‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star Kerr Smith on Feeling ‘Isolated’ After Being Told His Character Was Gay: ‘I Never Felt More Like the Fifth Wheel’

Actor Kerr Smith is reflecting on his time playing Jack McPhee in the hit teen drama Dawson's Creek in a new memoir titled I Don't Want to Wait: My Life on Dawson's Creek, released in the United States on November 10, 2026. According to Variety, Smith opened up about feeling isolated and like the "fifth wheel" after creator Kevin Williamson informed him a few months into the job that his character would be gay. Smith joined the show during its second season in 1998 as a potential love interest for Joey Potter, played by Katie Holmes, before his groundbreaking coming-out storyline.

In the season three finale titled True Love, which aired on May 24, 2000, Jack shared a kiss with Ethan Brody, played by Adam Kaufman. The moment is widely recognized as the first romantic kiss between two men on American primetime network television. Speaking to The Guardian, Smith revealed that he and Kaufman were very nervous and filmed 10 takes of the scene. Co-writer Gina Fattore recalled to Us Weekly in 2020 that network The WB wanted the scene filmed from across the street and worried it was too passionate, while showrunner Greg Berlanti insisted on genuine romantic feeling.

According to PinkNews and YOUR EX, the historic scene and coming-out storyline drew severe backlash, including protests outside the show's Wilmington, North Carolina, studios. Smith recalled to The Guardian that demonstrators yelled outside the stage, and he faced a brick wall separating him from a crowd that was "angry as hell." Smith also revealed in his memoir that around 2001, while filming The Forsaken in Arizona, his car was vandalized with red graffiti and homophobic slurs, an incident he kept to himself for years.

Entertainment Weekly reported that Smith's book also covers behind-the-scenes turmoil, revealing that production temporarily shut down in 1999 during season three. Smith recalled an extra-long Thanksgiving break caused by internal writers' room drama and pushback from actors Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams against a preposterous friends-with-benefits storyline between Pacey and Jen. The memoir features interviews with fellow cast members, crew, network executives, and writers, including tributes to the late James Van Der Beek, who played Dawson Leery.