Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Every RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 runway look, ranked

      Read More Next
    • Spread the love with EW's Valentine's Day gift guide

      Read More Next
    • The Masked Dancer revealed: Every unmasked celebrity on season 1

      Read More Next
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards

    Awards

    See All Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. TV Chevron Right
  3. Actors you didn't know auditioned for Dawson's Creek

Actors you didn't know auditioned for Dawson's Creek

By Breanne L. Heldman
January 20, 2018 at 04:09 PM EST
Meredith has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Meredith may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet

1 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Before Joey and Dawson and Jen and Pacey...

Credit: Columbia TriStar Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson had to audition to star in Scream writer Kevin Williamson's coming-of-age TV drama, Dawson's Creek. Little did they know that it would change their lives and the television landscape forever. Here, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the show's premiere on Jan. 20, 1998, we consider what might've been with a review of the actors who auditioned for the main roles (or have been long-rumored to have auditioned) but didn't make the cut.

1 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Selma Blair

Credit: J. Countess/WireImage

The Cruel Intentions actress was nearly the girl across the creek. "I really loved Selma until, of course, I got the infamous videotape from the basement of the Holmes family in Toledo, Ohio," creator Kevin Williamson told EW. "And when that video showed up, it changed my whole life."

2 of 11

3 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Katherine Heigl

Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images

Katherine Heigl auditioned for Jen Lindley after Steve Miner, who directed the pilot of Creek and Heigl’s 1994 film My Father the Hero, brought her in. Williamson told EW, "She looked slightly older at that time. Even though she was younger, I just think she was more mature. She gave a great audition, I remember we were all sort of like, 'Wow, she's good.'" But then Michelle Williams "walked in and she came across as an angel."

3 of 11

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Credit: Greg Doherty/Getty Images

In December 2017, the Modern Family actor revealed he took a stab at playing Dawson by posting a photo with James Van Der Beek. "Trivia & Fun Facts: One of these guys auditioned for the role of 'Dawson' on Dawson’s Creek and did NOT get the part," he wrote on Instagram.

4 of 11

Advertisement

5 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Charlie Hunnam

Credit: J. Merritt/WireImage

Before starring on Sons of Anarchy, Hunnam tried out for a role on the Creek. He may not have gotten the part, but he did meet his now ex-wife, actress Katharine Towne, at the audition.

5 of 11

6 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Adrian Grenier

Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Before becoming Vinnie Chase on Entourage, Grenier had one heck of an awkward plane ride. "We were both testing for the same role and they sat us next to each other on the plane," James Van Der Beek once recalled to HuffPo.

6 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Adam Brody

Credit: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Entertainment Tonight once asked Brody about his auditions before The O.C. His response? "I can’t remember specifically, but some very early ones — the Power Rangers maybe, definitely Dawson’s Creek. I read with Scott Speedman and I didn’t get it."

7 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Scott Speedman?

Credit: Allen Berezovsky/WireImage

See the previous slide. Adam Brody said it, not us.

8 of 11

Advertisement

9 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Jon Hamm?

Credit: Adam Taylor/Newspix/Getty Images

Could Don Draper have been Mitch Leery? "I was in the wrong rooms when I first got to L.A., because I would go and they would want me to play, like, James Van Der Beek’s dad," Hamm told HuffPost. "And I was like, I think he's older than me, or like, two years younger or something."

9 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Jason Biggs?

Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images

A bunch of sites around the internet just state that Biggs auditioned for the role of Pacey, but none have quotes or anything to back it up. But it felt wrong to not at least mention it here.

10 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

11 of 11

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Joshua Jackson

Credit: Brent N. Clarke/FilmMagic

Obviously, we know he made the cut — as Pacey. But Jackson also auditioned for Dawson. "There was a whole conversation about Josh Jackson being Dawson," Kevin Williamson told THR. "When you go back and look at the script, Dawson was the underdog, the nerd, the video geek. In what high school do you see the video geek being the hot guy? I fell in love with Josh Jackson because he could read any role, Dawson or Pacey. But something wasn't complete and that's when the network said they didn't see Josh as Dawson, and rightfully so. So, I went, 'Okay, he's Pacey,' because I knew I wanted him in the show no matter what."

11 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Breanne L. Heldman

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 11 Before Joey and Dawson and Jen and Pacey...
2 of 11 Selma Blair
3 of 11 Katherine Heigl
4 of 11 Jesse Tyler Ferguson
5 of 11 Charlie Hunnam
6 of 11 Adrian Grenier
7 of 11 Adam Brody
8 of 11 Scott Speedman?
9 of 11 Jon Hamm?
10 of 11 Jason Biggs?
11 of 11 Joshua Jackson

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
EW.com Entertainment Weekly

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
© Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

View image

Actors you didn't know auditioned for Dawson's Creek
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.