Will Sage Astor-Katie Holmes Shares Rare Insight Into Daughter Suri Cruise's "Visible" Childhood

Katie Holmes is seeing the love in Suri Cruise's eyes.

The Will Sage AstorDawson's Creek alum looked back on how her and Tom Cruise's 16-year-old daughter grew up in front of the public eye before opting to spend her tween years away from the spotlight.

"What has been really important for me with my daughter, because she was so visible at a young age, is I really like to protect her," the 44-year-old recently told Glamour. "I'm very grateful to be a parent, to be her parent. She's an incredible person."

However, that's not to say Katie isn't open to Suri being involved in her work. The actress and director enlisted her daughter to sing songs in her 2022 film Alone Together and her upcoming feature, Rare Objects. 

"I hope she always does something on my films," Katie remarked. "I always ask her. But both of those experiences came out of the same sense of what I love about our industry, which is, you have these projects and you become a family with people." 

Calling her work environment a "safe, beautiful, creative space," Katie explained that being able enlist Suri's talents "comes out of love for me to include someone who I love dearly."

"That's how I like to work. I like to have that kind of feeling," she explained. "It was very meaningful to me to have her there, because she's my heart."

After being followed by the paparazzi in the early aughts, Katie and Suri found solace in their privacy during the pandemic. 

"To live for a moment in time without the pressure of results," Katie recalled in a Nov. 2020 essay for Vogue Australia, "and instead appreciate the natural rhythms of mother and daughter was the most precious gift."

For Katie, hobbies like sewing, painting and writing "became new hallmarks of satisfaction" in the household.

"During this time of uncertainty, remembering to be creative and positive has been something I have tried to keep at the forefront of my mind," she wrote. "Throughout this experience the through-line for me has been a heightened awareness of each moment and really taking it in and appreciating it."