Katie Holmes - Mrs. Tom Cruise

Before she became known as the mother of Tom Cruise's child, Katie Holmes was an up and coming actress more famous for her role in the teen soap opera "Dawson Creek."

Kathrine Noelle Holmes was born on December 18, 1978 in Toledo, Ohio. She is the youngest of five children and was also born two months premature. Katie first started in modeling when her mother enrolled her into the Margaret O'Brien Modeling School in Ohio. During a modeling convention in New York a talent scout suggested she try out in Hollywood. Katie traveled to California, with her mother in tow, and on her second audition won a part in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm."

The small part in "The Ice Storm" led to several other offers. Katie turned down the lead role in the WB series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," so she could graduate from Notre Dame Academy, an all girls Catholic school. While appearing in a local stage production of "Damn Yankees," Katie heard a rumor that producer Kevin Williamson was interested in her. On a whim, she sent him her audition tape, Williamson was impressed by what he saw and asked her to fly out to California. Williamson liked Katie in person and cast her in the role of Joey Potter in "Dawson's Creek," a soap opera about teenagers in the fictional town of Capeside, Mass. The show developed a cult following and ran from 1998 - 2003. It's popularity helped Katie win roles in several films such as "Disturbing Behavior," "The Wonder Boys" and "Go," for which she won the Best Breakthrough Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards.

Her first starring role came in 2002 in the psychological thriller "Abandon." 2003 turned out to be a busy year for Katie as she appeared in "Pieces of April," and "The Singing Detective," alongside Robert Downey Jr. In 2004 Katie played the role of the president's daughter in "First Daughter." Katie's biggest ever role was alongside Christian Bale in the 2005 summer blockbuster "Batman Begins." She played a district attorney who was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne.