If there was ever a perfect actress to play girl-down-the-creek/best-pal Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek' it's Katie Holmes. Sure, Jen (Michelle Williams) gets the actual girl-next-door location, but it's Katie who's got the good girl/best bud vibes down. Listening to this 20-year-old superstar-in-the-making talk is like dishing with your oldest and dearest friend. She's smart, funny and just a tad insecure--all qualities she shares with her small-screen character.
And just like Miss Josephine Potter, Katie Noelle Holmes always dreamed of something bigger and better than life in her hometwon of Toledo, Ohio. Katie wanted to be an actress--bad! But she thought that living in the Midwest made her "geographically undesirable." No biggie. When you've got talent (which Katie does, in massive doses), stardom will find you.
Need proof? OK--check out Katie at the 1996 International Modeling and Talent Association Convention in New York City when she was 18. Katie attended the annual conference with her fellow students from Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School in Toledo. After she performed a monologue from To Kill a Mockingbird, 30 (yes, 30!) agents called in hopes of meeting with her, and a Los Angeles-based talent scout even invited her back to Hollywood to attend auditions. The only problem? Her dad was against the move. "We had everybody in Toledo trying to convince him to let me go," Katie says. Lucky for Katie--and all her fans--he finally did. And after her very first audition, which was for The Ice Storm, Katie landed her first professional acting gig.
Joining the Dawson's cast meant leaving those friends behind and moving to Wilmington, N.C. As every Creek fan knows, the humid East Coast town doubles as Capeside, home of Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey, Jen and Pacey (Joshua Jackson). The move was one of the smartest Katie ever made. The show was declared a hit before its first episode even aired. Katie and her co-stars suddenly found their faces plastered on billboards and magazine covers across the country--something that has turned into an exciting yet odd phenomenon.
"We're kind of in this position where young girls are looking up to our characters, which is kind of scary," Katie recently said. "Writers are creating these characters who don't necessarily do what we {would} do. It's entertainment."
In this dark comedy directed by Kevin Williamson, Katie stars as Leigh Ann Prescott, a supersmart student who needs to be named class valedictorian so she can get scholarship money for college. But through a series of stolen final exams and misunderstandings, Leigh Ann and her friends (including 7th Heaven's yummy Barry Watson) end up planning to bump off the most hated teacher at their school.
But she isn't giving up on her degree--school's very important to this straight-A student. Plus, all four of her siblings graduated from college and Katie's determined to follow in their footsteps. Until then, "I try to read a lot," she says. "I don't want to get there and be like, 'Homer who?"
When exactly will her schedule lighten up? Good question. Katie says she's always open to interesting parts that will help her grow as an actor. (And besides, no one else could play Joey!) Yep, Columbia will just have to wait a little longer for Katie. For now she's having too much fun keeping her fans on the edges of their seats!
