Kerr Smith was already revisiting Dawson’s Creek when he found out Michelle Williams was spearheading a reunion to raise money and awareness for early detection in honor of James Van Der Beek’s cancer battle.
“I’ve watched the pilot multiple times this year. I’m in the middle of writing a book on my journey through Dawson’s Creek, so it’s been nothing but Dawson’s Creek for me all year long,” Smith, 53, exclusively tells Us Weekly in honor of our Dawson’s Creek cover story, on newsstands now. “It brings back a lot of memories. Even at 53 years old, the show still makes me cry. It’s every bit as good as it was back then for me.” (Smith later added that he was recently “bawling his eyes” out watching the series finale because of — spoiler alert — Jen’s death.)
Smith, who played Jack McPhee on the beloved WB drama, will join Van Der Beek, Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Meredith Monroe, Mary-Margaret Humes, John Wesley Shipp, Busy Philipps and more of his former costars at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre for a reading of the pilot on Monday, September 22. The event sold out in 12 minutes and benefits the nonprofit F Cancer.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Smith continues. “I see James a couple times a year, but the last time I saw [Katie, Michelle and Josh] was in 2018 when we did the Entertainment Weekly reunion. It’s crazy that it’s been seven years already. It seems like yesterday.”
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Smith notes that he has done 25 Dawson’s Creek-related interviews for his upcoming book, which is appropriately titled I Don’t Want to Wait and hits shelves in fall 2026.
“It’s my first time writing a book, so it’s a lot of work. But it’s been fun to revisit everything and rewatch a lot of the episodes. All those memories just start pouring back in,” he says. “I miss Wilmington. My entire career, I have tried to recreate that bubble, that camp, that Wilmington scenario, because on the weekends, we had so much fun.”
A major topic in the book will be Jack’s historic coming out story, which included the first kiss between two men on a primetime series.
“I had just landed the most incredible role in Hollywood — at least in my mind, for being that age and being so new. Three months later, after integrating myself into the other four and just getting through that mess of making sure I feel at home and comfortable, now I’m being asked to play something that’s very different. It was very risky at that time,” Smith recalls. “I’m glad I took the risk. We’re really proud.”
Smith still has fans approach him about the story line today.
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“[Recently], there was a guy in a panel in Oklahoma City. He stood up and told his life story, a similar coming out [to Jack] when he was a teenager and he said he probably wouldn’t even be on the planet anymore had it not been for that story line,” Smith says. “And James was sitting next to me, and we listened to him talk for five minutes, and I started tearing up a little bit, and I think James was too. And I felt James turn his head to me when he was talking, and I could sense James was thinking, ‘How are you going to handle this?’ Without saying anything — and I didn’t know what to say, I was so choked up — I just got off the stage and went down there and gave him a fat hug. That stuff happens to me all the time to this day, and every single time, I cherish it, because it just means so much.”
Among Jack’s other memorable story lines was his friendship with Jen and her Grams (Mary Beth Peil).
“Mary Beth and I were talking about this a few months back and she said the same thing, her favorite scenes were the ones where we were in the house, screwing around, living life, figuring it out, just the three of us,” Smith tells Us. “I’m so happy that the writers decided to do that — I think it’s one of the best friendships in television. Working with Michelle, obviously, was so fun for me, and she was so young back then. It’s still so good. You could just tell things were coming for her. And Mary Beth was already seasoned, so as a new actor, I was just watching, learning quickly.”
As for that time Jack and Jen almost hooked up, Smith laughs when Us brings up the season 4 episode. “I don’t know what that was. Even when we’re filming it, we’re like, ‘What is this? This is weird.’ I don’t know, [but] it was fun,” he says.
In the 2003 series finale, it’s revealed that Jack ends up with Doug (Pacey’s brother, played by Dylan Neal) — a relationship Smith would be down to revisit, as he tells Us that a spinoff has been pitched.
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“And it is actually written. Nobody’s grabbed it yet,” Smith tells Us. “But Dylan Neal and his wife came up with the idea and pitched it to me. And I was like, ‘This is fantastic,’ and it takes place real time. Amy would be 17 [because of the time jump in the finale]. So real time, we’ve got a couple of other kids. We’re living in Capeside. We’re married now. I’m the high school football coach and a teacher. Doug is the sheriff. It was very The Fosters with two dudes. It would absolutely do it. It was really well written.”
Since Jack (and sister Andie, played by Monroe) didn’t arrive in Capeside until season 2 — “The first thing Josh said to me when we met was, ‘Hey, I’m Josh, get ready, your life’s about to change,’” he recalls — Smith will read the parts of three different roles at Monday’s event, including Joey’s (Holmes) brother-in-law Bodie, who was played by the late Obi Ndefo.
“Then I think there’s two teachers. One’s the film teacher, which is the bigger role of three, that Dawson’s dealing with. I think there’s another teacher in there somewhere that has a couple of lines. It’ll be fun,” he explains. “The last time I did a pilot read through was at ATX in Austin, years ago, and I played Jen, which was weird.”
Van Der Beek announced in November 2024 that he is battling stage 3 colon cancer.
“He told me a couple years back, way before it was out in the press. It hit me pretty hard, I gotta be honest. James and I have had a friendship that’s been off and on over the years, but at these conventions, it’s been interesting to get to know him all over again,” Smith tells Us. “As adults, the relationship is completely different. We were kids back then, it was totally just a different scenario. For me, it’s been a really special thing for me to be able to redevelop a friendship. He is doing well, his spirits are good and the guy’s amazing.”
For more on the Dawson’s Creek reunion, watch the video above or pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
