by
Paul Fischer
Katie Holmes is much
taller than you would expect walking into the hotel room where 
the
shy 23-year old Dawson's Creek star is talking up her first starring
role in a film. Her neatly brushed brown hair matches her tanned face,
is tired after having done press to promote Abandon, a psychological
thriller from first-time director Stephen Gaghan, the
Oscar-winning writer of Traffic. It's not easy being a star and
Holmes never set out to attain that goal. But the surprise success of
Dawson's Creek elevated her profile, and Katie became a reluctant
star. Katie says that she has learned to deal with the celebrityism of
her career. "I think my family probably deals with it more than I
do. I don't really pay that much attention to it. Fortunately we've been
shooting in North Carolina which means we're not in LA where you can hear
people talking about you and you know so much about what's going
on in the business. In North Carolina nobody bothers us; we're all about
concentrating on the work or our auditions that we're trying to get a
flight out for. So all that crap is not something that I'm confronted
with on a daily basis." Though she does concede that "it's fun
to see your picture in a magazine and fun to go to the movies and see
your poster up but it's not like every day somebody comes up and takes
my photo or asks for my autograph " It is her family who keeps her
grounded, says Holmes and while her private life is often the subject
of teen and gossip mags, she says that she doesn't care what people write
about her nor does she read everything written about her. "I do read
some stuff but my mum's friends tend to look for everything that's written
about me and send them to her," she adds, laughingly.
Though not officially announced, this is expected to be the final season
for Dawson's. In an earlier interview, series star James
van der Beek was clearly relishing then show's demise. Holmes
thinks that "he'll miss me more than he lets on", and then laughs
slightly. As to the actress's own thoughts Katie has mixed feelings. "It'll
be bittersweet when the show wraps up. I mean it's been a wonderful experience
but I think it's exhausted itself to a degree, but people are still watching
and still care about these characters. I think there are still a lot of
stories that can be told at college and I certainly love the characters
on our show. But it's definitely going to be hard if it ends," Holmes
says. While van der Beek hopes the show's ending will be perfect for its
fans, Holmes laughingly says that "I want it to end my way"
but has no idea what that way will be. "It's a big question but I'm
not good at predicting that kind of stuff."
It was inevitable, as that show's most popular cast member, that she would
land a film role more substantial than recent supporting roles in The
Gift and the upcoming Phone Booth. In Abandon, Holmes plays Katie Burke,
an overachieving, popular college senior who is haunted by the mysterious
disappearance two years earlier of her first love, an arrogant, rich and
brilliant senior (Charlie Hunnam). As she prepares to
graduate, the case is reopened by a detective (Benjamin Bratt)
who is haunted by a traffic fatality caused by his alcoholism. Recovering
and returning to work from a leave of absence, he finds himself drawn
to Katie, who is shocked to
see her missing beau suddenly back on campus. "I read this and thought, `I loved that world of college students,' '' she said. "Being in your early 20s is an exciting, scary, wonderful, crazy time and I liked the character of Katie Burke. She's complicated, is someone that all of the guys want to ask out and she's smart and popular. You also see she's human with problems and is scared and lonely and heartbroken like all of us who is an all-achiever and a Type-A personality yet she's flawed like everyone. She doesn't realize she is like everyone and it's OK and she can show that. That's exciting to play: someone who goes through so many emotions," explains Holmes. She also concedes that it was important for her to find a character to play who was different from Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek. "I've always looked for parts that were different from her, parts that would be very challenging, and this was a very challenging role to play, "she adds. Describing the scenario her character goes through, as "a complicated situation and she was a complicated character."
Despite the success of her series, Holmes "feels blessed
that I've been able to do many different projects that were different
from Dawson's Creek." She says the added challenge of this
latest character was the idea of playing someone "who is under so
much stress. You meet her and she's at a point in her life where she has
to decide what she wants to do, get that job, finish school and grow up,
all in one movie, so she was going through a lot of emotional trauma,
which as an actress, was challenging to portray." Holmes says it
wasn't difficult to identify with this young woman. "Everybody can
relate to the kinds of pressure she was under in this movie. I tried very
hard to understand her more than relate to her, because she's an extreme
personality who can't really deal with things in her life, and I think
at times a lot of people have difficulty dealing with certain situations,
but she's someone who is just on a whole different level. So what was
challenging for me was trying to figure out where that comes from and
find ways within myself that I could understand."
Born Kate Noelle Holmes on December 18, 1978 in Ohio, Holmes grew up as
part of a close-knit family in Toledo and first acted in high-school productions.
She wanted to act, she recalls, "Because I just like playing different
people and dressing up." Participation in a national model and talent
convention landed her a trip to Los Angeles when she was 16, and it was
there that Holmes auditioned for a role in Ang Lee's
The Ice Storm. The film which was released in 1997, won critical
acclaim, and Holmes' role as the object of Tobey Maguire's
affections caught the attention of Kevin Williamson.
Williamson, known for his screenplays for such movies as Scream
and I Know What You Did Last Summer, was casting roles for his
new TV series Dawson's Creek. Holmes was asked to audition, and
did so via videotape. She won the part of Joey Potter, and the series,
which premiered in January of 1998, met with a positive reception from
both critics and television viewers Soon the series' young stars were
in hot demand, with Holmes in particular receiving attention for her work
in the series. As she looks back at the show, she recalls its first year
and what it meant to a group of then young unknowns. ``What was amazing
about that first season and what people loved about it, it captured four
people (stars Van Der Beek, Holmes, Michelle Williams and
Joshua Jackson) and it was true, in a sense. I particularly
loved the first and second seasons; there was so much possibility and
we had no idea (what was going to happen) and were having the best time.
(I look back) and I see four people having an exciting time and the second
season was, `They've no idea what to do with their lives and got excited.'
'' Then what? "Then we all got old,'' Holmes said.
For the now grown up Holmes, there is life after Dawson's Creek,
insisting that she will continue to look for movies, and avoid another
TV series for the moment. "I think I want to pursue a movie career
and maybe even pursue some theatre." But never say never is her motto.
"Obviously if there's a really great show that comes along, I'll
try out for that too and keep my options open for sure."