Mary Beth Peil, who played “Grams” in the hit show Dawson’s Creek, reveals that she knew about co-star Katie Holmes’ crush on Tom Cruise long before they became one of Hollywood's most talked-about couples. In a candid interview about her life and work with The Daily Beast’s Tim Teeman, Peil said that one day on set, after Cruise’s ex-wife Mimi Rogers (who played Helen Lindley in the sixth and final season of Dawson's) had left the hair and makeup room, Holmes launched into a heartfelt and knowledgeable spiel about Cruise being married to Rogers, Scientology, and Nicole Kidman. “She knew everything about him. She said, ‘I have had a crush on him since I was 15, and his posters were on the walls of my bedroom.’ She could not stop talking about Tom Cruise. This was way before they got together, but she was certainly ready for him,” Peil said. Holmes and Cruise started dating in 2005, before having their daughter Suri, and marrying, in 2006. They divorced in 2012.

In the interview, Peil also talks about her friendship with Michelle Williams, who played her granddaughter on Dawson’s; her testy relationship with Good Wife co-star Chris Noth; and having her heart “rebooted” this summer after being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation while performing in Anastasia on Broadway.