Kerr Smith had barely settled into Dawson’s Creek when creators changed his character. Jack McPhee, initially introduced as a new love interest for Joey Potter, was about to become one of television’s most recognizable gay teenage characters.
Smith accepted the challenge, but the decision brought a level of public hostility he hadn’t anticipated. In his new memoir, I Don’t Want to Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek, Smith revisits the experience, including the anti-gay protests that took place outside the show’s Wilmington, North Carolina, studio.
“God! I remember those ugly chants,” Smith said via Variety. “I remember hearing them while sitting at the table where we’d have lunch. The cafeteria was right near the front of the stage, separated from the studio gates by a cement wall. I never got threats, and I was mostly operating with blinders on back then, but I wasn’t entirely without my guard up.”
Smith’s account also sheds light on the conversations that led to Jack’s coming-out storyline and the responsibility he felt when taking on the role. The book, released on November 10, includes recollections from creator Kevin Williamson, executive producer Greg Berlanti, and several cast members.
Kerr Smith also recalled the support he received from the Dawson’s Creek cast and crew
Smith also recalled how the cast helped him approach the role without relying on stereotypes. John Wesley Shipp, who played Dawson’s father, advised him to focus on the writing and avoid feeling pressured to explain his own sexuality publicly.
“Even with all the support I got from the cast and crew, hearing those people screaming about Jack and gay people and abomination, it was hard not to feel isolated,” Smith added.
The memoir also revisits another painful experience. While filming The Forsaken in Arizona around 2001, Smith returned to his car to find it covered in red graffiti, including homophobic slurs. He kept the incident private for years before writing about it in the book.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
