Katie Holmes Reveals How She Tried To Keep Suri, 13, Out Of Public Eye & Why She’s Raising Her In NYC

SEBASTIAN FAENA

Katie Holmes opened up about her quest to keep daughter Suri Cruise out of the spotlight and give her as normal a life as possible. And she’s managing to do it in crowded Manhattan, too.

After divorcing ex-husband Tom Cruise in 2012, Katie Holmes took up a mission: protect her six-year-old daughter, Suri Cruise, from the prying eyes of the public as diligently as possible. Suri is now nearly 14, and Katie, 41, has more than succeeded. But don’t get it wrong: it wasn’t easy. Katie had a few tricks to keep the cameras away from her daughter during those first years after moving to New York City, she told InStyle Magazine. “We were followed a lot when [Suri] was little. I just wanted her outside, so I would walk her around to find parks at, like, six in the morning when nobody would see us,” she explained in the April 2020 issue of the mag. “But there’s one video where I’m holding her — she was two at the time — and she starts waving at the cameras. She’s pretty special.”

The Brahms: The Boy II actress was already a household name when she married Tom in 2006, starring in the iconic teen drama Dawson’s Creek for six seasons. But she experienced a surge of popularity beyond anything she could comprehend by wedding and having a child with one of the most famous men in the world. Katie and Suri were hounded by paparazzi.  Add to that, the public fascination with the allegations that the Mission: Impossible star hasn’t seen their daughter in years, and it became a media circus. But Katie and Suri are a happy mother-daughter duo nevertheless. “My biggest goal has always been to nurture [Suri] into her individuality,” Katie told InStyle. To make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it.”

Katie’s decision to move to New York City after the divorce was simple, though. She loved how much there was to do in the five boroughs, both day and night. She and Suri just have “more fun” in NYC than in Los Angeles. “Yes, it’s a little too exposed at times, and we work hard to maneuver and navigate. But what I love about New York is that for me and my child, this is our vibe. When there are 25 things to do every night, it takes you out of your own thing,” she said.

There’s plenty for Katie to do without Suri, too: “I’ll take a class at Broadway Dance Center. I’ll go to the Joyce Theater. I do hot yoga and boxing classes. I have a book club. The city has a lot to offer, and I use it. And you know what else I discovered? There’s a place not far from my house that does foot massages until midnight. That’s what New York offers!”