Katie Holmes was recently a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Although Ms. Holmes is a skilled actress, when she's "just being Katie" and not "in character", she's no better than average at suppressing her anxiety. A particular body language example of this behavior is examined below.
Beginning at 0:09, their dialog continues ...
Fallon: ... But did you watch the Super Bowl?
Holmes: This year, um, no, [nervous laugh] I, I di -, I was doing a cooking class with my - ch, child.
Fallon: How lame!
Holmes: I know!
Fallon: Get out!
Holmes: I know!
Fallon, Come on!
Holmes: No, no! Then we went, then we went to the museum - and then I s-, I like, right before the halftime show, I was like [knocks 5 times on Jimmy's desk] to my friend's apartment, I'm like, lemmie in, lemmie in, lemmie! - 'cause I knew Beyoncé was about to come up...."
From 0:14 through 0:21, Katie twists her ring on her right ring finger while also sliding it partially up and down.
Note that although Katie is an accomplished actor - her smile is a false one. We discern this because of her prominent display of her lower teeth.
Her fake smile is a conscious, forced behavior - while her manipulation of her ring occurs at a subconscious level. It's important to note that this does NOT indicate Katie Holmes overall personality is insincere - however in this particular moment, her smile is indeed forced and thus insincere.
Whenever a consciously initiated nonverbal signal (e.g., a false smile) is seen simultaneously with a subconsciously driven one (e.g., the twisting and sliding of her ring) - always look to the unconscious body language in order to tell the true thought-emotions.
See also:
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3463: Marco Rubio, Robotic Behavior and Insincerity
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3324: Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin Shake Hands at UN Luncheon
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 1916: Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise are getting a Divorce - What Body Language Metric could have Predicted this Back When They Were Dating?
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2191: Anne Hathaway's Impersonation of Katie Holmes on SNL - "Norming" Katie and Variations on a Theme
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3401: Jeb Bush and Anxiety
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3376: Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games and "Honest Anxiety"
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3273: Marco Rubio, The Republican Debate, Monotonous Body Language and Anxiety
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3053: Giada De Laurentiis, Insincere Smiles and Divorce
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