'Dawson's Creek' reunion: Kevin Williamson originally planned for Joey to pick Dawson

Entertainment Weekly
The stars of “Dawson’s Creek.” (<span>Getty Images/Handout)</span>
The stars of “Dawson’s Creek.” (Getty Images/Handout)

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At this point, any faithful Dawson’s Creek fan knows that Joey (Katie Holmes) ended up choosing Pacey (Joshua Jackson) over Dawson (James Van Der Beek) in the series finale. But that’s not how creator Kevin Williamson originally envisioned it.

“I was a Dawson/Joey diehard,” says Williamson. “It was always going to be Dawson and Joey. I don’t care how romantic things got between Joey and Pacey. It was going to be Dawson and Joey, always. Until I started writing it. And then once I started, I even wrote it Dawson and Joey.”

He adds, “I remember looking at Julie Plec [Williamson’s producing partner] on the set of 2005’s Cursed, and I remember saying, ‘Julie, what would it be if Pacey and Joey ended up together?’ She started smiling — she wouldn’t give me a yes or a no.”

Remembers Plec, “He had such turmoil about that. So every day when we were supposed to be writing and producing a werewolf movie, we’re sitting and talking about how Dawson’s Creek is supposed to end. I’m pretty sure I was Team Pacey.”

Ultimately, Williamson admits he made the right choice. “I went to the trailer and I started writing it,” he says. “And when I wrote it, I went, ‘Boy, this feels right.’”

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