How Katie Holmes Got in Ass-Kicking Shape — Physically and Mentally

And the reason had nothing to do with fitting into her jeans.

Katie Holmes smiles on the red carpetphoto credit: shutterstock

Katie Holmes hasn’t had the easiest time in Hollywood

As a teenager, she was thrown into the spotlight thanks to her starring role in the ‘90s coming-of-age drama, Dawson’s Creek. After five seasons, and a string of failed relationships, she married superstar (and possibly slightly insane scientologist) Tom Cruise. Five-ish years after their daughter Suri was born, the two went through a very public divorce.

Katie Holmes is now happily dating Jamie Foxx, and preparing for a new ass-kicking role in Doorman, a thriller about a former Marine who returns home from combat, only to face another difficult battle on the streets of New York.

Getting in shape for the role was no joke. Katie says she “wanted to be authentic to someone who’s trained in the military,” so to prep, she relied on her personal trainer (who often put her through gruelling two-hour workouts) and lifting heavy weights.

But the key for her was kicking the vanity aspect of exercise to the curb, saying she wanted to train like “someone who wasn’t always paying attention to the mirror and who was in shape not for vanity, but because that’s what her job called for.”

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In addition to the personal training sessions and heavy weight-lifting, the 39-year-old took up boxing, which she says did just as much for her mind as it did for her body. Not only did it take her from five-pound weights to 15- or 20-pounders, but she found that boxing helped her “get out the stress of the day.” She said she’d get into the gym and just, “think of all the mundane things that bother me. Traffic! I put off all my calls till after boxing, because it puts me in a much calmer place.”

It may have taken her 39 years, but Holmes says she’s ready to embrace working out as a choice for her health, her daughter and her future: “It used to be about fitting into my jeans, and I’m so sick of that.”

Amen, sister.

Halle Berry (who also loves boxing) has 6 tips for getting in the best shape of your life.