Joshua Jackson has opened up about the competitive casting process behind Dawson’s Creek and how the show’s cast has reconnected around James Van Der Beek following his recent cancer diagnosis. Speaking on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast, Jackson shared detailed memories of his early career and the dynamics among the show’s core actors more than 20 years after it first aired.
Jackson described the audition process for Dawson’s Creek as unusually intense, involving multiple rounds and large groups of actors. “I think I had, like, nine auditions,” he said. “I think first for Pacey, then for Dawson, then back to Pacey.” He eventually landed the role of Pacey Witter. James Van Der Beek was cast as Dawson Leery.
The final audition took place at the Warner Brothers Ranch, which Jackson recalled as a surreal setting. “There’s a giant gong and a woman at the desk whose job it is to say, ‘W, W, WB’ every time she answers the phone,” he said, referencing the studio’s recognizable audio tag.
Jackson said the actors were kept on-site through the entire day, brought into audition rooms in groups, and released in waves. “You come out and four people are just gone. And then two people are gone.” He said he was in the restroom when the final cut was made, emerging to find executives standing before him, Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, and Michelle Williams. “They told us, ‘Congratulations. You just got the job,’” he said. At that moment, he wasn’t certain which character he had been cast as.
Jackson described the atmosphere as unsettling, though he acknowledged how significant the role became for his career. “I was astonishingly appreciative of the paycheck and the change that that made in my life,” he said. “I always enjoyed acting and performing, and I was also astonished that I was like, ‘Hey, I can do this.’”
Dawson’s Creek aired from 1998 to 2003, following a group of teenagers in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts. The show launched the careers of its main cast and became one of the most recognizable teen dramas of its era.
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Jackson’s podcast appearance also touched on Van Der Beek’s ongoing treatment for stage 3 colorectal cancer, which the actor revealed publicly in November 2024. In a social media post, Van Der Beek said he had kept the diagnosis private while undergoing treatment and focusing on his health. “Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them,” he wrote.
Jackson acknowledged that his fellow cast members stepped in quickly to support Van Der Beek. “James is going through something really, truly terrible right now, and I wish I could take credit for this, but I was kind of the absentee partner here,” Jackson said. “The girls all got together and were like, ‘We need to do something to help this guy out.’”
He referenced the close ties that remain among the original cast. Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams maintain a longstanding friendship, while Jackson and Holmes remain in contact. “It’s not a daily call,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call, but when you’re together, there’s always that, ‘I know, you know.’”
Jackson spoke about the unique nature of bonds formed while working on long-running television shows, especially during formative years. “Other than your husband, there’s probably no other person in your life that you’re that forged to because you had to go through good and bad,” he said.
Van Der Beek echoed that sentiment during a recent interview on Whine Down with Jana Kramer. He said that although the cast drifted apart over the years, reconnecting later in life has brought a different perspective. “We all went our separate ways and just didn’t speak for years because we’re just living our lives and doing our things,” he said. “And to just reconnect and be like, ‘Oh, wow. I love who you’ve become.’”
He also reflected on the show itself. “I have such a nostalgia for it,” he said. “I don’t know whether it’s just time or what.”
