Kerr Smith has broken his silence on the off-screen rift that divided his “Dawson’s Creek” co-stars for years.
The actor, 54, who played Jack McPhee on the WB drama, details in his new memoir “I Don’t Want to Wait” how James Van Der Beek and Joshua Jackson stopped speaking after a real-life love triangle with Katie Holmes. Smith joined the cast in 1998 and found the tension already entrenched.
“I arrived on the show to find the tension between James and Josh already in place — low-grade, unspoken, known to everyone,” he wrote in the book, published Tuesday.
Smith recalled that the dynamic between Van Der Beek, Jackson and Holmes mirrored their characters’ on-screen triangle so closely that it became the show’s “worst-kept secret.” He dubbed the situation “rather meta.”
“Those simmering tensions had a way of making the on-set air feel slightly charged, even on the most ordinary days, into Season 2 and beyond,” he wrote.
The former soap star said he could not remember seeing Van Der Beek and Jackson exchange a single word.
“They didn’t hang out,” Smith alleged. “They didn’t interact off set. It wasn’t dramatic, and it didn’t get in the way of anything that mattered. It was simply… a thing that existed.”
This marked a sharp turn from their earlier closeness. By the time Smith arrived, Van Der Beek and Jackson had already ended their roommate arrangement. The duo had “gone their separate ways, address-wise … and otherwise too,” Smith noted.
While Holmes and Jackson dated from 1998 to 1999, the actress and Van Der Beek never publicly confirmed a romance. Van Der Beek, who died in February at 48, gave a cryptic response when asked directly in 2024 whether he had dated Holmes.
“What happens in the creek stays in the creek,” he said.
A February report alleged Holmes and Van Der Beek were together “for a bit,” with a source saying, “Katie was first dating James. Then fell in love with Josh. Then was dating Josh, then James and Josh were no longer roommates.”
Holmes honored Van Der Beek after his death from cancer by posting an Instagram reflection on their shared past.
“To share a space with your imagination is sacred — breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each other’s hearts are safe in their expression,” she wrote.
Jackson addressed the fractured relationships on the “Whine Down” podcast in 2025, describing the show as a “formative experience” and admitting he and his former co-stars had “f–k you and don’t talk to me” moments after it ended. They did not speak for years.
However, he clarified that Van Der Beek’s cancer diagnosis brought the “whole gang … reconnected.”
Jackson and Holmes have stayed friendly since their split, even reuniting last year to film their “Happy Hours” dramedy. At the time, Holmes made headlines for “liking” social media comments suggesting she and Jackson rekindle their romance.
Holmes has one child, daughter Suri, 20, with ex-husband Tom Cruise. Jackson co-parents daughter Juno, 6, with ex Jodie Turner-Smith. Van Der Beek is survived by widow Kimberly Van Der Beek and their six children.
Jackson and Holmes are expected to continue promoting their “Happy Hours” project in coming months.