“The Very Romantic Katie Holmes”

Katie Holmes enters a hotel ballroom dressed in collegiate white shirt, wine-colored trousers and heels and a funky-chic necklace, her famous brunette mane curled and loose against her porcelain skin. She balances a cup of coffee in her hand.

It's a rather jarring switch to those accustomed to seeing her in all her A-list glory: sporting couture as she takes a photo oportunity stroll with her equally stylish four-year-old, Suri, or striding across a red carpet hand-in-hand with her movie icon husband, Tom Cruise.

Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes in The Romantics

Get used to Katie, casual: In her newest movie, The Romantics, the 31-year-old Katie plays Laura, a character many women can relate to: a jilted lover. In the film, an independent release, she portrays a young woman cast aside by the love of her life in favor of her old college roommate and chum. Instead of being the bride at this wedding she is the maid-of-honor. The message: love, friendship and romance can be messy and angst-ridden.

Happily, art does not imitate life: her off-screen roles as a superstar mother and wife can literally compared to a bed or roses, courtesy of her husband Tom Cruise. The couple are by many accounts over-the-top romantic: She reveals that Cruise bestows bouquets of red roses upon Katie every time she travels. Or just because.

During a recent chat at the posh new Gansevoort Hotel on Manhattan’s Park Avenue on a hot and humid day in early September, Katie, 30, talked about the movie, friendship, romance, and motherhood -- plus her newest role as entrepreneur. For example, her new clothing line, Holmes and Yang, is flying off of store shelves.

She is currently in production on the History Channel’s first scripted miniseries, due out in 2011, The Kennedy’s, in which she portrays First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy opposite Greg Kinnear as President John F. Kennedy. After her recent visit to New York to promote The Romantics, she returned to Toronto, where she and her family spent a glorious summer.

Her other recent film role was The Extra Man, with Paul Dano, John C.
Reilly and Kevin Kline, that has been well received at several major film festivals. Before these recent films, she made a well-received Broadway debut opposite acting legends Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.

Not only did Katie star in The Romantics, but she was also an executive producer.

The cast of The Romantics includes Anna Paquin (as the bride Lila), Josh Duhamel (as Katie’s love interest and the groom), Katie, as Laura, the scorned woman, and Malin Akerman, Adam Brody, Elijah Wood, Jeremy Strong, Rebecca Lawrence, and Candice Bergen, as the rest of the bridal party, at this seaside affair, filmed on Long Island.

Written and directed By Galt Niederhoffer, and based on her novel, the film has some of the same feel, and resonating music, as The Big Chill, My Best Friend’s Wedding and Rachel’s Getting Married, with it’s own originality and layered performances from Katie, Ana Paquin and their co-stars.

“Katie just emanates sweetness, goodness, beauty – she is just so adorable, there’s a reason she was the girl next door since age 16,” says Niederhoffer. “But, guess what? She’s really, smart, hard working, creative, original and just awesome.”

Niederhoffer said that she went to Barney’s buy a dress for the premiere and the first thing she saw was the Holmes & Yang clothing line, and it was nearly sold out.” So she reports there were no ‘prima donna’ requests coming from Katie, despite the A-list crowd she attends parties with and the red carpet events she frequents. “Katie is great with story, great with character, a generous woman, and a real sweetheart on the set. She has become a dear, dear friend,” said Galt.

But in the end, The Romantics is a generational comedy, and love story, that recaptures the camaraderie of youth, something that Katie does extremely well. During the recent chat, she demurely spoke about movies, friendship, her co-stars, Tom, four-year-old daughter, Suri, motherhood, her extended family, the future, and more.

H. B. Forman: You took some time off and didn’t do many film projects back-to-back – do you feel that your new roles will be something for a more mature actress?

Katie Holmes: I don’t know. I really don’t know. But I’ve really enjoyed my time with my daughter and with my family, and it was also great to work with this wonderful cast and director. We had a wonderful time. And I was so floored by the performances – these guys are such incredible actors. So it was really inspiring every single day. You watched somebody else do a scene and think, ‘Oh, my God. I didn’t know that’s what it was about.’ They brought something so different and wonderful, so it was such a great time. That’s why we all still hang out and go to dinner often. We’re a tight-knit group.

H. B. Forman: Harking back to the movie’s romance theme - what are some romantic gestures that your loved ones do for you?

Katie Holmes: My husband [Tom Cruise] has red roses for me where ever I go, whenever we travel.

H. B. Forman: That’s very sweet and definitely romantic.

H. B. Forman: Could you share any stories about being executive producer on the film? Was there anything that it allowed you to do that you wouldn’t have done as an actor.

Katie Holmes: Lots of cupcakes and coffee. That was really the extent of it.
[laughed]. I was really flattered when I was able to have this [executive producing] position. I just tried to help when I could, cheer people on and that’s really what I did. And I used this time to learn from everyone – the producers and director. It was really wonderful; I really appreciated it.

H. B. Forman: Have you ever been to a wedding where everything went wrong?

Katie Holmes: No, but I think weddings are a great backdrop for a drama, because it is such a heightened thing. You are so focused on every little detail; everything has to be perfect.

H. B. Forman: Is there anything you learned from this movie that you would take to future film projects.

Katie Holmes: Yes, that you just never give up. You just keep going – because making films can be very challenging, so you just have to keep pushing.

H. B. Forman: What is your overall life philosophy?

Katie Holmes: I would say to treat others, as you want to be treated. And just don’t give up on everything in your life. I think you should try to make yourself better each day. Everyday you have the opportunity to do something different. You’re trading in that day for life and you never get that day back. So what ever you do, it better be worth the trade. It’s another way of saying that we need to make the most of things.

H. B. Forman: The producers say that you are being modest. They say that you did much more -- attending meetings alone, rolled up her sleeves, coming up with a marketing plan – the whole J. Crew campaign, and helping promote the movie in New York.

Katie Holmes: I’m a mother. So you get used to sort of doing so much at once -- multi-tasking.

H. B. Forman: So, what is the best part of being a mom?

Katie Holmes: That is so hard to answer. Everything is the best part. It’s dreamy. It is just the most wonderful time in my life. She’s so helpful and so
loving. She loves to sing and dance. She’s just so beautiful.

H. B. Forman: I see that you are a mom in love – so is there a hard part?

Katie Holmes: At this age you have to keep the activities up to keep them busy.

Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes in The Romantics

H. B. Forman: Laura seems to know that she and [Josh’s character] Tom are a perfect match – do they deserve each other?

Katie Holmes: The love triangle of this film is one of the things that I found
really wonderful about the movie. These conflicts are something that I
think that many people go through. It makes for a good film.

H. B. Forman: So many crash movies out there what was your reaction when you saw the script?

Katie Holmes: I really loved this when I read it. I loved the feeling. And to me
it felt a lot like The Big Chill and St. Elmos’ Fire. And also a little
bit of a John Hughes feeling and I always loved those movies growing up,
and then I met with Galt and I felt she was so smart. And the cast
started coming together, and it was just something so exciting and just
the feel of it and the look of it and the people that were involved in
it, was really exciting. It looks very French in a way – the look of the
movie.

H. B. Forman: Were you always going to play the jilted character of Laura?

Katie Holmes: Yes, I was always signed on to play Laura from the start.

H. B. Forman: The director says that people can focus on likable characters, but she believes in “real” characters who are complex – kind, mean, petty, generous, flawed, incredible – all in a given day -- just like the rest of us. How do you see it?

Katie Holmes: I think that’s the beauty of friendships and that’s what you see in
this film, that when you have real friends, you can be all of those things and people will love you for it. And I think that’s what feels good about watching this movie, and what felt good about being in this movie, and portraying these people. You can portray, who are real, and they have their ups and downs and they have this family around them that has been through it all. If you are lucky enough to have people like that in your life, it’s wonderful. So this film also celebrates friendship.

H. B. Forman: You started on TV and film. Can you talk about your recent role on Broadway that lasted 16 weeks – and do you want to go back?

Katie Holmes: I loved doing Broadway. It was so much fun. I loved the cast, the
community was so wonderful and welcoming and I really appreciate that. I
enjoyed every single night; I can’t wait to go back to the theater soon.
I’ve very excited to go back.

H. B. Forman: When are you going to make a movie musical?

Katie Holmes: I love to sing and dance – so anytime.

H. B. Forman: The Romantics opens Friday, September 10 in NY and LA and expands wider on the 24th