-Come on, you gotta feel the love.
We love you. We love you. -Ah, thank you.
-Katie Holmes!
-I feel the love when I come. -You feel good, please.
-It's so nice to see you.
-I want to see you -- I want you on the show every night,
so, please, just stay here for the rest of the week.
-Done. -Alright, good.
I want to talk about your play "The Wanderers,
but, first, I wanted to mention "The Ice Storm,"
which I believe was your film debut.
It was 25 years ago.
-I know. -Can you believe that?
What do you remember about that?
-Well, I was 17, and I remember we came to New York,
my mom and I.
And we shot it, and I thought, "Oh, I mean,
this is what I want to do.
Great." -You knew it.
-And then I went home and I was putting myself on tape
for different auditions and I wasn't really getting anything.
And I thought, "Oh, well, that might be it."
You know, that might be all there is.
-"My dream."
-But it was okay, 'cause I was like, "You know what?
That's okay.
Like, that was an amazing experience,
and I can, like, tell my grandkids and I'll be fine."
-Oh, my gosh. -No, seriously.
-Really? -I was like, "That's cool."
-You were happy with that? And you go, "Yeah, that was --"
-Well, I mean, I wanted more jobs,
but I was like, "Don't be, you know --
I don't know -- greedy."
-Yeah. You didn't think -- You were like,
"Oh, maybe it's not going to happen."
Now you're Katie Holmes.
I mean, did you go -- Do you remember the audition?
-For "The Ice Storm"? -Yeah.
-Yeah, I mean, it was --
My mom and I went out for pilot season.
We landed on a Sunday. -I love your mom, by the way.
And your sisters, by the way.
-Thank you. -But I love your mom.
I always give your mom a shout-out
every time I see you because she is the nicest.
She sent me a nice care package once,
and I'll never forget it.
-She loves you. -She's the greatest.
I thought that was so cool that she did that.
But your mom's very supportive. -Very supportive.
And it was my second day in L.A. and my first audition.
I know. I got lucky. -Wow!
Were you intimidated at all by L.A.?
-Yeah. I remember we got lost a lot,
because it was like, you know, no Google Maps.
It was the Thomas Guide. -Thomas Guide!
-And we were lost every single day.
-I can't believe the Thomas Guide.
-Yes. -That is the most confusing map
I've ever read in my entire life.
And you get to L.A., and everyone goes,
"You've got to get a Thomas Guide."
And then it's all, like, weird.
It's like, "Okay, where are we now?"
I go, "Alright, we're at A-4 or G-6."
I'm, like, doing the math in my head.
I'm like, "I'm so lost."
-To this day, when I drive in L.A.,
I know how to get around because of all the times
we got lost when I was a kid.
-That's so funny. -Yeah.
-So, you get lost and then you go to the audition.
You're already frazzled. -Yes, exactly.
-You're like, "I'm sorry if I'm terrible,
but I don't know where I am."
-I know. One time, I went to an audition by myself.
I was older then.
And I was 45 minutes late, 'cause I had gotten lost --
with my Thomas Guide -- and the lady yelled at me.
And I was like, "I really -- I tried.
You have no idea." -Yeah.
"I really want this part, yeah, please."
-Yeah, exactly. -Like, "That's why I'm here."
Yeah, you do get lost. -You get lost.
-But I heard you stumbled into the Golden Globes or something.
-Yes, that was the other thing.
Our first day in L.A., we were driving.
It was raining.
And we saw a sign that said, "Golden Globes this way."
We were like, "Golden Globes?" So we turned.
And we sat in the -- Or --
Yeah, we sat in, like, the stadium seats.
-It actually was happening as you were there?
-It was.
And so we watched people getting in and out of cars and waving.
And we were -- I mean, it was, like, Patrick Swayze.
-Yeah. That's so fun. -And it was amazing.
-And did you ever think, "Oh, I'm going to be
walking this red carpet one day"?
-No. But I don't -- I just didn't think about it.
I was like, "Wow! How did this happen?"
-Yeah, it's magic. It's kind of fun.
-Yeah, it was pretty fun.
-I want to talk about your play, but, also, I want to
talk about your movie that you co-wrote and directed.
This is your third or -- -My third film that I directed.
-You got the director bug.
-Yeah, I'm gonna be calling you. -I love it.
No, yeah, right. Have you seen my acting?
-Yes, I have.
-Whew! You don't want that. -I love working with you.
-No! -We had our minute on "SNL."
-Yeah, we did.
Of course, that's -- I gave you your big break.
Yeah, of course. -You did.
-It's called "Rare Objects." -It's called "Rare Objects."
It's about female friendship and healing.
We shot it here in New York City.
Alan Cumming is in it, as well. -Oh, I love him.
-Yeah. And it's a -- And Julia Mayorga,
who's an up-and-coming actress who's wonderful.
And it's, like, a love letter to New York.
-That comes out in April. -April 14th.
-But I love that you -- I think you'd be a great director.
I think you have a great eye. -Well, thank you.
-So this is, like -- So you're going to keep doing this.
-I am. I love working -- -Do both?
-Yeah, I love working with actors,
and then I love the visual aspect of it, as well, yeah.
-Let's talk about "The Wanderers."
You're in rehearsals now. -Yes.
-Performances begin in less than two weeks.
-A week from Thursday, to be exact.
-Yeah, to be exact. So it's getting real.
-It's real now. -It's real.
You're like, "Okay, are we really doing this, guys?
We're putting on a show."
-Yeah. -I've seen you onstage before.
You're fantastic.
Do you love the risk of theater or doing it live?
-Yeah, I mean, I do.
It's -- I'm -- Some actors, you know, they get into it
and they get used to it and they roll in and they do it.
But I'm not that person.
I have to read through my lines every day
and I am terrified until closing night.
Because I just -- What if I'm --
You know, one time, I went blank and I forgot a line,
and it was so scary.
-Really? But you have a whole cast of people, too.
-I know, and then I feel like I can't let them down.
-No, but, also, I feel like they might lose one of their lines,
and then I've got to pick up where they --
And I'm like, "You're supposed to say,
'Close the door,' remember?"
-Exactly. "You were supposed to pick that up! Aah!"
-"Aah! The door's open."
Yeah, I would just be terrible at it.
Like, oh, my gosh. -Yeah.
-It would be -- Yeah, so, yeah, there's some risk of that.
-But it's a great cast. -It's a wonderful cast.
Eddie Kaye Thomas, who I haven't seen in 20 years.
-Wow. -And we've had a wonderful time.
And I actually -- When I'm working,
I tend to become very superstitious.
And -- -You do?
-I do. So, I have these different rituals.
So if, like, I eat a certain meal
and the show goes well, then I only eat that meal
for the run of the show, which is --
It drives everyone around me crazy.
-'Cause you go, "Wait.
I can't believe I just had half a Coke and a hot dog."
You're like, "I have to have that
every day for the whole run"?
-Great, I've got to do 30 more minutes
on the bike for that meal?
-What's your go-to meal?
-Well, it's kind of boring.
I mean, it's usually, like, something light,
like a salad with chicken or something.
But, you know, I mean, it would be nice to have, like,
a pepperoni pizza with hot honey or something.
I mean, that would be great.
-Yeah, but you can't do that every night and sustain the --
-But maybe after the show.
-Yeah, after the show, we can do it.
What is the play about? Can we talk --
-The play -- it's about
two couples from Brooklyn, Williamsburg.
-Yeah.
-But it's two different time periods.
And they're related.
And the show touches upon family, marriage, death.
And it's about human discontent and self-examination.
It's funny, it's high drama,
and it's definitely that New York experience of,
"I'm going to the theater."
-Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
-So you're gonna to come. -Of course.
-Yeah, okay. -I'm there.
-I thought we'd do a little champagne toast
before the play starts.
Come on. Absolutely. You know we love you.
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
Katie Holmes, everybody. -Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-"The Wanderers" begins performances January 26th.
Katie and I are playing a new fun game when we come back.
Stick around, everybody.