Katie Holmes opens up about daughter Suri

SURI Cruise (left) is smart and curious, according to mom. AP

LOS ANGELES—“I am excited about her turning 10,” Katie Holmes said about her daughter, Suri Cruise, celebrating a milestone in April. The actress opened up about her beautiful child with ex-husband, Tom Cruise. “It is a big year, but it also breaks my heart because she is getting older.”

“She is a very smart and curious girl,” gushed Katie, who wore a top by Isabel Marant in this recent chat in LA. “Suri loves to read. We do what interests her. I really foster her individuality. That’s important to me.”

The actress, who stars in the drama “Touched With Fire,” stressed, “I keep the business very separate from our life. But we enjoy certain perks of the business, which is traveling. When we travel, it’s about finding interesting things in different cities that are of interest to her and not necessarily having to do anything with movies. It’s just about keeping the focus on that. And letting her have space and grow into the person that she is meant to be.

Doting mom

“I love being a mom!” exclaimed Katie about being a parent to Suri, who goes to a private school. She described their home in Southern California (mother and daughter moved back from New York in 2014). “There are a lot of colors in our house. We’re always doing art projects together—a lot of arts and crafts.”

Katie said  she does not collect art for their house. “We are more on the go and we travel a lot, so I don’t collect. I collect shoes. I like taking photographs. Our house is full of photographs of each other and of our great times.”

The mom, who counts Zac Posen, Valentino and Stella McCartney among her favorite designers, talked some more about Suri, who is already a budding fashionista.

“As a parent, you are always adapting,” she said. “My child has so much energy. She’s always interested in something new, and excited about doing this or that. We get along really well…. My child is thoughtful and empathetic toward others.”

Katie agreed that kids open your eyes to many things. “Yeah, children teach you so much about enjoying the little things, the pleasure of getting a treat, and just living in that moment. ”

While some reports link Katie to Jamie Foxx, she denied that she was seeing someone. “I am focused right now on working and being the best parent that I can be,” she emphasized.

On her life with Suri—the two are often stalked by paparazzi—Katie said, “We have been in the public eye for a long time. She, in particular, has experienced the camera since she was a baby, so it’s not new to her.

“I prefer to keep our moments private and have that space for her.”

In writer-director Paul Dalio’s “Touched With Fire,” which is executive-produced by Spike Lee, Katie and Luke

Kirby play a couple who meet in a psychiatric hospital and have to deal with their bipolar disorder and love for one another. Christine Lahti costars.

“I read the script, and I thought it was really powerful,” Katie explained. “I met with Paul Dalio and realized that a lot of it was his story. He has suffered from bipolar disorder. He has a passion for illuminating not just the struggles with the disease, but on how many people are afflicted with it.

“He was passionate about posing the questions—is it the mania that causes the genius? Or should they have been medicated? I was interested in being part of a story that explores those.

KATIE Holmes Ruben V. Nepales

Exciting passion

“Paul’s passion was  exciting. I didn’t know much about the disease nor did I have a lot of personal experience about it. I became so much more empathetic to people who are afflicted with it.”

On how she and Luke played manic depressives, Katie said, “Paul was very helpful as a director in keeping both of the characters individuals. So, we didn’t slide into the same performance. Each character had different elements of Paul.

“Luke and I prepared separately, then we started working together. We quickly saw what the other one was doing. We started getting into a rhythm. It was intense. We had each other’s back, and it was great because we did a lot of preparation on our own  before we started shooting.”

Katie revealed that she still auditions for roles. “I also seek out projects,” she said. “I read a lot of books. Fortunately, there are a lot of opportunities now with Amazon, Netflix and this boom in television.

“I also directed my first film (“All We Had”) in August,” she announced.

“All We Had,” about a mother who struggles to make a better life for her daughter, stars Eve Lindley, Mark Consuelos, Richard Kind, Katie and Luke Wilson.

“That was based on a book that I had optioned, so that was an exciting challenge—and a new experience and opportunity,” she said.

Time commitment

“Making a movie or a television show is a huge time commitment. So, I’d like to be very thoughtful and specific about what I put my time into.”

“It was a wonderful experience, mostly because I was surrounded by wonderful people,” Katie said about her debut directing experience. “Jane Rosenthal produced it with me. Jim Dolan financed the movie. We had wonderful actors in the movie, a wonderful DP, production designer and wardrobe designer.

“So, I had a wonderful team around me, which was  helpful in so many ways, because I was acting in it, as well. It was all about taking the right amount of time to prepare, so that I could do both.

“But I found the days that I wasn’t in any scenes and I just got to work with the actors to be rewarding—to inspire them and make another choice for a take. That was truly fun! I hope to do more of it. It was great.”

The single mom is content with her life these days. “There’s a lot that makes me happy. I like involving my family and friends as much as possible and creating great memories. Like, I am going to see my sisters when we do a lot of press in New York for this movie.”

She added, “I like going to museums and making flower arrangements. I like painting, reading books and throwing birthday parties and dinners. And just good times—skiing, hiking and getting outdoors.”

Katie, who started to study Scientology, of which her then-husband Tom Cruise is a member, has reportedly converted back to the Catholic faith.

“Religion is a very personal thing,” she commented. “Having a strong sense of yourself and your own faith is important. It’s important to me.”

Next up for Katie is playing the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy in the TV miniseries, “The Kennedys After Camelot.” “We are going to shoot it this spring. What I like about this project is that it’s Jackie after JFK and Bobby have passed away, when she married Onassis and moved to New York.

“She did so much for New York City. She was an incredible woman and contributed so much. In this part of her life, she came into her own in so many ways. So, I’m excited to do that.”

“It was a different time,” Katie said of Jacqueline’s life in the late ’60s and ’70s.

“What so many loved about Jackie was that even though she was so public and experienced so much stuff in the public eye, she handled herself with such grace. That’s the thing that we are all drawn to and fascinated by.

“She led the American people, and she understood their pain for losing the president. She made it about everybody else instead of herself. She endured. She had such class. I think that is probably why we’re  still talking about her. She is such an icon!”

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