Dynamic Duo: the Boys of `Dawson's Creek'

Entertainment News Daily
Written by Kevin Dickson (a Los Angeles-based writer for TV Guide Canada)

It isn't easy being television's longest-running male virgin. Just ask James Van Der Beek, who as the title character in "Dawson's Creek'' seems to have lusted after the foxy Joey (Katie Holmes) since the dawn of time.

"God,'' the actor says with a laugh, "I don't know that anybody intended for it to go on this long.''

It may not go on much longer, however, now that Joey is apparently about to tumble into the arms of Pacey (Joshua Jackson), while Dawson is seeing Pacey's older and wiser sister, Gretchen (Sascha Alexander).

"We'll see,'' Van Der Beek says. "In a way it's kind of fun, dramatically, because it has been drawn out so long. I'm looking forward to seeing what the writers are doing with it.''

As for Jackson, the Canadian-born actor isn't revealing anything, either, especially whether Pacey and Joey will do the deed.

"Perhaps,'' he says cagily. "I don't know. We haven't quite gotten to those stories yet. They may be in our future - we're just getting to them this week and next.''

Fans and critics alike have warmed to the show's fourth season, as "Dawson's Creek'' returns to its emotional roots after third-season dips in both ratings and credibility.

Jackson admits that things have picked up.

"I've personally been happy with the series this year,'' he says. "I've been getting to work with Katie every day, and we get along like a house on fire. Plus, it's nice to have some specific things to do with your character.''

Rumors have been swirling about conflicts between Jackson and Van Der Beek that mirrored their characters' duel over Joey, but Jackson denies anything of the kind.

"To tell you the truth,'' he says forcefully, "this has been the most relaxed and organized year. They've gotten all the scripts in on time, and we've known the story lines weeks and months in advance. Last year there were stories that were nonstarters and there wasn't a great deal of communication between the writers ... A year ago, I was incredibly tired and frustrated and unhappy for the last three months of the season.

"This year, by contrast, I'm really upbeat and having a grand old time.''

Still up in the air is whether there will be a fifth season of the show. Though it is still performing well in the ratings, a writers' strike looms and, with the primary cast members signed for five years, not five seasons, there might not be time to film a final season before their contracts expire.

"They'll probably want their 100 episodes for syndication,'' Van Der Beek says hesitantly, "so I think there'll be a fifth season. I can probably say that without cursing anything.''

Jackson actually wouldn't mind the show ending this year, as the kids graduate from high school.

"My personal opinion is that there is a certain synergy to a high-school drama starting and ending in high school,'' he says. "However, I'm not the one that gets to make those decisions, so chances are that we'll be back for a fifth season.''

Even if they are, however, Van Der Beek says that moving on to college will radically change the characters and the show.

"You know what?'' he says. "It's going to be really different. It could be the best thing that ever happened to us, or the worst thing - you never know. But I say change can't be bad, really.''

Again, Jackson agrees.

"It should shatter them,'' he says matter-of-factly. "If we come back next year, the five that remain would necessarily be shattered by the expanded realities of life, once you get out of your home town to study or travel or work. And another thing is, there's always somebody who stays behind.

"So, if we come back, I would really, really hope that they strive to find some way to incorporate that reality into the show.''

Both Van Der Beek and Jackson have prepared for the inevitable end of the show by building feature-film careers - Van Der Beek with "Varsity Blues'' (1998) and the long-delayed "Texas Rangers,'' Jackson with "Cruel Intentions'' (1998) and "The Skulls'' (2000) - but Jackson admits that it won't be so easy to move on.

"When our show does end,'' he says, "it would feel like I was leaving high school again, leaving for college. I've been with these guys, the cast and crew, every day essentially for the last four years. It's a nice feeling - it feels like home, and it feels like my life.''

Still, he has several feature-film projects lined up.

"I'm going off to Texas to work on a film called `Lone Star State Of Mind,''' Jackson says. "If we do it right, it's a little bit like `Raising Arizona' (1987), kind of a Coen Brothers small-town comedy for Texas.''

Jackson says that, as far as films are concerned, he's still best known as a child actor in the "Mighty Ducks'' series. Little kids still recognize him from those days, he adds, and tell him that they started playing hockey after watching the films. It doesn't hurt that there's now an actual NHL team named after the movie team.

"When I'm 60 or 70,'' he says with a laugh, "there'll probably still be a hockey team, which is pretty cool, and hopefully by then they'll have won the Stanley Cup, so I'll have something to brag about.

"I have a funny feeling that, as an old man, it will change from `I was in a movie about the Mighty Ducks' to `I used to play for the Mighty Ducks!'''

As for Van Der Beek, he can't conceal his annoyance over the delay of "Texas Rangers,'' which was shot nearly two years ago and co-stars Dylan McDermott, Ashton Kutcher and Robert Patrick.

"It's coming out in the spring,'' he says with an air of resignation. "Though you never know with Miramax - they've held on to a bunch of things, including `All The Pretty Horses.' That movie shot the same time as we shot, and that just came out in theaters.

"I've seen a near-finished product,'' he adds, "but I'm in it too much to be able to say whether it's good or not. It was fun, a lot of fun. I got to be a cowboy and learn how to ride and rope and shoot.

"Plus we hung out in one of the most beautiful places in the world for about two months.''

More recently Van Der Beek completed work on an as-yet-untitled film for acclaimed independent filmmaker Todd Solondz, who rose to fame with the horrifying yet brilliant "Welcome To The Dollhouse'' (1996) and the even darker and funnier "Happiness'' (1998). Set on a college campus, his current film is still shrouded in secrecy.

"It's Todd, it's dark in a way,'' Van Der Beek says cautiously. "Maybe I'm a sick person, but I find it really funny. It's hysterical. I'm excited, you know, just to be a part of it, and to work with Todd.

"It's a little different from anything I've ever done,'' he adds. "If people go in with any expectations based on anything I've done in the past, they'll be pretty surprised.

"I think the `Dawson's' audience is a lot smarter than people give them credit for - most are open-minded enough to like it, yeah.''

As for "Dawson's Creek'' itself, Van Der Beek is amused by the extent to which the show has passed into the pop-culture pantheon, serving as a reference point for other television characters such as Jack (Sean Hayes) of "Will & Grace,'' who regularly despairs about the characters on "the Creek,'' and many other shows that reference the series' trademark wordiness.

"I'm very flattered by it,'' he says, smiling. "Any time another show references you, it's very flattering. `South Park' gave us the power to destroy the world, which I thought was great - I laughed my a-- off. It was hysterical, truly unreal.

"It's just very strange.''