases seem to go her way, maybe because of that lawyer father!
33. Missing: One Sex Scene, if Found Please Return.
During the Sundance Film Festival, Holmes’s sex scene from the movie Thank You For Smoking was “mysteriously” cut from the viewing. This led several people to speculate that Cruise had somehow managed to get the scene cut. The film’s director Jason Reitman explained it was just a projection error. The scene is still in the theatrical release of the movie.
Fox Searchlight Pictures, Thank You for Smoking (2005)
34. First Love
Holmes’s first love was Joshua Jackson, her Dawson’s Creek co-star. In a Rolling Stone interview, Holmes commented on her relationship with Jackson saying, "I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always." Sounds exactly like first love to me! Despite breaking up, Jackson and Holmes remained good friends. 
Getty Images, Getty Images
35. Who Wants to Be Batman's Girlfriend Anyway?
No one knows for sure why Holmes walked away from her role as Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Nolan wanted Holmes to take on the part again, as she had played the character in Batman Begins, but she turned it down. On missing out on a chance to play Dawes in the critically acclaimed box office smash The Dark Knight, Holmes says she has no regrets. As she said, ""You know, I really enjoyed working on the first one and I wish I could have worked with Chris Nolan again," Holmes said. "It was a decision that I made at that time and it was right for me at that moment, so I don't have any regrets. I think that Maggie did a wonderful job. But I really hope that I get to work with Chris some day." Maybe it’s for the best, who really wants fanboys coming up to you and doing their best Heath Ledger Joker impression for the rest of your life? No paycheck is worth that.
36. Baby's First Pictures
Though many doctors criticized him, Tom Cruise reportedly bought a sonogram machine so that he could use it at home on Holmes for fun. As if she’s not already going through enough being pregnant, now she has to deal with her fiancé wanting to play doctor.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
37. B.T., Before Tom
While Holmes’s first marriage was to Tom Cruise, she was engaged once before. In 2003, Holmes was engaged to Chris Klein, perhaps best known for American Pie. The couple split in 2005.
Christopher Polk, Getty Images
38. Ex-Connections
Holmes likely met her current beau Jamie Foxx through her now ex-husband Cruise when Foxx and Cruise starred in Collateral together back in 2004.
By Win McNamee, Getty Images
39. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Almost six years after they were married, Holmes filed for divorce while Cruise was in Iceland shooting a new movie. Holmes’s father, who is a lawyer, helped her with the divorce, making sure Holmes retained custody of her daughter Suri, which was the primary thing she wanted and, according to those close to her, much of what precipitated her quick escape.
40. A Quiet Place
On April 18th, 2006, Holmes gives birth to her daughter Suri Cruise in a silent birth. Silent or quiet births were recommended by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, and are common among Scientology's practitioners. As the practice outlines, in a silent birth "everyone attending the birth should refrain from spoken words as much as possible" and "... chatty doctors and nurses, shouts to 'PUSH, PUSH' and loud or laughing remarks to 'encourage' are avoided." Scientologists believe that any spoken words could negatively affect both mother and child.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
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