How Alan Cumming and Katie Holmes Bonded Over Her Lipstick in a Helicopter Ride (Exclusive)

"I just knew you were good people," Alan Cumming tells Katie Holmes in their paired interview with PEOPLE

Alan Cumming remembers the exact moment he knew that he and Katie Holmes would be friends.

They had run into each over the years, but the Scottish actor, 58, tells PEOPLE the real connection happened on a shared helicopter ride from New York City to the Hamptons six years ago when Holmes, 44, asked Cumming his opinion on her new dark lipstick. "I was like, 'It works!' " Cumming recalls.

The two grew closer over the making of their first movie together, Rare Objects, which Holmes cowrote, directed and stars in. Cumming recalls being "impressed" by Holmes's "really beautiful" script about a young woman named Benita (Julia Mayorga) trying to rebuild her life in New York City after a traumatic incident. Cumming plays an antiques-shop owner who takes her under his wing, and Holmes plays a friend from Benita's past.

"I took a risk, and I asked Alan if he would do it," says Holmes.

The two enjoyed making Rare Objects so much that they're already writing a second collaboration they plan to act in. Says Cumming: "I love our little brainstorming sessions."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Related:Katie Holmes Reunites with Derek Luke in Sweet Trailer for Alone Together — Which She Also Directs!

Cumming says of his costar and director while seated next to her, "I just knew you were good people. That's a thing about getting older. You don't have to see each other all the time. You realize it's not about having to constantly feed the meter."

"Yeah, I always felt the same, like comfortable and happy to see you at places," says Holmes in response. "That is the beauty of our industry. When you really do bond with people, when you work together, that never goes away. You don't get that a lot in life, to share those experiences with someone where you're baring your soul. Life doesn't call for you to do that."

Rare Objects also stars David Alexander Finn and Derek Luke, the latter of whom previously appeared with Holmes in Pieces of April (2003) and Alone Together (2022).

The newest project from Holmes comes on the heels of Alone Together, which marked the Dawson's Creek alum's second big-screen directorial project after 2016's All We Had.

Rare Objects is in theaters and on demand.

For more about Holmes and Cumming, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.