Katie Holmes keeps it casual in blue jeans and dress shirt for stroll in NYC’s Soho neighborhood

After back-to-back films where she put her multitasking skills as a writer, director, producer and star to the test, Kate Holmes seems to be in between projects at the moment.

Taking advantage of some downtime, the Toledo, Ohio native appeared to be running an errand, perusing the many storefronts in Downtown Manhattan’s artsy Soho neighborhood.

The former Dawson’s Creek star, 44, made her way through the busy streets in jeans and a half-tucked white shirt and black Adidas sneakers.

While the temperature had risen above 60 degrees Fahrenheit for a high, it had begun to dip below 50 degrees, which may explain why Holmes had wrapped her arms tightly around her waist to warm up.

To complete her casual ensemble, the actress-turned-director-writer donned stylish black sunglasses while carrying a matching handbag over her right shoulder on her walk.

Holmes has just returned from her visit to France, where she attended the Cannes Film Festival to promote the mentoring of young female filmmakers in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s important to hear perspectives from all over the world, but especially from Saudi Arabia,” she said WWD. “These women are finally getting their freedoms, and this is one of them.”

The main aim of the program is to get filmmakers from the region to international festivals to give them more visibility on the world stage, which Holmes says is also vital for people in the West to see and hear.

During the talk, she talked about her transition into writing and directing, and how it was more of an instinctive move than a grand plan to redefine herself.

“I just felt like it was something that was another step in creativity,” she says. “I’ve never been so focused on the exterior.”

That recent transition from recent years has left her with a quadruple threat of sorts, which began with Alone Together (2022), a romantic drama she wrote, directed, produced and starred in.

Inspired to tell a story with the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, the Batman Begins actress began writing early in the pandemic about two strangers sharing an Airbnb in New York during lockdown.

Produced by her new production company, Lafayette Picture, she would eventually helm the project, which eventually had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in July 2022.

Along with Holmes, the cast also includes Jim Sturgess, Derek Luke, Melissa Leo, Zosia Mamet, and Becky Ann Baker.

Making a difference: Between film projects, Holmes recently attended the Cannes Film Festival, where she promoted the mentorship of young female filmmakers in Saudi Arabia

Motivation: “It’s important to hear perspectives from all over the world, but especially from Saudi Arabia,” Holmes told WWD during May’s Cannes Film Festival. ‘These women are finally getting their freedoms, and this is one of them’

Multitasking: Holmes posed a quadruple threat as a writer, director, producer and star with her last two films, including Rare Objects (2023) and Alone Together (2022)

Holmes succeeded as co-writer, director, producer and star of the drama film Rare Objects (2023)

The story shares the writing credit with Phaedon A. Papadopoulos and Kathleen Tessaro. The story revolves around a young woman trying to rebuild her life when she takes a job in an antique shop. She regains her trust from the kind souls who own the store until they resurface from her traumatic past, according to IMDb.

The cast includes Perva Bedi, Candy Buckley, Alan Cumming, Aerial East, David Alexander Flinn, Olivia Gilliatt and Holmes.

Rare Objects was set to premiere in April, which probably means Holmes is looking forward to her new film production.