Katie Holmes hinted about `new phase` in mag interview

New York - Katie Holmes had reportedly hinted her state of mind in an interview conducted weeks before announcing her split from hubby Tom Cruise, saying she was entering “a new phase” and “I know where I want to go.”

“I definitely feel much more comfortable in my own skin,” the New York Post quoted Holmes as telling Elle magazine, when asked about being in her 30s, for an upcoming cover story.

“I feel sexier. I think in my 20s, it’s like you’re trying too hard to figure everything out . . . I’m starting to come into my own. It’s like a new phase,” she said.

Six weeks after the interview, the actress revealed her “new phase” would not include her husband and the father of daughter Suri.

Holmes further indicates an independent state of mind in the interview, which hits newsstands July 17, in response to a question about her identity as Mrs. Tom Cruise.

“He has been Tom Cruise for 30 years.

“I know who I am and where I am and where I want to go, so I want to focus on that,” she said.

A source close to the magazine said that during the interview — and accompanying shoot with fashion photographer Carter Smith — “Katie didn’t speak about Tom in a lovey-dovey way at all. She deflected the Tom questions and brought them around to herself.”

Holmes also said in the piece that being married to Cruise didn’t help her career, and that she had to work harder because of the role.

“Things are not handed to anyone. If anything, you work a little bit harder when you’re in such visible circumstances,” she said.

Holmes subsequently filed for divorce on June 29, reportedly catching the ‘Rock of Ages’ star by surprise while he was filming in Iceland.