Katie Holmes has revealed that before she started filming First Daughter, she called Jenna Bush Hager up for advice.
During a recent interview on Today, with Hager and Hoda Kotb, Holmes reflected on the making of her film. In the 2004 film, she played the daughter of the president of the United States and fell in love with a secret agent, who was pretending to be a college student.
Speaking to the actor, Kotb recalled the “research” that Holmes did, while First Daughter was still being made.
“Jenna so happened to be a first daughter during this time,” she said, noting that Hager is the child of former President George W. Bush. “And Katie, in your research, did you ever reach out to a young lady named Jenna Bush, and try to get a little intel info?”
In response, Holmes said: “I believe I did.” Hager explained why she missed the call and pointed out a weird coincidence that occured when the actor had contacted her.
“I was with my college roommates, we were watching Dawson’s Creek,” she said, referring to the hit show that Holmes starred in. “I’m not joking, we turned it off and I’m like, ‘Who called me from LA?’ Listened to the message and it was Katie and I was too embarrassed.”
Hager was a college student herself, at the time, just like Holmes’ character in First Daughter. In 2004, the now-TV host was studying at University of Texas at Austin, while her father was still based in the White House, until Presidential term ended in 2009.
During the conversation with Holmes, Hager claimed that if she had talked to her about her college life, it wouldn’t have been super interesting.
“I mean, also, had you come and done research, you would have been like, ‘Wow. This is quite boring,’” Hager said. She also poked fun at the movie’s plot, as she added: “And I never fell in love with a secret service man.”
However, she claimed that she had a “friend” who made out with someone in the secret service, to which Holmes replied: “I’m sure you did. That seems like the job of a friend.”
Hager then apologised for not calling Holmes back, before the actor said that it was “okay”. Kotb asked her co-host why she didn’t return the phone call, to which Hager responded: “Cause my real life didn’t really match the movie. But the research you would have learned would have been kind of gross.”
Holmes explained how much “fun” she had when filming First Daughter, before detailing why she had turned to Hager for advice in the first place.
“I just felt like, ‘What is that like, to carry that?’ and you’ve carried it so beautifully,” the Batman Begins star said.
Hager thanked the actor for her kind words, before Kotb chimed in and said that they were all “having a moment”. Holmes agreed with the sentiment and added: “It’s a girl party.”
As her newest movie, Rare Objects, will be released this week, Holmes has continued to open up about her film career. During her interview with Glamour, published on Wednesday, she described what it was like to direct herself in her new movie.
“It’s difficult in the sense that you’re wearing two hats, but your most important one on set is the director because you’re leading the ship,” she said. “When I stepped into being an actor, in my head, I was [more] aware of time. I was like, I actually have to get this in very few takes because I know what we have left to get tonight. I don’t want to hold people up.”
