She tells Glamour magazine, “Growing up, I always had my dreams set on being an actor, so I looked up to Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn.

“I also look up to Kate Winslet and Renée [Zellweger] and Cate Blanchett…and Diane Keaton – she’s a genius. I think it’s very inspiring to see these women attack such complex roles.”

Katie, 30, also says husband Cruise “loves” women – and revealed the surprise the Top Gun star arranged for her recent birthday.

She adds, “He loves women; he was raised with sisters. He’s strong and intelligent and very, very funny. For my thirtieth birthday he couldn’t be in New York [where she was doing her play, All My Sons].

“So he organized the whole audience at that show to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, and then he had a cake rolled out on the stage.

“But he’s not a dreamer – he just does it. He’ll say, ‘I think I like that movie,’ and the next day, ‘I’m going to make that movie!’”