Joshua Jackson and James Van Der Beek have stopped talking about a “complicated” real-life love triangle with their “Dawson’s Creek” co-star Katie Holmes, according to their former cast member.
Kerr Smith, who played Jack McPhee on the hit series, confirmed the long-running romance in her memoir “I Don’t Want to Wait,” released Tuesday.
He dubbed the “rather meta” dynamic of Van Der Beek, Jackson and Holmes — as stars including respective characters Dawson Leery, Pacey Witter and Joey Potter were in a love triangle — the beloved series’ “worst kept secret.”
Kerr, 54, recalls: “These latent tensions had the power to make the air on set feel slightly charged, even on the most ordinary days, in Season 2 and beyond.
“I arrived on the show to find that the tension between James and Josh was already there – low-grade, unspoken, known to everyone,” he continued.
The former soap star, who joined the series in 1998, told readers he didn’t remember witnessing “a single conversation” between Van Der Beek and Jackson.
“They didn’t see each other,” he said. “They didn’t interact off set. It wasn’t dramatic and it didn’t distract from anything that mattered. It was just… a thing that existed.”
Kerr noted that it was a far cry from Van Der Beek and Jackson being roommates and close friends before joining the cast.
By the time Kerr arrived, the duo had “separated, address-wise…and otherwise too”.
Representatives for Holmes, Jackson and Van Der Beek did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Page Six.
Although Holmes and Jackson’s romance, which lasted from 1998 to 1999, is public knowledge, the actress and Van Der Beek have never confirmed a past romance.
The “Varsity Blues” actor, who died in February at age 48, was asked directly in 2024 if he was dating Holmes — and he responded cryptically: “What happens in the creek stays in the creek.” »
A report surfaced in February alleging that he and Holmes were together “for a while,” with a source telling the Daily Mail: “Katie was dating James first. Then she fell in love with Josh. Then she dated Josh, then James and Josh weren’t roommates anymore.”
Jackson and Holmes remained friendly after their split, even reuniting last year to film their comedy-drama “Happy Hours.”
At the time, Holmes made headlines by “liking” comments on social media asking her and her ex to get back together.
When Van Der Beek lost his battle with cancer earlier this year, Holmes paid tribute to him by posting a reflection on Instagram about their “unique youthful adventures.”
She wrote: “Sharing a space with your imagination is sacred – breathing the same air in the land of imagination and trusting that each other’s hearts are safe in their expression. »
Jackson, meanwhile, described the “formative experience” on the “Whine Down” podcast in 2025, confessing that he and his former co-stars had “fuck you and don’t talk to me” moments after the show and didn’t speak for years.
However, he clarified that Van Der Beek’s diagnosis allowed “the whole gang… to reconnect.”
The “Pose” alum is survived by widow Kimberly Van Der Beek and their six children.
Holmes has one child — daughter Suri, 20, with ex Tom Cruise — as does Jackson, who co-parents daughter Juno, 6, with ex Jodie Turner-Smith.
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