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Dawson's Creek
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This week’s Entertainment Weekly cast reunion for the articulate teen romantics from Dawson’s Creek had made for a lot of nostalgia, some great-looking photos, and an illuminating look back at one of the shows that made The WB such a charming footnote in the lives of a generation.
Some of the more surprising and delightful revelations have been about casting and the Dawson’s Creek that might’ve been. Imagine a first season where Dawson’s revolved around Joshua Jackson torn between Selma Blair and Katherine Heigl. And while this could have been the plot for any teen movie released from 1997 until 2002, it’s actually the alternative universe where creator Kevin Williamson went with his first choices for the roles of Dawson, Joey, and Jen.
According to Williamson, the WB balked at Jackson for the Dawson role. “They went, ‘We love this guy — he’s not Dawson.’ And I walked out the door, and I remember I was sitting in the parking lot, and I went, ‘Well, he can be Pacey then. He’s got to be Pacey.'”
Meanwhile, Selma Blair was Williamson’s preferred Joey Potter, until Katie Holmes sent in an unbeatable audition tape. And Katherine Heigl, who had recently starred in the Gerard Depardieu film My Father the Hero, was in line to play new-girl-in-town Jen. Williamson only knew Michelle Williams as the young girl from Species.
Would this have meant that Michelle Williams might’ve gone on to star on Roswell, Grey’s Anatomy, and eventually the feature film Unforgettable? Or that Katherine Heigl would have played Marilyn Monroe in 2011 and gotten a particularly dubious Oscar nomination (plus three others!)? Or that Selma Blair would’ve married Tom Cruise? This sounds like an interesting timeline to visit, if not one you’d want to live in.
