Katie Holmes on What 13-Year-Old Suri Cruise Is Like: 'She's Always Been a Strong Personality'

From ELLE

Katie Holmes is InStyle's April cover star, and the actress gave the magazine one of her most candid interviews yet on her life in New York City with her 13-year-old daughter Suri Cruise. Usually, Holmes keeps her interviews primarily focused on herself. But this time, she talked a little about Suri's personality as a teenager.

InStyle's editor-in-chief Lauren Brown told Holmes, "I've met Suri only once so far, but I was struck by how open she was."

Holmes responded, "I love her so much. My biggest goal has always been to nurture her into her individuality. To make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it. She came out very strong—she's always been a strong personality. She'll pick an activity and work her butt off until she's really good at it. Then she's like, 'Okay, I'm going to try the next thing.' She's very focused and a hard worker. I have to say, I did recently see some fan site [about her] posted when she was a baby, and it was very intense. We were followed a lot when she was little. I just wanted her outside, so I would walk her around to find parks at, like, 6 in the morning when nobody would see us. But there's one video where I'm holding her—she was 2 at the time—and she starts waving at the cameras. She's pretty special."

Holmes also shared a story about how New Yorkers' kindness really helped her after she moved to the city with Suri and filed for divorce from her ex-husband Tom Cruise.

Of the initial attention on her in 2012, "that time was intense," Cruise said. "It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. We had some funny moments out and about in public. So many people I didn't know became my friends and helped us out, and that's what I love about the city. There was one incredible moment when I think I actually cried. Suri was 6 or 7, and she was spending the night at a friend's house while I was seeing the ballet at Lincoln Center. At 10 o'clock I got a call: 'Mommy, can you come get me?' I got a cab and went down to Battery Park to pick her up. She was exhausted. She fell asleep on the way home, and when we pulled up to our building, the cab driver opened the door and helped me not wake her. He helped carry her to the building. He was so kind."

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