Dawson's Creek Star Joshua Jackson Advocated for Joey and Pacey as Endgame

As Dawson's Creek was nearing its end, fans speculated about whether Joey (Katie Holmes) would end up with Dawson (James Van Der Beek) or Pacey (Joshua Jackson). Initially, show creator Kevin Williamson planned for Joey and Dawson as endgame, but at the ATX Television Festival in 2015, Williamson told fans, "I changed my mind," and explained his decision to have Joey and Pacey end up together.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Thursday, Jackson took fans behind the scenes of those final weeks on Dawson's Creek, revealing that he intervened to ensure Joey and Pacey's romance survived the threat from Dawson.

"I am the advocate!" said Jackson. "I was like 'Hell no! No. No. No. That's not gonna work for me.' I had a whole conversation with Kevin [Williamson] about this. Like 'Look, I get it. This is the idea that you had in your head, but I'm just gonna ask you to watch the tale of the tape and this is the more interesting end for these characters.'"

At the time, Jackson wasn't sure if his pleas swayed Williamson one way or another, until he received the finale script and learned that his Joey-Pacey campaign was a success.

Jackson's swift move also earned a stamp of approval from Van Der Beek, who admitted that Joey and Pacey's ending was the right choice. "It felt right to me," he told EW in 2018. "It seemed like it made more sense."

Dawson's Creek is currently streaming on HBO Max.

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Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.