
Katie Holmes is interviewed by Sheila Weller in the latest issue of Glamour magazine.
In it, Holmes talks candidly about her life, her family, her career. She gets personal about husband Tom Cruise and protective about her daughter Suri. She’s a mother, a wife, an actress -and she balances them all quite well.
GLAMOUR: So Katie, this is Glamour’s seventieth- anniversary issue, and we’re celebrating important American women. But I’d like to know, who are your icons?
KATIE HOLMES: Growing up, I always had my dreams set on being an actor, so I looked up to Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn. I also look up to Kate Winslet and Renée [Zellweger] and Cate Blanchett…and Diane Keaton—she’s a genius. I think it’s very inspiring to see these women attack such complex roles.
GLAMOUR: What about friends and family?
KH: I don’t know how my mom did it, raising all five of us. I have three sisters and three sisters-in-law; I have learned from them. I’m inspired by them.
GLAMOUR: You once said that your mother told you, of her life as a mom, “I didn’t sleep for 15 years.”
KH: I don’t know if she’s even getting any sleep now! My sisters and brother and I call her: “Mom, what do you think of this?” “Mom, what do I do?”
GLAMOUR: Still, you’ve come into your own. In a recent interview you said, “I’m a bit wiser.” How?
KH: Well, becoming a mother has been the most amazing experience—in an instant you become strong. You have to be a little bit wiser; it’s the most important job in the world.
GLAMOUR: Did it scare you at all? The responsibility?
KH: Of course. During the first couple of days [with Suri], we would just sleep right next to her to make sure she was breathing. And I was constantly learning on the job, but Tom was very helpful and supportive.
GLAMOUR: You are very protective of your family. You’ve said a couple of times [in response to various rumors about her relationship with Cruise, a practicing Scientologist, and speculation that Suri didn’t exist] that all of the gossip is “not OK.”
KH: Some of the stuff [people said] was such absolutely horrible things to say about a child. It was so uncalled for and so disgusting. Enough is enough.
GLAMOUR: Did Tom ever say, “Don’t worry about it” [since he was more used to media scrutiny]?
KH: Yes. We were changing diapers. He said, “I don’t want you to get upset.” And I said, “Well, I am upset.” So we approached it together. But I definitely felt like—as a woman, as the mother of Suri—I want to handle this! My mom is very strong, and if anyone ever said anything about any of us, she would be, “Excuse me? That’s my family!”
GLAMOUR: As you know, the rumor right now is that you are pregnant!
KH: Well, I’m not pregnant right now.
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