When Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes Fell in Love
The "Dawson's Creek" scene that changed everything.
In celebration of former Dawson’s Creek co-stars Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes reuniting for the new film trilogy Happy Hours, written, directed, and starring Holmes, we’re taking you in a time machine back to where it all began. Welcome to Capeside, MA, a postcard perfect coastal town brimming with all the romance, angst, longing, intrigue, and dreamy sunlit creeks your eternal teen heart could hope for.
Excerpted from my book Freaks, Gleeks and Dawson’s Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television, here’s a pint-sized look back on the earliest days of Pacey and Joey — and Katie and Josh.
Dawson’s Creek left one of its most memorable marks on pop culture history with a messy romantic battle for the ages: Pacey and Dawson duking it out for Joey’s affections. We weren’t quite there in season one—though in the tenth episode “Double Date,” we got the first glimpses of a Joey/Pacey spark. The two are forced to paddle through a creek, searching for snails for an extra credit science project. It was a long, muddy day and David Semel, the episode’s director, remembers throwing on waders and getting into the water alongside them. While Joey and Pacey were just friends at the time, with a side of heavy verbal jousting, Holmes and Jackson were embarking on a real-life romance.
Their chemistry was so clear and the attraction so obvious that Semel had to figure out ways to rein it in. “Katie, doesn’t Josh just bug the shit out of you when he does this?” he remembers saying, throwing out examples of Jackson’s shortcomings and trying to get her back into the combative dynamic.
That day, Joey and Pacey get soaked in water and muck. They head back to Pacey’s car, where Joey changes her clothes just outside. Pacey gets a few quick glances of her bare back from the rearview mirror, and breaks into a warm, delighted grin. Semel wanted to strike the perfect balance of sexy but not sexual, while staying appropriate for broadcast television. After Pacey gets his glimpse of Joey in that mirror, she hops in the car and, with a smile, says, “Home, Jeeves.”
In that moment of filming, everything felt right. Perfect, even. The sun set just when it needed to. Wilmington looked particularly beautiful that day.
On the van ride back with Jackson and Holmes, it was unusually quiet. Looking back, Semel wonders if the two actors were having the same thoughts he was. “Hey guys,” he said. “You did something really special today.”
Later, Semel told me: “I just knew. I just knew what we had captured. It was one of those moments where it was just like, ‘Oh, that works. That’s a moment. That’s a memorable one.’”
We’d have to wait a few more seasons before anything romantic happened between Pacey and Joey, but for one brief scene, we felt the magic.
On another note, we were stunned and saddened by the recent passing of Malcolm Jamal-Warner. Best known for The Cosby Show as TV fans’ favorite big brother Theo, the actor had an impressive and influential resume of film, television and music credits that included roles in The Resident, Malcolm & Eddie and Community. We highly recommend “Malcolm-Jamal Warner and the Other Side of the Climb,” a personal tribute to his life and legacy by The Ringer’s Joel Anderson.
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Dawsons creek changed my life and I’ve been writing romance nonstop ever since as I still keep chasing the high of that delicious love triangle!!