By Matthew Sorrento.
It was important to show the true experience of what happened [during the pandemic], which was New York thriving, it seemed, then, all of the sudden, complete shutdown – just disbelief that something like that can happen so quickly to a city that brings so much joy and light.”
Though known for her role as Joey on Dawson’s Creek (The WB, 1998-2003), a young Katie Holmes showed a wide range as a performer. She was effective in Sam Raimi’s The Gift (2000), the Scream-era Disturbing Behavior (1998), and the crime comedy that reached beyond Tarantino’s shadow, Doug Liman’s Go (1999). Holmes notes that Pieces of April (Peter Hedges, 2003) was a major turning point that helped her realize the variety of approaches possible in cinema.
In 2014, after several years of media overexposure, Holmes optioned the novel All We Had, by Annie Weatherwax, as a vehicle to star in and direct as her debut. This tale of a wandering mother and daughter, and their journey to rebuild their lives, allowed Holmes to explore her filmmaking style. She later directed an episode of The Kennedys: After Camelot (Reelz, 2017), in which she starred as Jacqueline Onassis, reprising her role from the 2011 series The Kennedys (The History Channel).
Now Holmes has released her second feature (which debuted at Tribeca), and her first as writer-director, Alone Together, from a script she conceived at the start of the pandemic. Fittingly, it’s a minimalistic tale involving isolation, temporary relocation from the city (to the nearby suburbs), and new connections in a time of duress.
I spoke with Holmes over the phone upon the release of her new film, which is now available on VOD. The reasonably media-shy star was lively in discussing her art (along with some side topics, like parenting during the pandemic). In the discussion below, she reflects on her early career and work as a filmmaker, including her current release (with brief comment on her forthcoming film, Rare Objects, based on the 2016 novel by Kathleen Tessaro).
I’m curious about the feature roles you played earlier in your career while still on Dawson’s Creek, and how they shaped your sensibility. Did you feel comfortable in these roles, like The Gift and Disturbing Behavior? You seem to have taken to them very naturally.
Throughout my career, I’ve always looked for roles that challenged me, and also directors I wanted to work with. With The Gift, I really wanted to work with Sam Raimi and play someone very different than the characters I had done. I wanted a challenge in creating those kinds of roles. And I wanted to find things that differed from my “day job” on Dawson’s Creek.
Was making Pieces of April important in shaping the type of films you’d like to make? I sense that it was influential to your two films as a writer-director.
Absolutely – Pieces is very influential to my career in many ways. At the time, it was an eye-opening experience in telling stories of all sizes. Peter (Hedges’s) writing includes such wonderful characters. There’s a simplicity there but getting to that place is so difficult. Being able to share the creative space with Peter has influenced me my entire career since.
I was also interested in the characters ( inAnnie Weatherwax’s novel, All We Had) for my first film, and the journey they take, especially the mother-daughter relationship.
What realizations about filmmaking did you have during your debut?
I learned a lot about the camera and how to collaborate with my cinematographer. The editing process also taught me a lot about writing and what exactly needs to be achieved in each scene to move the story along. In the process of making it, we did a lot of improv, and I learned that you can gain a lot by giving actors that freedom, as long as everyone knows what we are going for. I found improv to be really enjoyable, in a controlled way. You can get different authentic pieces or moments that you wouldn’t get by sticking to the script. Something we’d do is one take (from the script) to warm everybody up, and then we’d improvise to find those little moments, here and there, that are so unexpected and rewarding.
Would you say you prefer improvising overall, as a director?
I do like it. Though I would never do a whole film just improvising [laughs], but I like using it a lot. It’s essential for me now.
Your new film, Alone Together, begins with a very romantic vision of Manhattan. Did you always want to include this tone at the start of the film? Did you want a dream-like vision of New York before things go bad with the pandemic?
I thought it was important to show the true experience of what happened, which was New York thriving, it seemed, then, all of the sudden, complete shutdown – just disbelief that something like that can happen so quickly to a city that brings so much joy and light. It made the pandemic very real. Then, there were the sirens and tents in the city, which I chose not to include, since they didn’t serve the tone of the movie.
Were you thinking a lot about temporary lodging and AirBnbs once the shutdown happened?
I had heard about so many people doing that, just to avoid the drastic change and feeling in the city. It was on my mind a lot. And it was a good way into this kind of story.
Especially getting away to the New York suburbs, which are close but seem so far.
Right, and the idea of nature was really important to the film. It was a big part of lockdown that helped people and kept them going. I wanted to incorporate that into my film.
I can relate – since my daughter was born severely immunocompromised, my family was completely shut in during the pandemic.
Wow – is she ok?
Yes, she was born with SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency), commonly known as “bubble boy’s disease.” Her case was so rare that the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) did a story on her. She was born with no immune system, and we did a bone marrow transplant when she was one-month-old from my son, who was three years old at the time, which gave her an immune system, basically copying his genes. It basically saved her life – she was born with a three-month life expectancy.
Oh my god!
Yeah, but we are lucky that the State of New Jersey had begun a newborn screening for this rare disease a year prior.
How is she now?
She’s doing well. She has minor cerebral palsy and with limited mobility. Her doctors don’t believe it resulted from her immune condition or the treatment, but the research is all so new, so we aren’t sure. We are still very careful and don’t go out much. I share this only because I understand the feelings your film goes for regarding the pandemic. It does make tough things even tougher.
You sound like an incredible parent.
Oh, thank you so much, Katie – I really appreciate that. It was surreal and brought my wonderful wife and I closer.
Back to the film, what challenges did you have in casting Charlie? Were you always set on Jim Sturgess?
I’ve always been a fan of Jim’s. He read the script and then we Zoomed to discuss it. He really seemed to get what I was trying to achieve and was on board. I was thrilled – I really wanted him to do it. I wanted this character to be very warm and specific in his desires and needs. He really brought that to the character.
It’s great to see Derek Luke in the film since you starred with him in Pieces of April.
Yes, so I called him up after 20 years. We caught up and I asked him about reading the script. He said yes, but what was really great is that we continued to work on the script together, like I also did with Jim Sturgess. Both Derek and Jim brought a lot of ideas that were so helpful. We did several revisions based on their insights and what they wanted to do with the characters. You know, you try to write something, but you always need other eyes and their creativity. And they were both great for that.
When we were making this, it was a year after lockdown. It was wonderful for a group like this to come together and see each other and get to share our experiences. We all had fears and issues with the pandemic, so to come together for something creative, and share those experiences, was really amazing. We wanted to make something that was relatable but also a time capsule.
It’s refreshing to see a minimalistic scope in this film, similar to All We Had. Do you like this kind of style, in general, as a filmmaker?
Well, this film was shot during the pandemic, when vaccines were just coming out. So we had to have a small cast and limited locations just for safety measures. That being said, I just directed a movie that I co-wrote, Rare Objects, this past fall (also starring Derek Luke), and we had more characters and locations. So I don’t worry about the number of characters but making sure I serve all their stories and that everyone has a purpose in telling the ultimate story of the movie.
Other actors I’ve interviewed that have become filmmakers, like Jackie Earle Haley and John Carroll Lynch, have noted that they look to the script to help shape the style of the film they are directing. Do you go back to your script to help shape the visual style of your films?
I watch a lot of films when I’m ready to make something, and I work very closely with my cinematographer and production designer to go through different scenarios. We really find it together this way. Of course, I have a lot of ideas of my own beforehand. But I’m very collaborative and I look to other films and art, in general. Then I keep reading the script and listening to that story over and over again, to wrap my head around how to do it in the most authentic and cinematic way that is also unique.
Do you have to approach acting differently when you are also directing? How is it more challenging?
It is harder to do. I know how much we are trying to get done in a day. [Laughs] I put more pressure on myself to get it done (in front of the camera), and it is a bit tiring, but really satisfying, too. I can understand what each actor is doing and how I can play off that better. I get a broader sense of what is going on, and how to use little surprises on set. I can find things that I can use and also ones that I didn’t know I wanted, at times.
What actors would you like to work with in future projects?
I saw Viola Davis on stage in Fences (in 2010), which also starred Denzel (Washington, directed by Kenny Leon) before she did the movie with him. It was just incredible, and she’s one of my favorite actresses. I would absolutely love to work with her. I also love Laura Linney, who’s always terrific. And Mindy Kaling is so funny; I’d love to do a comedy or drama with her.
Do you plan to option more novels going forward, or do original scripts?
I’m always reading things and looking for that next story – whether it’s an article, or a book. In this sense, I’m always looking.
Anything else you want to add about Alone Together?
On what we discussed before, about the romanticized version of city – for me, this film is a love letter to New York. It was hit so hard by COVID, and just the spirit of the city and sense of community was pronounced at the time. I had friends that were shopping for their neighbors, and all those nurses and doctors and what they were doing at the time, was just incredible. I remember those early days, hearing all the stories and seeing all the tents – people came together, learning how to take care of each other in those circumstances. It was profoundly moving to me. The bright color palette I used, and my choice to write about the pandemic, is my version of the sense of hope, despite the circumstances everyone was in.
And going back to my first question, before we wrap up, would you be interested in directing a crime film or horror movie? As I said earlier, you take to those types of roles so naturally.
I really like drama and comedy [as a director]. And, well, crime just does not interest me [laughs]. To dip in and act in one is fine, but living in a crime story mentality for months on end just sounds – not good for me! [Laughs]
Matthew Sorrento is Co-editor of Film International and Editor-in-chief of Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon. He teaches film and media studies at Rutgers University in Camden. His latest book is David Fincher’s Zodiac: Cinema of Investigation and (Mis)Interpretation (co-edited with David Ryan; FDU Press, 2022) and his work has appeared in Film & History, Critical Studies in Television, Middle West Review, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The Five-Two: Poems on Crime, and The Los Angeles Review of Books.