Katie Holmes in Pieces of April

TV actress Katie Holmes shows her gritty side in writer/director Peter Hedges' comic drama, Pieces of April; a conscious effort to retire her popular Dawson's Creek character, Joey. In the film, Holmes plays April, an East Village twentysomething attempting to reconnect with her family by hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

Asked if Pieces of April is part of her game plan to put her sweet teen persona behind her, Holmes laughs.

"There really is no game plan, and I think in this business you're kidding yourself if you have one mapped out," Holmes says, speaking after the film's Sundance Festival debut. "My agent and I try to find good material and material that is different. I think there has been an effort to move away from teen movies because I do a teen television show nine months out of the year, and there is not that much room to have that many different experiences within the parameters of telling a teen story."

Holmes signed on to Pieces of April early and stuck with the project even after it was downsized to no-budget, digital video shoot.

"Should I tell you about the bathroom?" she asks, laughing. "I don't like sharing the bathrooms with the boys, and we were all sharing the same bathroom. Guys are dirty! Actually, it was fine. We were all so excited about the project and being able to make it. I'd rather not have a trailer and not have the best, spoiled conditions and do something that speaks to you than have all the wonderful amenities of a big budget movie." -- Steve Ramos