From left: Katie Holmes; Shannyn Sossamon and Josh Hartnett in40 Days and 40 Nights(2002); Ashton Kutcher.Photo: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock, Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection, Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Katie Holmesis reflecting on a role that “wasn’t meant to be.”
In her new cover interview forGlamour’s April 2023 issue, the 44-year-oldRare Objectsdirector and actress said she,Ashton KutcherandEddie Kaye Thomaswere originally supposed to star in40 Days and 40 Nights.
Josh HartnettandShannyn Sossamonended up leading the 2002 romantic comedy, which follows Matt (Hartnett, 44) as he vows to abstain from any sexual activity for 40 days and 40 nights following a string of failed post-breakup encounters — but has a difficult time after unexpectedly meeting Erica (Sossamon, 44).
After being originally slated to appear in the film alongside Kutcher, 45, andAmerican Pie’s Thomas, 42, Holmes toldGlamour, “I didn’t know this, Eddie just told me, but he had gotten into a fender bender on the way to the table read and the reading just didn’t go well.”
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Katie Holmes for the April 2023 issue ofGlamour.Christine Hahn/Glamour
Holmes further recalled of the experience, “There were executives and all that, and you could just feel it. I remember leaving going, ‘Oh, my God, what just happened?’ "
“It wasn’t meant to be. They ended up making it with another cast,” she added.
40 Days and 40 Nights, whichmade $95.1 millionat the worldwide box office, also costarredPaulo Costanzo,Maggie Gyllenhaal,Vinessa ShawandGriffin Dunne, among others.
Holmes directed, co-wrote, co-produced and stars inRare Objects, which costarsAmerican Rust’sJulia MayorgaplusAlan Cumming,David Alexander FinnandDerek Luke, the latter of whom previously appeared with Holmes inPieces of April(2003) andAlone Together(2022).
Katie Holmes covers the April 2023 issue ofGlamour.Christine Hahn/Glamour
Based on Kathleen Tessaro’s 2016novel of the same name, the film sees Holmes' character Diana forming a close bond with “a young woman with a traumatic past” named Benita (Mayorga), who “seeks to rebuild her life when she begins working at a New York City antique shop.”
“To me, unfortunately, [sexual assault] is an understood secret amongst women, so we don’t have to share too much to know what we’re talking about,” Homes continued. “And I also felt like that.”
“Julia was so incredible in that scene, and that was really a difficult one to shoot because I just needed her face,” she added. “I kept telling both of the actors, ‘It’s your faces.’ And so they had to really go there. Everybody was pretty shaken up after.”
Rare Objects, from IFC Films, is in theaters and on demand Friday.
source: people.com
