Despite all the challenges that come with being a high-profile celebrity and a single parent trying to raise a child in New York, Katie Holmes has a pretty simple formula when it comes to her daughter Suri.
"I think the basics are very important," Holmes said in the April issue of Elle UK. "The number one thing is making sure my child feels loved. And good about herself. And that what she does and who she is, is special and important, and should be celebrated."
Suri, 7, was born to Holmes and Tom Cruise in April 2006. The couple split in 2012 after five years of marriage.
Holmes, like many parents, is aware of the reality that, as she said, "children are exposed to so much more than we were. I suppose every generation goes through that feeling, 'Oh my God, it’s so different from how I grew up.'"
And life is very so different than it was in the late 1990s, when "Dawson's Creek" made a name for the actress.
"The world has changed so much since then," Holmes, 35, told Elle. "Social media, and what people are watching. But I think innocence was one of the draws of the show. It was these kids going through first love and heartbreak and growing up and friendships changing. So I’m glad that the innocence still holds up."
On the cover and inside the magazine, Holmes pulls off a fresh-faced look thanks to a "simple, clean" pulled back hairstyle and makeup that is "very fresh" and embraces her "natural femininity and her beauty." Watch the behind-the-scenes video.