Katherine Noelle Holmes was born December 18, 1978, in Toledo, Ohio. The youngest of five children -- she has three older sisters and an older brother -- Katie had no intention of becoming an actress while growing up in Toledo.

Her mother, Kathy Holmes, enrolled her long-legged daughter into Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School in Toledo, which ultimately led Katie to her present career path. During her summer vacation from Notre Dame Academy (an all-girls Catholic high school), a 17-year old Katie attended a modeling convention in New York City.

At the convention, a talent scout from Los Angeles approached Katie and encouraged her to spend the rest of the summer in California auditioning. Katie was off to Hollywood with her mother to try her luck at acting, despite her father's original skepticism.

Luck was definitely on her side, since Katie's feature film debut took no more than one audition. Inexperienced and tinged with a drop of naivet?, she was cast in The Ice Strom, as Tobey Maguire's girlfriend.

After filming The Ice Storm, Katie returned to Toledo in order to complete high school. She was apparently offered the role of Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but luckily for Sarah Michelle Gellar Katie declined in order to graduate high school. With a film credit and a newfound passion, she dedicated her summer to starring in a local theatre production of Damn Yankees. That's when Katie heard a rumor that Kevin Williamson of Scream fame was casting actors for his television teenage drama.

With nothing to lose, Katie sent in her home video audition and hoped for the best. And that's what the Dawson's Creek screenwriter/producer saw when he watched her tape: the best. Fully impressed by what he saw, Williamson immediately invited Katie to come to the West Coast for a callback, but due to her commitment to Damn Yankees, she asked Williamson whether the offer could be postponed to a later date.

Obviously worth the wait, he rescheduled so that Katie could attend. Williamson didn't need acting experience credits to convince him that Katie was right for the part of Joey Potter for Dawson's Creek. She was immediately cast as the girl from the wrong side of the creek in the series that was garnering rave reviews even before its premiere.

Viewers have been tuning in to Sisters and the high school drama since 1998, watching the cast of angst-ridden teens (which also includes pouty-lipped Michelle Williams deal with teenage life.

Based on the success of Dawson's Creek and its popularity among teens, Katie was cast in the thriller Disturbing Behavior in 1998. The following summer, Katie could be seen in theatres in two feature films; Go, and as the heroine in Teaching Mrs. Tingle (also directed by Kevin Williamson).

While still roaming the halls of high school in Dawson's Creek, Katie appeared in Wonder Boys, starring Michael Douglasand her Ice Storm co-star, Tobey Maguire.

Winner of the 1999 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance, Katie was also voted one of Teen People Magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" and Sweden's Expressen Fredag's "Babe of the Year" in 1998.

Currently living in Wilmington, NC, where the television series is filmed, Katie is dating actor Chris Klein She deferred her acceptance to Columbia University until she has more time in her hectic acting schedule. Between Dawson's Creek and a soon-to-be-released movie, The Gift, Katie is surely one busy lady.