Katie Holmes never wanted to be a 'sexy young thing' and recruited friend to help her keep it that way

Katie Holmes never wanted to be a “sexy young thing” and has revealed that she recruited one of her friends to help her keep it that way.

Actor and director Katie Holmes has made quite the fashion statement in recent years especially, inspiring fans across the globe. From Katie Holmes’ zebra pants at New York Fashion Week 2023 to Katie’s obsession with wide-leg pants, she’s never shied away from carving out her own signature style. Now the star has spoken out about her image and how she never bowed to other people’s expectations.

Getting candid with Glamour, Katie explained that she never harbored any ambition to be a “sexy young thing”. So much so that the Dawson’s Creek star recruited a friend to help her keep it that way on photoshoots early on in her career. 

Asked about how she wasn’t ever “boxed into” playing a “sexy young thing”, Katie responded, “I didn’t want to be the sexy young thing.”

“I’m not sexy,” she added, before going on to share the lengths she went to to stick to what she was comfortable with and who she really was, rather than projecting an image that others wanted from her.

Katie declared, “I used to have a friend of mine come to all my photo shoots to make sure that they didn’t try to make me that way.”

Instead of cultivating a “sexy young thing” image, Katie expressed her desire to just focus on her job and being an actor which she loved. When asked if after Dawson’s Creek people “probably” wanted her to be sexier, Katie said, “Yeah, I guess I just wanted to be an actor.” 

To this day she continues to remain focused on what she does rather than being affected by an outside influence. She explained that when it comes to social media she doesn’t use it “much” and expressed her gratitude that she was “protected” during her time on Dawson’s Creek.

“In my life now, I don’t go on social media that much. I don’t scroll that much because I don’t want all that information. And maybe because I did come up where there was a time and place for things, even with our show—it started airing on Tuesday nights and you had to wait a week,” she said. “So you got to think about that one episode. The work was limited to that.”

Katie continued, “We also were protected. We were in North Carolina, we were working 14 hours a day, and we were really contained and not really distracted by the outside world, which was to our benefit and to the benefit of the show.”

She also discussed the attention that’s paid to her image and fashion choices. Katie suggested that people assume that she puts huge consideration into her clothing for private occasions and how she makes a distinction between what is and isn’t part of her job as an actor. 

“It’s a funny world because the culture of celebrity and the access that exists now could be quite a distraction from who the person is,” Katie shared. “I’m an actor, so people say, ‘Oh, do you think about what you wear before you go to the grocery store?’ No, because it’s not my job. You know what I mean? But yesterday, going and doing a talk show is part of my job. So yes, that’s put together.”