his weekend, PBS will broadcast the traditional Memorial Day concert from the White House to commemorate the sacrifice of U.S. veterans. Actress Katie Holmes is scheduled to appear in a dramatic piece based on the true story of an Iraq War vet who suffered a brain injury in combat. Katie will play the sister of the veteran. It’s not clear whether she’ll be singing or just acting.
She just took in the American Idol finale, and this weekend, Katie Holmes will be on hand for an equally all-American event.
Holmes is among a clutch of stars performing in Sunday’s 20th anniversary National Memorial Day Concert broadcast from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on PBS (8 p.m. ET, check local listings). She plays the sister of an Iraq war veteran, Jose Pequeno, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat. Pequeno, his sister, Elizabeth, and his mother, Nellie Bagley, will be in the audience. Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna co-host.“It’s important to tell these stories and honor the sacrifice and service of these men and women and their families,” says Holmes, who has never worked with the armed forces community before. “It’s a real gift to be able to portray an American of such strength. I’m excited. I want to do justice to her story.”
She’ll get help re-enacting a veteran’s family from an acting veteran, Dianne Wiest, who tapped her to participate in the concert and with whom she co-starred in the Broadway production of All My Sons. Though they have spoken, the two haven’t seen each other since the show closed in January.
“She’s amazing,” Holmes says. “She’s an extraordinary actress and an extraordinary woman — so kind and generous. I love her.”
The feeling is mutual. “There is something courageous and deeply giving about Katie, and there is a modesty and grace to her generosity,” says Wiest, who portrays Bagley. “The remarkable woman she plays in (the concert) will be well-served.”
Though Holmes has never performed in front of the hundreds of thousands estimated to watch the concert, she’ll have a guaranteed cheering section: her husband, Tom Cruise, and daughter, Suri. “They’re very excited,” she says.
This summer, the trio travel much farther than Washington, D.C. — to Melbourne, Australia. The family is relocating there for three months while Holmes shoots Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, her first film lead since getting married.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” says Holmes, who plays half of a designing couple who are restoring their old New England house. It will be director Troy Nixey’s first full-length feature. Guillermo del Toro is producer and co-screenwriter.
The participation in this concert is the latest signal that Katie is looking to revamp her acting career, which has been on the back burner since marrying Tom Cruise and giving birth to daughter Suri. In Touch is reporting that even though the trio of Tom, Katie and Suri will be relocating to Australia for Katie’s new movie shoot, the actress is hoping to have some “me time” while filming.
“The idea of leaving the country and being able to focus solely on her work is appealing to Katie,” explains one of the couple’s longtime pals. “She thinks that spending some time apart will do her and Tom some good, too, because they’ll have so much to catch up on when they do see each other.”
Yet it doesn’t appear that Tom shares those feelings. And although the pal says that he’s thrilled that Katie landed the role, “he hates the idea of the family being separated for any amount of time.”
[From In Touch print version, June 1, 2009]
I’m not sure I buy this story. First of all, wasn’t the family separated for quite a lengthy amount of time while Katie was rehearsing and performing on Broadway and Tom was promoting “Valkyrie”? They seem to have weathered that separation okay. Plus, if Tom and Suri are traveling to Australia to be with Katie, chances are, she isn’t going to get a whole lot of alone time. I find it hard to believe that Katie would want to leave Suri anyway. The two are virtually inseparable.
Katie Holmes is shown on 5/20/09 outside a dance studio in LA. Credit: WENN.com
of course they weathered that separation OK.
it’s a sham marriage.
Her hair is venturing dangerously close to being a mullet.
Take off those ugly ass tights.
Word, Michelle.
She looks really terrible these days..
considering she left her daughter at just “6 months old” (ALLEGEDLY) to attend PARIS FASHION WEEK, i’m sure it won’t be much of an hassle to do it now, plus the only reason they are inseperable now is cos the Fashion Shows, and Shopping no longer Fascinates her as it did then, she was new to money and high-life
It looks like she’s growing it out. I had my hair bobbed like that (in 1998), and when you are letting the layers grow out it really is a doo-doo stage as I called it.
Anyone else think she kinda looks like Tom in those pictures? :X
I wonder if it pisses Tom off when she walks out of the house like that.
Too young to be so frumpy and lifeless.
She is a smug, no talent gold-digger going for the Boho small town girl appeal. Unfortunately, she’ll probably succeed and be shoved down our throats forever. I’m not buying it!