Katie Holmes Is Back on the Big Screen

Jan. 14, 2008 — -- Katie Holmes has been away from the big screen for a couple of years. She's been busy with her new roles as a wife and a mom.

Now for the first time since giving birth to Suri and her fairy-tale wedding, she is back starring with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah in "Mad Money," a comedy about money and how far three "mad" women will go to get it.

In her first television interview in almost two years, Holmes joined "Good Morning America" to talk about her new film and her new life.

Family Life

Holmes has shied away from the spotlight since her picture-perfect wedding to Tom Cruise almost three years ago. She told "GMA's" Diane Sawyer about the tears of joy she shed that day.

"I got ready and I was so excited. And I, you know, I looked at my dad, and said 'Honestly, do I look OK? I mean, this is important to me.' You know, he was really sweet. He said, 'You look great.' And the moment that the doors opened and I saw Tom, I was just locked in. I mean, it was so magical. It was perfect."

In April Suri will be 2 and Holmes can't believe it has gone so fast. She says Suri is growing fast and loves to talk, frequently mimicking her parents.

"Now she's talking all the time. So she's saying, 'Who's that? Who's that?' We were at FAO Schwartz last night. We got in, running around, eating ice cream and playing with all of the toys. And Tom and I were playing with a lot of the toys ourselves. It's fun for adults. You get carried away," she said.

Holmes' mom has described her as being a "strong-willed" child and it sounds like Suri is not so different.

"She's delightful," Holmes said about Suri. "I mean, she's very strong and bright. And she picks out some of her clothes, and she loves running around. She's beautiful, very smart."

When Holmes was expecting Suri, she said "everything had to be pink," but luckily Suri hasn't hit that stage yet.

'Mad Money'

Holmes hasn't appeared in a film for years. She said she would only do another movie if it was worth the time she would have to give up with her family.

"You know what, I read the script and I knew that Diane was attached and Queen Latifah. And I obviously was a huge fan of both of them, and I loved Kelly Kerry. I thought this was a great caper movie — three unlikely women. I mean, these characters in the movie would never have been friends had they not needed to rob the bank. And it's very silly and highly unlikely," she said.

Starring in a comedy has been "great fun," she said. "I love, you know, working with a female director. A movie with all of these women."

"The three of us really got to know each other in the hair and makeup trailer. We had about 2½ hours every morning," she said. "We talked about movies, fashion, motherhood, designing. We listened to Queen Latifah's new album ['The Sisterhood']."

Holmes describes working with Keaton as "phenomenal" and says that she learned a "tremendous amount from her. "She's obviously a great actress. I loved watching the way she prepared for scenes. She's a genius. I mean, every take is different and perfect. And she's also, you know, she just came out with her book and she's a mother. She's interested in so many things. What a life she's had."

The three main characters in "Mad Money" are all women who tried "to do it the right way" and things just didn't work out for them.

"They're kind of the women who you don't necessarily notice. You know, they're the forgotten ones. And that's what allows them to really get away with this," she said.

In the film the women are working at the Federal Reserve bank, which shreds $10 billion a year or 7,000 tons of paper bills.

"Temptation is strong," Holmes said. "So they develop a scheme and they have to have a code."

Good Old Days

Before she left "GMA," Holmes watched a clip of her high school performance with her singing "Damn Yankees."

"I say a star was born," Sawyer said.

Holmes responded, "That was my sister's prom dress. … I loved it. I was the youngest, I couldn't wait to get into their clothes. I'm about 5'9. My sisters are 5'10", 5'11."

"Mad Money" opens in theaters nationwide Saturday.