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# Grown-up Holmes wants to ‘make people feel good’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/grown-up-holmes-wants-to-make-people-feel-good/
- Published: 2003-10-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:07:38.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

She spent many years flashing her impossibly cute dimples as the girl next door on “Dawson’s Creek,” but Katie Holmes wants everyone to know she’s all grown up now. Holmes hopes to shed her teen queen past by doing more than simply playing a tramp who bares all, as she did in the thriller “The Gift.” To that end, she’s taking on mature parts that enable her to explore emotional territory that transcends the ethereal landscapes Joey Potter frolicked in on the WB. And both the title role in “Pieces of April” and a supporting turn in “The Singing Detective” — two highly regarded new low-budget films — ought to do wonders in helping the 24-year-old actress get where she wants to be.

She swapped words with a group of entertainment scribes recently, part of a promotional sortie for “Pieces of April,” an eminently likable film which co-stars Derek Luke, Oliver Platt and Patricia Clarkson.

QUESTION: There seems to be something for everyone in “Pieces of April.” In what ways did the material touch you?

KATIE HOLMES: It was a wonderful opportunity and a lot of fun to play a character who, like myself, is in her early 20s, on her own and trying to figure it all out. What moved me the most was April’s journey. It just felt very genuine.

Q: You have a very distinctive look in this film, not at all like anything we’ve seen from you before. Was it fun to dress up so funky?

KH: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was helpful because you put all that stuff on that makes you completely change and you feel different. So you’re halfway there, as far as playing a different sort of character. Some days I felt like it was Halloween though.

Q: You’ve got another movie coming out called “The Singing Detective” with Robert Downey Jr. What was it like to work with him?

KH: I’ll never forget working with Robert. He’s amazing. I just wanted to do a good job because he’s very inspiring to me and I’m a big fan of his. So I was really nervous, but eventually I just went with it and had fun.

Q: What other actors that you’ve worked with have been intimidating in that way?

KH: I usually get butterflies pretty much before I work with anyone. But probably the ones that lasted the longest were Michael Douglas, Helen Mirren and Robert.

Q: Now that “Dawson’s Creek” has ended, where are you hoping your career will take you?

KH: My main goal is to find good material and to do movies that make people feel good. Or make people feel, actually. I want to do a lot of different things, and there isn’t a conscious decision to depart from (“Dawson’s Creek”).

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)