When Katie Holmes made her break from Tom Cruise and Scientology back in 2012, the nation watched her getaway with as rapt attention as they had watched O.J. Simpson in that white Bronco all those years ago. Every thing seemed to unfold in real time, which was maddening.
We heard that she was gone. We heard that she had planned a getaway while Cruise was out of the country filming Jack Reacher. But beyond that, very little was coming from the Holmes camp about how she had done it, why, and what the future might hold for the woman who had made Tom Cruise jump on Oprah’s couch — the woman who had been studying Scientology, but who had reportedly left that man to save her baby from growing up in a Scientology environment.
Nowadays, Holmes isn’t talking about regrets.
“I liked who I was at 20, and I think that you just have to go along for the ride with everything,” she told Elle Canada. “I have a lot to be grateful for, so I do count my blessings every day. I really do.”
In fact, Holmes doesn’t spend too much time thinking about past successes either, not even the role that launched her into the public eye — Joey Potter on Dawson’s Creek.
“I just keep going,” she says. “That’s what I do: I don’t really think about it; I kind of just keep going.”
And she says that ambition is not even really a factor. It’s not a matter of striving for some next goal. She looks moire for balance. When asked if she thinks she is ambitious, she laughs.
“No, I’m really not,” she says. “I think ambition is a wonderful thing, but I see a lot of people who might be a little bit more ambitious; I just do what I do and go home. I have a balanced life. I like having different experiences, and I like being inspired.”
What does inspire her lately is “looking for stories that really show women in the best light.”
“I have three sisters and a ton of aunts and a lot of friends, so I’m constantly amazed and inspired by all kinds of women and the dedication it takes to have a career and be a mother,” she says. “I’m also amazed by the community of women it takes for one person to really succeed. I think that that’s really important to remember.”
Holmes admits that it isn’t always easy to find the kinds of projects she wants to do.
“It’s a very hard business. You have to work hard every day and hope for the best. Sometimes offers are flying in, and sometimes they’re not. There aren’t as many movies being made, period, so the challenge is to create projects for yourself,” she says. “But that’s fun too. You have to make your own opportunities.”
Holmes may want to move beyond her Joey Potter days, her Tom Cruise days, and even her last film — whatever that may be at the time. But people remember her for what she has done. She’s seen as a role model. Maybe she doesn’t need to be an ambitious one. But women appreciate a balanced role model just the same.