Holmes had a starring role in 2003's Pieces of April, a gritty comedy about a dysfunctional family on Thanksgiving. Many critics and audiences agreed that Holmes had given her best performance in the film as April. In the 2005 film Batman Begins, the most successful film of her career to date, she played Rachel Dawes, an attorney in the Gotham City district attorney's office and the childhood sweetheart of the title character. She also appeared in art house films such as The Ice Storm, horror films such as Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and thrillers including Abandon. She has also played on Broadway in a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons and had numerous guest roles on television programs such as How I Met Your Mother.
Her marriage to actor Tom Cruise (2006-2012) led to a great deal of media attention, with the pair being called a supercouple and given the nickname "TomKat".
Early life
Holmes was born in Toledo, Ohio. She is the youngest of five children born to Kathleen, a homemaker and philanthropist, and Martin Joseph Holmes, Sr., an attorney. She has three sisters and one brother: Tamera, Holly Ann, Martin Joseph, Jr., and Nancy Kay. Holmes was baptized a Roman Catholic and attended Christ the King Church in Toledo.
She graduated from the all-female Notre Dame Academy in Toledo (also her mother's alma mater), where she was a 4.0 student. At St. John's Jesuit, a nearby all-male high school, Holmes appeared in school musicals, playing a waitress in Hello, Dolly! and Lola in Damn Yankees. She scored 1310 out of 1600 on her SAT and was accepted to Columbia University (and attended for a summer session) her father wanted her to become a doctor.
At age 14, she began classes at a modeling school in Toledo run by Margaret O'Brien, who took her to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Competition held in New York City in 1996. Eventually, Holmes was signed to an agent after performing a monologue from To Kill a Mockingbird. An audition tape was sent to the casting director for the 1997 film The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee. She was cast in the role of Libbets Casey, in the film which starred Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.
Public image
Holmes was annually named by both the British and American editions of FHM magazine as one of the sexiest women in the world from 1999 forward. She was named one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2003; its sibling Teen People declared her one of the "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" that year; and in 2005, People said she was one of the ten best dressed stars that year. She has appeared in advertisements for Garnier Lumia haircolor, Coach leather goods, and clothing retailer The Gap.
In November 2008, it was confirmed that she would be the new face of the spring 2009 campaign for the high-end fashion line Miu Miu. In 2008, Holmes started a high fashion clothing line called Holmes & Yang with longtime stylist Jeanne Yang. Model Heidi Klum is a fan of the line. In July 2009, Holmes, Nigel Lythgoe, Adam Shankman, and Carrie Ann Inaba announced the launch of a dance scholarship fund called the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
Beginning January 2011, she became the new face of Ann Taylor Spring 11 collection. In April 2011, she ranked 6th in People magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful issue. Holmes & Yang presented their fashion line at New York Fashion Week for the first time in September 2012. Holmes will act as the face for the Bobbi Brown Cosmetics brand in spring 2013 and Holmes will have her own capsule collection of color cosmetics in fall of that year. In 2013, she also did an ad campaign for IRIS Jewelry. In January 2013, Holmes was announced as the brand ambassador and co-owner of Alterna Haircare.
Personal life
Holmes dated her Dawson's Creek co-star Joshua Jackson early in the show's run. She met actor Chris Klein in 2000. Klein and Holmes were engaged in late 2003, but in early 2005 she and Klein ended their relationship. Klein and Holmes have remained friends of varying degree since the breakup.
Weeks after her relationship with Klein ended, Holmes began dating actor Tom Cruise. Holmes, who was raised a Roman Catholic, began studying Scientology shortly after the couple began dating. They got engaged in June 2005. On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married in a Scientologist ceremony at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy. The actors' publicist said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony. The couple's daughter, Suri, was born in 2006. The name has Persian and Hebrew origins.
On June 29, 2012, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise in New York after five years of marriage. Following the announcement, those close to Holmes stated that Holmes believed she had reason to fear that Cruise would abduct Suri, and also feared intimidation by the Church of Scientology. On July 9, 2012, attorneys for the couple announced the couple signed a divorce settlement. This was the first divorce for Holmes and the third for Cruise. Holmes has custody of Suri.
Following her divorce from Cruise, Holmes returned to the Catholic Church and began attending St. Francis Xavier Church.
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