More than 25 years after his groundbreaking role on Dawson’s Creek, Kerr Smith still vividly recalls the intense emotions surrounding his portrayal of Jack McPhee — a character who would become a television trailblazer for LGBTQ+ representation.
Speaking on the Pod Meets World podcast, Smith revealed that learning his character was going to come out as gay left him feeling “very, very scared” for his safety.
“Nobody knew. I didn’t know,” he shared. “The WB didn’t know, [Dawson’s Creek studio] Sony didn’t know, none of the producers knew. It was an idea in [creator] Kevin Williamson’s head, that’s it.”
From Uncertainty to Impact
Smith joined the teen drama in Season 2, unaware that his character would later become part of a historic television moment. The storyline shift was unexpected — and confronting.
“It was a real bummer for me, honestly,” he admitted. “I needed to make the right decision here because at that time in 1998, this is a tough one.”
After a few days of reflection and discussions with his team, Smith received a push from co-star John Wesley Shipp.
“He said, ‘Kerr, do it because you will get the best of Kevin Williamson’s writing.’ And he’s right,” Smith said.
The decision paid off dramatically: Jack’s emotional coming out during the Season 2 finale in 1999, followed by the historic same-sex kiss in the 2000 episode True Love, made Dawson’s Creek the first primetime series to feature a kiss between two male teens.
Backlash and Bravery
Filmed in North Carolina, the show’s groundbreaking moments drew fierce backlash.
“We had protests outside the stage yelling and screaming,” Smith recalled. “There was a brick wall that separated me eating my lunch from a crowd of people that were angry as hell. If I had walked out there, they’d probably beat the crap out of me.”
Despite the hostility and fear he experienced at the time, Smith says he has no regrets.
“Now looking back in hindsight, I just want to say this: I’m super, super proud of what we pulled off. The face of television has changed, and I think people’s acceptance of sexuality or whatever it might be is much more broad and open these days.”
A Reunion for a Cause
In September, Smith reunited with his Dawson’s Creek castmates for a special live reading of the show’s pilot episode to raise funds for the F Cancer charity. The reunion followed cast member James Van Der Beek’s announcement that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer.
