Katie Holmes has one of the most recognized faces on television, but her career could have stalled before it began when she turned down the offer of the title role in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Instead, a second chance vaulted her to stardom as a cast member on TV’s wildly popular Dawson’s Creek.

Holmes, 17 an unknown in 1996, got her show business start when she traveled from her Toledo, Ohio, home to New York for a modeling convention.  There she was approached by a Los Angeles talent scout and was soon on her way to California for six weeks of auditions.  She was hired on her first try for a role in The Ice Storm (1997).  After that it was back to school (a Catholic all-girls’ academy in Toledo) and into a local production of Damn Yankees.  She successfully auditioned for Buffy The Vampire Slayer (TV - 1998) but turned it down to finish high school.  Her interest in television roles, though, continued.  Holmes’ mailed-in home-video-taped audition for Dawson’s Creek (TV - 1998) was accepted -- so fully accepted, in fact, that she received permission to postpone her in-person audition until the Damn Yankees run was over. 

The young actor and her Dawson’s Creek fellow cast members, all of whom had limited acting experience, became instant teen idols.  Pretty, chestnut-maned doe-eyed Holmes was immediately cast in the movie Disturbing Behavior (1998), then went on to Go (1999), Muppets From Space (1999) and the unfortunate critically-panned Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999). 

The straight A student once put acting on hold for her education, but lately has flipped her priorities.  Having gained acceptance to Columbia University, Holmes deferred enrollment to allow for her acting schedule. 

That schedule includes, for 2000, Wonder Boys, The Gift, Church of the Dead Girls, continuing episodes of Dawson’s Creek, and a proposed Dawson’s Creek: The Movie.  Columbia may have a while to wait.