How Katie Holmes outwitted Tom Cruise: the roundup

Holmes outsmarted Cruise. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY, 11, 2012               The way Katie Holmes carefully plotted her split from Tom Cruise could easily be a Hollywood thriller. The actress “surprised” her husband with divorce papers while he was thousands of miles away in Iceland, shooting his upcoming sci-fi flick "Oblivion," on June 29, then she managed to wrestle away custody of Suri, 6, from him just 11 days later. And a new report released on Tuesday details just how she went about her secret plan – she used a disposable cell phone. According to the Los Angeles Times, a friend of Holmes provided her with the throwaway device so she could talk to her New York City-based lawyers without Cruise, 50, or his people knowing what she was up to. Now, yet another report, a People magazine story released on Wednesday, divulges further details on how Holmes caught her husband of five years off guard by meticulously plotting her divorce plans ahead of time, even reaching out to her parents for help. According to the report, Tom Cruise was about to start shooting an action-packed scene on the set in Iceland when he answered an unexpected call from Holmes. “He was about to do a stunt and got off his motorcycle to take the call,”  a source tells People. It was during that conversation that Holmes broke the news. “He’s been in shock since that day,” the source adds.

The Los Angeles Times also reports that when Holmes, 33, and Cruise settled their divorce on Monday, she already had three law firms in three different states set up in case she’d have to battle her soon-to-be ex outside of Manhattan, where she filed. The “Mission: Impossible” star initially wanted to hash out their divorce in California, which typically favors divorcing parents to have joint custody of their children (Holmes had requested sole custody of Suri in her filing). It turns out one of the toughest attorneys Holmes had on her side was reportedly her own father. “It’s his way or the highway,” a fellow attorney tells People of Martin Holmes, 67, a top divorce lawyer in Toledo, Ohio, who helped lay out Holmes' strategy for the split. “He’ll look a storm in the eye and make sure he’s standing when it’s over,” adds former mayor Carty Finkbeiner. 
Holmes' dad arrived in New York to be with his daughter around June 26, two days before she made the call to Cruise. (Whether the actor knew the elder Holmes was in New York at the time remains to be seen). Katie's mom, Kathleen, has also since traveled to the Big Apple and was most recently spotted accompanying her daughter and granddaughter on an outing to the Manhattan athletic complex Chelsea Piers on Tuesday.
As part of the settlement, Holmes will have total control over Suri’s education, and, in a move that is a definite slap in the actor’s face, Holmes – who renounced her Catholic upbringing for Scientology when she married Cruise in 2006 – has registered as a parishioner at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City not far from her Chelsea apartment, and will presumably take Suri along with her to mass. “Everyone is thrilled to have Katie join us,” a member of the church's choir told The Huffington Post on Monday. “She has not yet attended a service, but when she does she will be welcomed with open arms.”