Joshua Jackson Speaks out on ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Revival Hopes

Dawson’s Creek fans who had hoped for a revival might be disappointed by what series star Joshua Jackson had to say about the possibility, which he recently discussed in an interview with Variety. Acknowledging that a reboot of the show with a new young cast may work, the actor, who starred as Pacey Witters on the hit teen drama, wasn’t too keen on revisiting the original characters, including Katie Holmes‘ Joey Potter, in their middle age.

“I don’t know that we need to see Pacey and Joey in their mid-40s,” he said. “The story was told about a group of people at a time and frankly, you probably could have cut the last two seasons out and just kept it in high school because it’s such a particularly beautiful moment — and specific moment — in a bunch of people’s lives.” Jackson continued, “I know what their story is there: it’s beautiful and it’s self-contained and it’s a moment and it’s all those great things. No one needs to see the gritty drama about Pacey and Joey and their marriage 20 years later. I don’t know that you service that old story by telling the story of us getting old and gray and wrinkly and going through a midlife crisis together. I don’t think that adds to the original story.”

Jackson told E!’s Daily Pop that he would give Pacey and Joey a happy ending. “She went to Paris, he followed her, they went and had a beautiful European life for a little while and then ultimately moved home a couple [of] kids later,” he said. “I’m all about marriage and love right now so yeah, I want this story to be a good story.”

Show creator Kevin Williamson painted a different picture to Entertainment Weekly in 2018. “I think Pacey and Joey got married. I think they had a family, I think there were troubles. I think they got a divorce,” he speculated of the pair, who ended up together at the conclusion of the show. “I think that when we meet them they’re in a very dark place. But there’s still something between them that forces them to come together and raise their children. As they seek out happiness with others, they just keep coming back to each other. And they just can’t stop that magical thing that exists between them and that bond they have. I think we would sort of have to watch them fall in love all over again as middle-aged adults.”