Katie Holmes and 13-year-old daughter Suri Cruise are in sync.

Though she was 27 when she welcomed Suri with then-love Tom Cruise, the actress admitted the timing was perfect. “I was happy to become a mom in my 20s,” she gushed to Elle UK for their December cover. “It’s been nice that our ages fit…how do I put this? Every age that my child has been and my age at that time has been a good match. We kind of grew up together.”

As the looked back on her 20s with the outlet, she also opened up about her role as relatable Joey Potter on Dawson’s Creek⁠—a gig she nearly missed out on. Shocked? Well, as it turns out, at the time, she was already committed to playing the alluring Lola in Damn Yankees for a school play.

“I even got to wear the feather boa,” Katie recalled. “I thought, ‘There is no way I’m not playing Lola to go audition for some network.’ I couldn’t let my school down…So I told [director] Kevin [Williamson] and The WB, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t meet with you this week. I’ve got other commitments.'”

Clearly, that didn’t pan out the way she expected, in the best way possible!

These days, the cast—which included James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jacksonand Michelle Williams among others—still keep in touch and even recently hung out.

“It was really nice,” the star said. “We all went out to dinner and, I think, for all of us to really sit back in amazement that people still watch it and care about it. It was bigger than all of us and we all feel grateful that we got to contribute to it and benefit from it. We all got so many opportunities because of it.” 

And now, at 40, she’s happier than ever.

“It’s interesting to be 40, though, because when you’re young, you think, ‘I’m never going to be 40!’ and then the day comes and it’s like, this is OK,” she explained. “I’m still doing everything I’ve always done. I feel happy with where my career is and I’m excited for the projects that I have coming up to come to fruition.”