Dawson’s Creek star Kerr Smith opened up about the challenges he faced while playing Jack McPhee. The actor revealed that some experiences while portraying a gay character were “very difficult” to discuss.
Kerr Smith recalls homophobic vandalism during Dawson’s Creek
In his new book, I Don’t Wanna Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek, Smith reflects on difficult moments he faced while filming the show. He recalled having lunch at the studio in Wilmington, North Carolina, when he heard Baptist protesters outside the gates. Smith added that he never received threats but was “mostly operating with blinders on back then.”
In a conversation with PEOPLE, the Final Destination star recalled the incidents he faced while portraying a gay character. He admitted that writing about them was “very difficult.”
He said, “I’ve never talked about incidents that were related to playing a character like Jack that happened to me over the years, but I decided to throw those in [the book].”
Smith recalled another incident from 2001 when he was filming The Forsaken in Yuma, Ariz. He said, “I came out of a casino. I was playing some Hold’em on my day off and my car was completely graffitied with anything you can imagine in terms of homosexuality.” The actor was driving a black Ford Focus at the time, which was covered in graffiti.
He said, “It was crazy. I had to have the guys from Transpo come out and clean it up. And they were nice enough to do that. But it’s things like that, that I had to deal with back then, that were really, really tough.”
In his new book, Smith also recalled feeling isolated despite the support of the cast and crew, including late actor James Van Der Beek, while filming Dawson’s Creek.
His book, I Don’t Wanna Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek, is a memoir that shares behind-the-scenes stories, interviews and experiences from the drama series.
