10 Ways Katie Holmes Can Get Her Swag Back

We give the recovering Cruise-a-holic and formerly sheltered Scientologist advice on how to reclaim her title as America's sweetheart.

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Katie Holmes was once America's uncontested sweetheart. As the intimidatingly verbose Joey Potter, Holmes seized the nation's hearts and groins with her tomboyish charms on The WB teen drama Dawson's Creek. She even managed to hold our attention as she waded through misled movie roles, from the one-note thriller Disturbing Behavior, to a lackluster role in 2000's The Gift (save for a brief moment of nudity), to a forgettable appearance alongside Aaron Eckhart in the otherwise decent film Thank You for Smoking. How then, has our side-smirking natural beauty fallen so far from grace?

Her slow-motion descent from wholesome darling to supposed diva began the moment she admitted her childhood dream of marrying Tom Cruise in a 2004 interview with Seventeen. Her seemingly offhand remark is likely what prompted Cruise to swoop down on the doe-eyed ingenue in 2005, effectively sweeping her off her feet in a whirlwind wooing spectacular which culminated with a proposal at the top of Paris' Eiffel Tower less than six months later and what may be television's first couch serenade. 

With that, Cruise effectively replaced the nation's collective crush on Holmes with several over-sized question marks. Katie Holmes, gangly and girlishly innocent object of our infatuation was now the wife of the a prominent Scientologist who made his mark on pop culture dancing in his tighty whities, wearing a pink oxford nonetheless. Risky Business, indeed.

After five years of marriage to Cruise and a full-scale indoctrination into The Church of Scientology, and with quality movie roles scant and shaky performances a-plenty, it's safe to Katie Holmes has officially lost her swagger. Blame it on our tenacious nostalgia, or blind optimism, but we still maintain hope that Katie can reclaim her former place in our hearts. All she needs to do is finalize her recent headline-monopolizing divorce, and take our well-meaning advice: 10 Ways Katie Holmes Can Get Her Swag Back.

Written by Shanté Cosme (@ShanteCosme)

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10. Start hanging with other P.Y.T.s.

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9. Take on some risky indie movie roles.

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8. Keep Suri smiling.

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7. Show more personality.

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6. Do some self-deprecating comedy.

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5. Date a normal dude her own age.

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4. Do a stint in reality television.

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3. Make that Dawson's Creek movie.

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2. Keep bringing sexy back.

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1. Dish on Scientology.

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