Up the creek
Teen drama series Dawson’s Creek returns to free-TV, so where are its stars these days?
Dawson’s Creek
Season 1 Fridays (from 9 December) SABC3 (*193) 12:00
When youth drama series Dawson’s Creek debuted in 1998, it changed teen TV viewing forever, says lead star
James Van Der Beek (as Dawson Leery). “We took a tried-and-tested concept and threw it out the window. We took teenage angst and dreams and youthful romance and made it something not just for parents to discuss, but for younger audiences to see and explore their own inner demons. We made it cool to be a teenager with problems, going in search of who they are in a world that doesn’t always want to see them succeed.” The actor adds that it was tough for him dealing with his own issues as a teen. “I was 21 playing a 15-year-old. I felt some of the things that my character was going through was paralleled with my own struggles as a teen, slightly different but still relatable.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
James made his name as Dawson and it earned him the lead in 1999 sport drama movie Varsity Blues. The 45-year-old is married with six kids, and last played law enforcement agent Elijah Mundo in the CSI spinoff series CSI: Cyber in 2015.
Katie Holmes plays Dawson’s love interest Joey Potter. She married
Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible action movies) and has 16-year-old daughter
Suri with her now-ex (they divorced in 2012). She hasn’t been in anything big since playing US First Lady Jacqueline KennedyOnassis in biopic drama series The Kennedys: After Camelot in 2017.
Joshua Jackson is Dawson’s brother-fromanother-mother bestie Pacey Witter who falls in love with Joey too. The 44-yearold last played Dr Duntsch in biopic drama series Dr Death in 2021.
Michelle Williams comes in as troublemaker Jen Lindley who causes a lot of love drama for the boys. The 44-yearold has a 17-year-old daughter with late actor
Heath Ledger (Joker in 2008 action movie The Dark Knight), two children under the age of three with her theatre director husband Thomas Kail, and played Gwen in 2019 miniseries Fosse/Verdon.
Meredith Monroe plays Andie McPhee, an A-plus star student who arrives with her twin (read below). She falls for Pacey, giving him the motivation he needs in life, while he becomes her rock when her mental illness takes over her mind. The 52-year-old is still acting but only doing bit-part roles these days.
Kerr Smith arrives as Jack McPhee, with the then26-year-old playing a gay 16-year-old struggling with his identity, culminating with the first on-screen gay male kiss in US TV history in season 3 of the show. The 50-year-old, who isn’t gay in real life, most recently played mean Principal Honey in teen drama series Riverdale.
FOOT IN THE DOOR
James says that the show’s huge success is largely down to the writers’ ability to become teens. “The cast were all past those years when we filmed in 1997. We were adults. And the team in the writing room took us back to those years. We were able to fit into the shoes of our viewers at home because the writers had this freedom to tackle complex teenage issues like love, sexuality and more. We had a psychologist who was able to point us in the right direction to be able to speak to our viewers in a way that they understood and could connect with. The show is still relevant in 2022 and that says a great deal about the writing.”