Katie Holmes dodges question about psychiatric drugs on Today... after Matt Lauer reminds her of his infamous interview with Tom Cruise
Katie Holmes sat down with Matt Lauer on Today on Tuesday to talk about playing someone with bipolar disorder in her new film Touched With Fire.
But the elephant in the room was the heated confrontation between Matt and Katie's ex-husband Tom Cruise more than a decade ago over psychiatry and anti-depressants.
However, in the end, neither the anchor nor the actress 'went there' with Matt making an oblique reference to the infamous occasion and Katie responding with a bland answer about the movie.
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Promotional duties: Katie Holmes paid a visit to NBC's Today on Tuesday to talk about playing a bipolar poet in her new film Touched With Fire
In fact, Katie steered clear of any attempt to get her to reflect on her personal life or anything other than her performance in the low-budget R-rated drama.
After playing a film clip of the actress playing a manic depressive poet, Matt commented: 'It asks the question, is it beneficial to treat these people with drugs?'
'You and I both remember a heated discussion I got into on that subject here in this studio. Where do you think it leads the viewer?'
The question: Matt Lauer sort of asked the actress about her thoughts on the benefits or otherwise of psychiatric drugs, harking back to his infamous sit down with Tom Cruise on the subject
Not going there: Tom's ex kind of acknowledged the allusion but wasn't drawn into actually answering the question directly
Dodged it: The 37-year-old instead said that the film left it up to the audience to decide the issue
In the low-budget film, Katie's character is seen projecting the highs and lows of mania
She obviously understood what Matt was referring to and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
But she refused to be drawn and instead spoke about how she wanted to do a realistic portrayal and how it's up to everyone to make up their own mind.
'This movie just shows, this is it..... and puts the question out there for the audience to make that decision,' she replied.
Elephant in the room: Katie's interview with Matt came a decade after her movie star former husband called the anchor 'glib' during a heated discussion about psychiatry and anti-depressants
Method: The actress focused her responses on the film and how she strove to produce a realistic portrayal of the central character
Stayed mum: The tired looking celebrity wouldn't say anything about her life despite being asked about a recent magazine interview that described her as living 'the ultimate second act'
Matt tried to get some kind of reflection from the former Dawson's Creek star about where her life is at, quoting an article in More magazine that described her as having 'the ultimate second act.'
But Katie, who is mom to daughter Suri, nine, defaulted to talking again about the film that's released in LA and New York this weekend.
'I feel very lucky that I've had wonderful creative experiences recently and doing this movie as an actor was really liberating,' she said.
All about the work: The Batman Begins actress has struggled to achieve box office success since ending her marriage to Tom and has been doing TV shows and smaller independent movies like Touched With Fire
Infamous interview: War Of The Worlds star Tom took Matt to task on Today in June 2005 after the anchor asked him about his criticism of Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants for post-partum depression
Back in June, 2005, Tom was promoting the film War Of The Worlds and had just got engaged to Katie when he got into a debate with the morning show host about his Scientology beliefs.
When Matt asked the A-lister about his criticism of Brooke Shields over her decision to take anti-depressants for post-partum depression, Tom argued that 'drugs aren't the answer' to mental illness and just 'mask the problem.'
He accused the Today host of being 'glib' and told him: 'You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do.'
Scientology beliefs: Tom, who'd just announced his engagement to Katie, told Matt that he had studied the history of psychiatry and that drugs just 'mask the problem'
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