Entertainment · Celebrity · 1 hr ago
Kerr Smith recalls Jack McPhee’s coming-out story on Dawson’s Creek
Kerr Smith’s memoir revisits his time on Dawson’s Creek, where he played Jack McPhee for five seasons.
In 1998, creator Kevin Williamson told Smith that Jack’s story would take a different direction and that the character would come out as gay.
Smith says he first worried he was being fired, then asked for time to consult people he trusted before agreeing to the change.
Jack became central to the show’s gay coming-of-age story, which drew protests.
In the third-season finale, Jack kissed Ethan, played by Adam Kaufman.
The scene was the first kiss between two men on US primetime network television, according to the accounts of the show’s history.
Smith recalls that the actors filmed the kiss ten times and were nervous.
His memoir, I Don’t Want to Wait, is due out on November 10, with conversations about the series and its impact.
Kerr Smith says he was asked to play Jack McPhee as a gay character while filming Dawson’s Creek.
Creator Kevin Williamson told Smith the show wanted Jack to make an impact as a gay teen character on prime-time television.
Jack’s storyline made Smith part of what became the first kiss between two men on US prime-time network television.
Smith recounts the experience in his memoir, I Don’t Want to Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek.
The memoir was due to be available on Nov. 10, according to Variety.
- Who
- Actor Kerr Smith, who played Jack McPhee, and Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson.
- What
- Smith recalls being told Jack would come out as gay. The storyline led to a kiss between two men on US prime-time network television.
- When
- Smith says the conversation took place about eight episodes into his run on the show. He joined the series in 1998.
- Where
- The conversation took place at a coffee shop in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.
- Why
- Williamson said the show wanted Jack to make an impact as a gay teen character on prime-time television.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Smith arrived on the set of Dawson’s Creek in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Williamson asked Smith to get coffee and told him the show wanted to take Jack in a different direction.
Jack kissed college prep student Ethan, played by Adam Kaufman.
Smith’s memoir was due to be available, according to Variety.
- Actor
- Kerr Smith
- Character
- Jack McPhee
- Series location
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Memoir
- I Don’t Want to Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek
- Kiss scene
- Jack and Ethan, played by Adam Kaufman
- First
- The kiss was described as the first between two men on US prime-time network television
2 sources
What people are saying
Look, we want this to be Jack. We want to have Jack make an impact as a teen gay character on prime time.
I was so nervous for that kiss,
We did ten takes of it. Ethan was nervous too, no matter what he says now.
I’ve spent the last 25 years of my career trying to re-create that experience,