Katie Holmes and Suri are getting ready to take on new roles: the latter as a college student and the former as an empty nester.

In an interview with Town & Country for its September 2024 issue, Katie spoke out about the new chapter in her and her daughter’s lives.

The Dawson’s Creek actress shares 18-year-old Suri with Tom Cruise, whom she divorced in 2012. The Top Gun actor also shares two children, Isabella and Connor, with his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman.

“I’m proud of my daughter. Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her, and I’m happy,” Katie said.

“I remember being this age, this time of beginnings. It’s exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that.”

Katie Holmes has opened up about becoming an empty nester as her and Tom Cruise’s daughter, Suri, heads off to college

Image credits: Katie Holmes

Though Katie didn’t confirm where her daughter will be studying, a TikTok shared by one of Suri’s classmates showed the teen wearing a Carnegie Mellon University sweater, leading to speculations that she’ll move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Suri appears to have inherited her mother’s love for acting, as she starred in the lead role of Morticia Addams in her school’s production of The Addams Family last year.

She also portrayed Philoclea in The Go-Go’s jukebox musical Head Over Heels. In the playbill, the 18-year-old listed herself as “Suri Noelle,” dropping her father’s surname and adopting her mother’s middle name.

“Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her, and I’m happy,” Katie said

Image credits: BACKGRID

Tom was absent from Suri’s high school graduation ceremony in June, where she also went by “Suri Noelle.” During the special moment in his daughter’s life, the Mission: Impossible star was seen at a Taylor Swift concert in London, UK.

It’s believed that Suri’s estrangement from her father is connected to the 61-year-old’s affiliation with the controversial Church of Scientology, founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard.

In November 2013, during a deposition in his 50-million court battle against a pair of tabloid magazines, Tom admitted that Katie had filed for divorce “to protect Suri from Scientology.”

That year, he also claimed that he had “in no way” cut Suri out of his life, “whether physically, emotionally, financially, or otherwise.”

In May, the 18-year-old proudly showed off her Carnegie Mellon University sweater

Image credits: @maiajwong

Though Town & Country mentioned rumors that Suri would pursue a career in fashion or acting, Katie chose not to reveal what her daughter would study.

Instead, she focused on how she would occupy her time once her daughter moved to Pittsburgh.

“The members of my book club are going to get annoyed hearing from me,” the 45-year-old said. “I’ll be like, ‘Let’s meet once a week.’”

Suri dropped her father’s surname for her graduation, choosing to go by “Suri Noelle,” a nod to her mother’s middle name

Image credits: BACKGRID

She added that dancing and painting, her other artistic interests, would also keep her busy.

“I love a dance studio because every time you enter, you’re starting from the beginning, and that’s a good, meditative way to approach the day.”