Josephine "Joey" Lynn Potter is a fictional character portrayed by Katie Holmes in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.

Fictional biography[link]

Background[link]

Joey has been friends with Dawson Leery since they were very young. She lives with her older sister, Bessie, Bessie's son Alexander and (sometimes) boyfriend, Bodie. Her father, Mike, is in and out of prison for drug trafficking. Her mother, Lillian, died of breast cancer when Joey was thirteen. She was given the name Josephine in honor of Jo March, the heroine from her mother's favorite book, Little Women. Her middle name of Lynn can be seen on her passport shown in season 6. Joey is also the only character from the show to appear in every episode of the series.

Season 1[link]

In season one, Joey is the "girl next door." She is confused by her growth into a teenager and her developing feelings for her longtime best friend Dawson, whom she also admitted is her soulmate. She immediately becomes jealous when Jen Lindley arrives and steals Dawson away from her. She is intimidated by Jen, who grew up in New York, and doesn't know how to compete. She lives with her pregnant sister Bessie, and she works for her at the Ice House---the Potter family restaurant. She is frustrated with having to deal with work and taking care of her sister along with significant helpings of teenage angst. Nonetheless, Joey manages to be helpful with the birth of Bessie's son, Alexander, as does their critical neighbor, Evelyn Ryan. One day she is convinced to compete in the beauty pageant, which she does so that she can win the cash prize. But instead of winning the contest, she wins Dawson's heart, as he finally sees past his best friend image, and realizes that he has strong romantic feelings towards her. At the end of the season, she finds herself with the opportunity of going to Paris for the summer, but rejects it in favor of staying in Capeside with Dawson after her and Dawson kiss.

Season 2[link]

At the start of the season, she and Dawson are a couple and things start out good, but Joey begins to think that she is losing her identity, as she can't see where Dawson ends and she begins. During a full moon, the new guy in town, Jack McPhee, kisses her. Dawson finds out during a school dance. After a huge argument, Joey decides to break up with him, even though for the first time they both say that they love each other. She says that she wants to "find herself," and so she breaks up with him.

Joey and Jack begin dating afterward but the relationship ends just as quickly when Jack realizes that he's gay. Joey's father is released from prison and comes back into her life. At first this change is uneasy, but they heal the rift between them and she gets back together with Dawson. However, Dawson finds out that Joey's father is dealing cocaine. After a fire at the restaurant which was started by rivals of Joey's father, Dawson tells Joey. He convinces her to wear a wire, and get a confession from her father so that nothing like the fire will happen again. She gets the confession from her father and shows him the wire. Knowing that she had betrayed her father, she is understandably heartbroken and angry with Dawson. She breaks up with him and tells him she doesn't even want to know him.

Season 3[link]

After Dawson returns from visiting his mom over the summer, Joey offers herself to him but Dawson rejects her. Joey flees and Dawson asks Pacey Witter to keep an eye on her. As the season progresses, it becomes obvious that Pacey and Joey's friendship evolves into something deeper. Joey has a brief relationship with a college student, A.J. Moller (Robin Dunne). This relationship makes Pacey jealous and forces him to confront his true feelings for Joey. After months of build up, Pacey finally kisses Joey after she confides in him that he and Dawson are the only ones to "have ever known her in a way that no one else does." Joey initially is angry when Pacey kisses her; however, later she comes to realize that she may also have feelings for him, as well.

During a trip to the home of Dawson's aunt, Gwen (Gail's sister), Joey and Pacey confront their feelings for one another. Joey confesses that being around Pacey makes her feel more alive resulting in Pacey kissing her again. Pacey tells Joey she needs to figure out what she wants and leaves. Joey stops him and pulls Pacey into a kiss, having made her choice. After this realization, they begin a secret romantic relationship.

When Dawson finds out about Joey and Pacey's relationship, he is furious, and the friendship between the three is never the same again. Dawson gives Joey an ultimatum- him or Pacey. Joey pulls back from Pacey in an effort to mend his and her friendship with Dawson. Dawson, however, sees Pacey as his enemy and opponent in winning Joey's heart. Dawson tries his best to win Joey back, including throwing an alternative prom with Joey as his date. However, Dawson witnesses Joey and Pacey share a romantic dance before the night is over.

In the season finale, Joey comes to realize that while she's just fearful of losing her oldest friend, Dawson, she has fallen in love with Pacey. With Dawson's urging, Joey rushes off to tell Pacey that she loves him before he departs for a summer at sea on his boat. She joins Pacey on his boat and the two then sail off into the sunset.

Season 4[link]

Joey and Pacey return to Capeside from their summer at sea in the fourth season, and are quickly brought back to reality when they must confront the events of the past year and the subsequent fallout. Joey is eager to mend fences, though Dawson is still hurt by what happened. Pacey's relationship with Dawson never quite recovers, though the two are civil and acknowledge a shared history and group of friends.

Joey and Pacey are chosen "Class Couple" and reaffirm their commitment to their relationship throughout the year, but insecurities threaten to overwhelm them as they begin to look to their futures beyond Capeside. Pacey has returned to academic probation while Joey dreams of admittance to the prestigious Worthington College in Boston. On a ski trip with the senior class, Pacey and Joey finally sleep together for the first time. However, when Dawson questions her, she lies about losing her virginity. Pacey finds out about the lie and is unsettled. He is further disturbed when Joey accepts money from Dawson to attend Worthington.

After Joey returns from New York with Jen, she discovers from Gretchen that Pacey was arrested for public drunkness and that she also believes she may be pregnant. Bessie soon finds out that Joey believes she may be pregnant at Gail's baby shower, and Bessie argues with her about not being ready to have a baby, and having an immature boyfriend who would never cope with a child. Joey later defends herself by saying that whatever happens in her life will be different. Joey later does a test and finds out she is not pregnant, but the situation draws the sisters close together. When Joey finally reaches Pacey on the phone, she lies about the pregnancy scare and is disappointed that Pacey didn't tell her about his arrest.

Pacey soon begins to feel insecure about Joey's success and their relationship despite her insistence that her future lies with him, believes that he isn't good enough for her, and that their futures are worlds apart. At their senior prom, Pacey breaks up with Joey, who is devastated. The season ends with Joey headed to Worthington and Pacey to another summer at sea.

At the end of the season, as Dawson is preparing to leave Capeside for Los Angeles, in a scene reminiscent of Season One's ending, Dawson and Joey share a kiss.

Season 5[link]

In season five, Joey attends Worthington University in Boston, where she meets and befriends her roommate Audrey Liddell. Joey is studying English Literature, and for a time starts seeing her college professor, David Wilder.

She sees Pacey upon his return to Boston and the two share a friendly reunion, but do not interact much for the majority of the season.

Throwing everyone for a loop, Mitch is killed in a car accident leaving Gail, Dawson and baby Lily behind. Having been a witness to her mother's painful last days, Joey thinks that she can help Dawson through the process of grieving for his father. She attends Mitch's funeral, but is rejected when she tries to help Dawson deal with his whirl of emotions. Upon returning to her dorm room in Boston, a crying Joey is comforted by Audrey. While Jen convinces Dawson to go to counseling, Joey catches Jack in a 'bid' to get one of his frat brothers in bed with Audrey during the fraternity's Winter Formal.

Joey later joins the band, Aggressive Mediocrity, as lead singer with Jen's cheating ex, Charlie Todd (Chad Michael Murray). They embark on a whirlwind romance before she tells him to leave to pursue his dream of being a touring musician. She has an unforgettable run-in with a mugger, who luckily for her, gets hit by a car shortly after robbing her at gunpoint. However, when she is requested to be at his side in the hospital, Joey discovers that the mugger is also a drug addict, and has a young daughter, Sammie, with his wife, Grace. When the mugger dies with Joey at his side, she returns to the waiting room, all of her belongings returned, including the money. Thinking of Sammie, whose situation reminds her of the relationship she has with her own father, Joey leaves all the money hidden in Grace's backpack.

At the end of the season she returns to Capeside, and Dawson confesses to her that he wants to be with her. She rejects him saying that all those feelings were in the past, but in the last episode she rushes to the airport, to declare her true feelings for Dawson. She catches him, and they kiss. Joey tells Dawson to go to Los Angeles as that is his destiny, and that they'll meet up after the summer. As she goes to get a refund, she is offered the chance to go to Paris, and the audience is left hanging.

Season 6[link]

In the beginning of the sixth season, it is revealed that Joey didn't end up going to Paris, but went home to Capeside. After not talking all summer, she and Dawson meet up and have a one night stand in her dorm room. The next day it is revealed that Dawson has a girlfriend in California. Joey breaks things off with him. She takes a job as a waitress at Hell's Kitchen, with the help of aspiring drummer, Emma Jones. Joey eventually falls for the bartender, Eddie Doling (Oliver Hudson). They both have a love for writing and literature, but it turns out that he is not officially a student at Worthington, as his family was too poor to afford the tuition.

After Christmas, Eddie disappears without telling Joey, going back to Worcester to live with his parents. In trying to find him, Joey gets some help from Harley Hetson---the 15-year-old, alienated, headstrong daughter of her snobbish and somewhat misogynist English professor, Greg Hetson (Roger Howarth), whom Joey clashes with several times during the entire season. Harley lies, telling Eddie that Joey was pregnant with his child in order to lure him back to Boston.

Joey and Pacey begin to rekindle their romance after sharing a kiss at his apartment. After being locked overnight in a K-Mart together, they discuss their past and current relationship. Each admits that they miss the other. They briefly reunite, but when Eddie reappears in Joey's life, she breaks it off with Pacey (ironically Pacey and Joey break up at another prom).

After Pacey and Dawson have another falling out after Pacey's stocks tank and Dawson loses his entire investment, Joey decides that it's time they worked things out for themselves without her in the middle because it "is not her fight" and that it never has been, and never will be.. After a heart to heart with Pacey on the dock, Joey brings everyone together to help Dawson make his movie. Joey finally goes to Paris and the final episode of the season ends with her standing before the famous Eiffel Tower.

Series finale[link]

The final two episodes are set in the future, approximately five years after the season finale. Joey is revealed to be a junior editor living in New York with her writer boyfriend, Christopher (Jeremy Sisto). During this double episode, the five friends return to Capeside for Gale Leery's third wedding (but second husband). Although she had originally planned to spend the weekend with Christopher, Joey runs scared after finding an engagement ring hidden in the couple's dresser while packing for the trip.

The five friends reunite at Pacey's restaurant to reminisce about the past. Afterwards, Joey drops by Dawson's house and the two reestablish their friendship. During Gale's wedding reception, Joey and Pacey kiss (reigniting still lingering feelings between the two) but the moment is interrupted when Jen suddenly collapses. It is later discovered that Jen has a deadly heart condition.

At the same time, Joey ends her relationship with Christopher and finally chooses between Dawson and Pacey. Though she loves Dawson, she acknowledges that he is her soulmate who is tied to her childhood; a love that is pure and eternally innocent. She also can not deny she is still in love with Pacey. A love so real that has kept her running away from it and never completely ready for it. She has always known Pacey is the one she is meant to be with and after Jen's death, she finally decides to stop running and confront her feelings for Pacey.

In the midst of their romantic entanglements, Joey, Dawson, Jack, and Pacey are all brought together at the Ice House, now owned by Pacey, to say goodbye to Jen, who dies from pulmonary congestion.

In the epilogue, Joey and Pacey watch Dawson's semi-autobiographical television series The Creek in their apartment, before calling up Dawson together where they discover he is going to meet his hero, Steven Spielberg, we also learn that they have renewed their romantic relationship and the series ends with them as a couple living together in New York.

Notable relationships[link]

• Anderson Crawford
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Kiss" (1.03)
    • Broke Up: "Kiss" (1.03)
      • Reason: Didn't continue because she lied about who she was.
• Dawson Leery
  • Boyfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Decisions" (1.13)
      • End: "The Dance" (2.06)
      • Reason: After Jack kisses her she gets confused about who she really is and what she wants
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "A Perfect Wedding" (2.18)
      • End: "Parental Discretion Advised" (2.22)
      • Reason: Dawson convinced her to get her father to confess to a crime that burned down the ice house and his drug use.
    • Third Relationship:Almost (they don't confirm this relationship)
      • Beginning: Coda" (4.23)
      • End: "High Anxiety" (5.06)
      • Reason: Dawsons dad dies and Joey has a difficult time trying to get him to open up. So he goes with Jack to a party where he gets drunk and tells Joey that it was her fault because she convinced him to stay making Mitch go out to clear his head and die in a car accident
    • Fourth Relationship:
      • Beginning: "The Kids Are Alright" (6.01)
      • End: "The Song Remains The Same" (6.02)
      • Reason: After they sleep together she finds out he had a girlfriend
• Jack McPhee
  • Kissed
    • Beginning: "Full Moon Rising" (2.05)
    • Broke Up: "Full Moon Rising" (2.05)
      • Reason: Didn't continue to be a couple because she was still with Dawson.
  • Boyfriend
    • Beginning: "The Reluctant Hero" (2.08)
    • Broke Up: "...That Is The Question" (2.15)
      • Reason: He finds out after reading a poem that he's gay
• A.J. Moller
  • Boyfriend
    • Beginning: "Northern Lights" (3.13)
    • Broke Up: "Cinderella Story" (3.17)
      • Reason: Didn't continue to be a couple because she finds out his best friend loves him and he loves her but not knowing it yet.
• Pacey Witter
  • Kissed
  • "Double Date" (1.10)
    • • Reason: She didn't feel the same way and he knew that she liked Dawson and Dawson liked her even though he was still hung up on Jen
  • Kissed
  • "Cinderella Story" (3.17)
  • "Neverland" (3.18)
    • • Reason: She didn't fully realize that she liked him yet till she talks to Jen but still doesn't tell him till the next episode
  • Boyfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Stolen Kisses" (3.19)
      • End: "The Longest Day" (3.20)
      • Reason: She feels guilty when Dawson finds out about their relationship and ends things with him
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "True Love" (3.23)
      • End: "Promicide" (4.20)
      • Reason: They realize that they are different and it seemed like she had a bright future ahead of her while he felt like he was being left behind.
    • Third Relationship:
      • Beginning: Castaways" (6.15)
      • End: "Love Bites" (6.18)
      • Reason: Eddie comes back.
    • Fourth Relationship:
      • Beginning: ...Must Come To An End" (6.24)
      • Note: Jen tells Joey as her final wish is for Joey to choose between Dawson and Pacey she chooses Pacey.
• Elliot
  • Almost Fling but never kissed
    • Beginning: "Sleeping Arrangements" (5.12)
    • Broke Up: "Guerrilla Filmmaking" (5.14)
      • Reason: After finding out he never slept with Audrey she gives him another second chance. But she later bails on a date with him to go to a thing with Wilder who she later kissed and the next day tells him she cant go out with him off-screen.
• David Wilder
  • Kissed/Almost Fling
    • Beginning: "Something Wilder" (5.13)
    • Broke Up: "In A Lonely Place" (5.16)
      • Reason: Joey inadvertently stands David up after getting mugged. This gives him the time to reflect upon the relationship and he realizes that he can't have an affair with a student.
• Charlie Todd
  • Kissed
    • Beginning: "Something wild" (5.11)
    • Broke Up: "Something wild" (5.11)
      • Reason: Because he cheated on Jen.
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "100 Light Years From Home" (5.19)
    • Broke Up: "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (5.20)
      • Reason: She tells him to go off and fulfill his dream of being a musician
• Eddie Doling
  • Boyfriend
    • First Relationship:
    • Beginning: "Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell" (6.07)
    • Broke Up: "Rock Bottom" (6.13)
      • Reason: He left without telling her
    • Second Relationship:
    • Beginning: "Love Bites" (6.18)
    • Broke Up: "Catch-22" (6.20)
      • Reason: They didn't see a future with each other
• Christopher
  • Boyfriend
    • Beginning: About a year or two before "All Good Things..." (6.23)
    • End: "...Must Come To An End" (6.24)
      • Reason: Joey breaks up with him over the phone after having found a ring in his drawer back in New York.

Holmes' thoughts on Joey Potter[link]

"I'm a lot like Joey", said Holmes. "I think they saw that. I come from a small town. I was a tomboy. Joey tries to be articulate and deny that she doesn't have a lot of experience in life. Her life parallels mine, which is all about new everything—relationships, personal perceptions—and about being guarded." Holmes filmed the pilot of Dawson's Creek in Wilmington, North Carolina, during spring break of her senior year of high school in 1997.^[1] When the show was picked up by The WB, Holmes moved to Wilmington, where the show filmed.^{[citation needed]}

Dawson's Creek ran from 1998 to 2003, and Holmes was the only actor to appear in all 128 episodes. "It was very difficult for me to leave Wilmington, to have my little glass bubble burst and move on. I hate change. On the other hand it was refreshing to play someone else", she said in 2004.^[2] Holmes confirmed that, as often happens on soaps, the character was a caricature of the actor:

Reception[link]

"Joey Potter is a headstrong, vibrant, wily, sultry, and determined go-getter. And yet, in a gloriously contradictory manner, in spite of her tough-as-nails exterior demeanor, Joey's also a frail, sometimes uncertain, emotionally sensitive, in-need-of-love person", said the show's official book.^[4] Joey, named for Jo in Little Women, for years had been climbing in Dawson's bedroom window and platonically sharing his bed. Joey's mother had died from cancer when Joey was thirteen and her father, Mike (Gareth Williams), was in prison for "conspiracy to traffic in marijuana in excess of 10,000 pounds." Her harried, unmarried, and very pregnant sister, Bessie (Nina Repeta), about ten years older than Joey,^{[n 1]} was raising her while running the Ice House restaurant, where Joey worked as a waitress. GQ described Joey as "kind of an uptight fussbudget—one who's always twisted up over doing the right thing and bungling-up ways to hook up with her crush and across the creek neighbor, Dawson."^[5]

The 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall^[5][6] brunette enchanted the press, writers of both sexes commenting how Holmes was the sort of girl one wants to bring home to meet the parents and to marry.^[7][5] "The Audrey Hepburn of her generation", was one typical comment.^[8] Time called her "impossibly lovely" and Entertainment Weekly said she was "next up for idolhood."^[9][10] Variety, reviewing the pilot, said Holmes "is a confident young performer who delivers her lines with slyness and conviction."^[11] Holmes made such an impression in Hollywood, The New York Times Magazine claimed everyone was seeking to cast a "Katie Holmes type", who, the reporter claimed, "is a throwback to the 1950s: she is a smart girl next door (as opposed to the babe-o-rama blondes)"—the sort represented by her Dawson's Creek co-star Michelle Williams.^[12] But her "type" was no less attractive, Arena magazine declaring her "the most coquettishly sexy woman on television. Anywhere."^[13]

Holmes was soon on the covers of magazines such as Seventeen, TV Guide, and Rolling Stone. Jancee Dunn, an editor at Rolling Stone said she was chosen for the cover because "every time you mention Dawson's Creek you tend to get a lot of dolphin-like shrieks from teenage girls. The fact that she is drop-dead gorgeous didn't hurt either."^[14]

Reviews were mixed. The Blade said the characters "just talk like they came from a planet ruled by Manhattan psychologists, one where small talk is punishable by death."^[15] Holmes herself needed help with the dialogue. "Sometimes before we read a script, I have to get my dictionary and call people to make sure I'm pronouncing some of the words correctly."^[16] The show brought her national attention and many fans back home; Toledo's Thanksgiving Day parade in November 1998 had record attendance when Holmes was named grand marshal.^[17][18]

"As Joey", said Life magazine, "Holmes has had seismic influences on teen life... Through it all, Joey has managed to hang on to her integrity... The show—and Katie's character in particular—has touched a nerve."^[19]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Dawson's Creek, Season 2, confirmed Bessie was in high school when Joey was in kindergarten

References[link]

Dawson Wade Leery is the central fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television drama Dawson's Creek. The character is portrayed by American actor James Van Der Beek.

Fictional biography[link]

Background[link]

Dawson is the first child and only son of Mitch Leery and his college sweetheart, Gail Leery. He was born on March 14, 1983. His three best friends are Joey Potter, the girl across the creek, whom he considers his soulmate, Pacey Witter, Capeside High's class clown, and Jen Lindley, the new girl in town. When the McPhee family arrive in town at the beginning of Season 2, Dawson gains two new friends, Andie McPhee and her brother Jack McPhee. Dawson is joined by a sister, Lily, who is born when he is 18.

Season 1[link]

An eternal optimist (at least originally), Dawson believes in the good old fashioned values of romance and honesty, and he also believes that you can find all of life's answers in a Steven Spielberg film. He was a keen filmmaker and made several low cost and amateur films, which were entered into film festivals across the country, and in some festivals his films won top prize. He and long-time friend Joey Potter spend much of their time together, often sleeping in Dawson's bed together. However, their relationship complicates as they age and especially with the arrival of New York exile Jen Lindley, who moves in next door to Dawson. He enters into his first relationship with her, but after her ex visits, she dumps him, insisting she needs time for herself.

After this, a series of events causes him to see life-long friend Joey in a whole new light. First, his wise-cracking best friend Pacey Witter asks for Dawson's permission to ask Joey out. Dawson responds jealously. Later, he sees Joey looking sophisticated and mature for a Beauty Pageant, which opens his eyes to her beauty. Finally, he joins Joey on a birthday visit to her father in prison and tells Mike Potter all about the daughter he doesn't know. While Joey wrestles with the idea of spending a year in France, Dawson realizes that he can no longer hold back his romantic feelings towards her. The season ends with Dawson and Joey kissing in front of his bedroom window.

Season 2[link]

Although initially Dawson and Joey have smooth sailing, newcomer Jack McPhee comes to town and develops feelings for Joey, eventually kissing her. The kiss confuses Joey, who is struggling to find a passion in life. She dumps Dawson in an effort to find herself, but ends up quickly dating Jack. This sends Dawson back into the arms of Jen, who has been flirting with her old rebellious ways, and helps Dawson cut loose. All along, Dawson mopes over the loss of Joey, even making a movie recounting their breakup.

When Joey's relationship with Jack crumbles due to the revelation that he is homosexual, she comes literally crying to Dawson. For his sixteenth birthday, Dawson feels depressed that he hasn't grown and wasn't able to keep Joey, so he gets drunk with Andie McPhee. This results in him insulting nearly all of his friends, including Pacey, of whom Dawson is envious for his newly together life. Soon Dawson and Joey end up back together. However, their reconciliation is short-lived, as Dawson soon learns that Joey's father, who has gotten paroled from jail, is selling drugs again. Dawson urges Joey to wear a wire to bust her father. After this, Joey vows that she will never forgive Dawson for the position he put her in.

Season 3[link]

After a summer spent with his mom in Philadelphia, Dawson returns to Capeside still reeling from his split with Joey. On the bus ride home, he meets Eve, a mysterious, blonde femme fatale that seems intent upon luring Dawson with her sex appeal. After make out scenes in the janitor's closet and in front of the entire school at a pep rally, Eve convinces Dawson to go for a ride in his dad's boat. He does, but wrecks it on the way in and is told he must pay $3,000 to repair the damage to the dock he crashed into. Pacey then convinces Dawson to throw a stripper party at his parents' house to earn the money to pay for the dock. Although they successfully gather enough money, Mitch catches everyone leaving the house and Dawson knows he's in trouble.

In the meantime, Dawson finds Eve snooping around in Grams's house one night. Before he had realized that it was Eve he had called the police and it is Deputy Doug that turns up on the scene. He brushes it off afterwards, not wanting to get Eve in trouble. He later discovers an old photograph of a blonde lady in the house-boat that Eve has been living in, which he takes. Doug informs Dawson that the boat belongs to an elderly couple.

When Eve later comes for the photo he insists that Eve tell the truth. Eve reveals that she is adopted and that the woman in the picture is her biological mother and that she is searching for her. While helping Grams at her house, Dawson notices the same woman in a picture sitting on a nightstand. He asks who the woman is and Grams reveals that it's her daughter, Helen, Jen's mother. Dawson decides against telling Jen of his discovery. However, when Jen's mother visits her mother and her daughter at Thanksgiving Dawson confronts her, pretty much forcing her to tell Jen herself.

When Dawson, Pacey and Joey join Jack and his ex-girlfriend Kate at a party hosted by Matt Caufield, the entire group, except Joey, gets drunk. Dawson, fighting to have a life separate from Joey's, nearly kisses Kate. When Pacey's brother, Deputy Doug busts the party after finding Pacey lying in a tree, the group all end up spending the remainder of the evening behind bars. While Dawson tells Joey that she cannot be his keeper, Jack confesses to Kate that he's gay. Meanwhile, Mitch turns from friend to parent, and as a result of having to bail his son out of jail, enlists Dawson to help out at his mother's new restaurant.

After meeting a rival film-maker, Dawson realizes that he has let his desire to become a director overtake his life, and he decides to give it up for a period of time. He takes down all the posters in his room, and tries to cultivate other interests. During this tumultuous time, he realizes that the only thing in his life that has ever made sense is Joey, and determines to win her back.

Little does he know, however, that Joey and Pacey have been growing closer and eventually embark on a secret romance. When he discovers their relationship, Dawson reacts with anger, and cuts Pacey out of his life. He is more determined than ever to win Joey back. Joey and Dawson go together to the Prom, but when Dawson sees Joey sharing a dance with Pacey, he is enraged and demands Joey choose. Eventually he realizes that Joey wants to be with Pacey, and gives her his blessing. She leaves him on the pier, sobbing.

Season 4[link]

Dawson discovered in the previous season that his best friend, Pacey, has feelings for Joey. After saving Pacey and Jen from a storm at sea, Dawson is forced to white wash a fence for old-time film director A.I. Brooks, as punishment for putting a hole in his boat which Dawson was forced to take to rescue Pacey and Jen. Eventually, Mr. Brooks warms to Dawson and lets him film a documentary on him when he tells Dawson that he is dying of cancer.

In the meantime, he is confronted with the idea of Pacey and Joey as a couple. While they experiment with sex during the class ski trip, Dawson must make a life-or-death decision about Mr. Brooks when he's admitted to the hospital in a coma involving his terminal illness and has requested that Dawson be the one to take him off life support. Dawson chooses to let him go. When Dawson asks Joey if she slept with Pacey during the ski trip, she lies, telling him that nothing happened.

During this season, Dawson strikes up a romance with Gretchen, Pacey's 21-year-old sister, who has arrived back to Capeside to take a break from college, or so everyone thinks, but she later reveals that she is there to recuperate from a miscarriage that took place during her previous semester. The baby's father was her ex-boyfriend, pig-headed Nick, whom Pacey admired at first. During the Leery Christmas Party, Dawson and Gretchen share a kiss, which ignites old feelings from his pre-teen years when he had a crush on her.

After his sister Lily's birth in May 2001, Dawson and Gretchen part ways and she returns to college, and he graduates from high school and heads off to USC to pursue his dream of becoming a film maker.

Season 5[link]

After graduating, he studied film at Southern California, but soon dropped out and moved to Boston to be with his friends and to be with Joey. Before Dawson can even get his parents approval for moving to Boston his father Mitch Leery is tragically killed in a car accident. This changes everything for Dawson. At first he blames himself but then he goes on to blame Joey and that puts all romantic possibilities for them out of the picture. Instead Dawson is reunited with his old girlfriend, Jen Lindley.

During their trip to the Hookset Film Festival in New Hampshire, Dawson loses his virginity to Jen. It is at this festival that Dawson wins first prize for his documentary about A.I. Brooks. There, Dawson meets Oliver Churchkirk, an aspiring film director from Boston Bay College who fancies himself the best in the business. After being asked to read his script, Dawson agrees to direct Oliver's first major film. He casts Joey's bubbly roommate Audrey Liddell as the female lead, and Oliver casts himself as heartbreaker, Gage. After several flubbed lines and mistakes, Dawson concludes that Oliver is not the right person for the role. He then asks Jen to bring in her cheating ex-boyfriend, Charlie Todd, to play the part. Charlie agrees when Jen tells him that he gets "to make out with a really hot girl."

In the meantime, while Dawson and Oliver journey to New Jersey for a meeting with a film agent, the rest of the gang takes to the beaches of Florida for spring break; Pacey is hit on by Norwegian singer Marion Raven while working on his relationship with Audrey, while as Dawson later discovers, Joey embarks on a spring fling with Charlie Todd. Following his heart, Dawson hijacks the car with Oliver and drives down to Florida to tell Joey that he loves her. To Dawson's disappointment, Pacey tells him that Joey is with Charlie.

When their film is finished, Dawson learns that Oliver set up to have the film screened by cast, crew and friends. When Dawson finally agrees, he discovers that Oliver also invited a film critic, Amy Lloyd, who writes for The Boston Weekly. Dawson, not knowing who she is, stumbles upon Amy in the midst of a nasty break-up and tells her that she is a "sentimental drama queen with really crappy taste in movies." Angry, Amy leaves, unwilling to review the movie. In order to get her back to the auditorium, Dawson makes out with Amy at a local coffee shop in order to prevent her ex-boyfriend from seeing her; it turns out the man she was trying to avoid was not her ex-boyfriend. After running into Amy at a movie theatre in Boston, Dawson's spends the night at Amy's house and the two make love. He spends the remainder of the next day with her as well.

After a misunderstanding with Joey, Dawson heads to the airport to fly to Los Angeles. Joey confronts him about the way things ended between them just days prior. The two kiss goodbye and Dawson departs for California.

Season 6[link]

After not talking all summer, Dawson has a one night stand with Joey. The next morning Dawson receives a call from his girlfriend in L.A. leading him and Joey to fight. Dawson returns to California.

After breaking things off with Joey, Dawson reunites with Hollywood actress, Natasha; she is presumed to be a few years his senior. In the meantime, when Joey shows up to deliver food to the movie set at which Dawson works, Natasha, drunk and angry, explodes on Joey; subsequently, the director, Todd Carr, fires Dawson. Realizing she made a mistake, Natasha helps Dawson get his job back.

Dawson pays a visit to Audrey in rehab, earning her dish duty for the night, after stalking one-time film director Toni Stark. He returns to L.A. only to discover that Todd, his new mentor and friend, is in disagreements with the film company that is paying him to make the movie, "Wicked Dead". While Todd quickly decides to discard Natasha from the leading role, Dawson convinces him otherwise. Dawson directs the re-shoots of the movie, but even so, the movie flops, going to straight to cable TV.

After realizing they have tickets for the wrong night of a No Doubt Concert in Worcester, Natasha uses her "assets" to get herself and Dawson admittance into the venue. When this fails, Dawson shows off his newly-won $600, hoping someone will trade tickets with him. However, this only attracts an on-duty police officer who takes the duo to a nearby station. They are let go with a warning from the authorities.

After a few months and some white lies, Dawson assumes that Natasha is having an affair with Todd. But his worries turn out to be all for nothing when two reveal their affair is a scam, and they were simpling messing with Dawson. Natasha and Dawson reunite and he brings her to Capeside for Christmas. Knowing that she cheated on him with a fellow actor (Max Winter), Dawson questions Natasha's intentions, to which she becomes angry. Realizing that he's not in love with Natasha, he breaks up with her, and the two part on good terms as Natasha returns to Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Dawson's relationship with Pacey is better than it has been since the triangle began in the third season. Trusting Pacey to make his film savings grow, Dawson puts all the money he earned into a stock Pacey recommends. However, the stock falls through and both Dawson and Pacey are left with nothing. As a result, the two, once again, vow to no longer be friends. Joey, who is always caught in the middle, tries her best to reunite her friends. Pacey gives Dawson all the money he'd collected (but not all that was owed). Dawson concedes that there may be hope for the two of them.

With Audrey playing the role of Ms. Jacobs, Harley as Joey and her boyfriend Patrick as the girl-crazed 15-year-old Pacey, Dawson, with Joey's and Todd's help, begins filming his lifestory, adapted for the big screen.

Series finale[link]

In 2008, Dawson is the executive producer and chief writer of the television program The Creek, a self-referential coming-of-age teen drama based on his adolescence in Capeside. While a young blonde boy portrays Dawson himself under the name "Colby", his two best friends appear as the neurotic "Sam" and heartbreaker "Petey." Returning to Capeside for his mother's wedding, Dawson learns that Jen is dying. Dawson helps Jen leave a video message for her young daughter Amy, and he and Joey reconcile their past agreeing that they are meant to be best friends and nothing more.

Kevin Williamson discussed the original ending of Dawson's Creek, stating the pairing was meant to be Joey and Dawson, but the two showed to be better as friends. The series ends with Dawson in his office who receives a call from Pacey and Joey, congratulating him on the season finale episode of The Creek. Dawson tells them that he's going to meet with somebody tomorrow, whom Pacey and Joey are able to guess is Steven Spielberg, Dawson's idol.

Notable relationships[link]

• Jen Lindley
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Kiss" (1.03)
      • End: "Boyfriend" (1.08)
        • Reason: Jen breaks up with him when her ex-boyfriend comes into town.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Hotel New Hampshire" (5.08)
      • End: "Highway To Hell" (5.17)
        • Reason: They both didn't really feel anything romantic for each other anymore.
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "High Risk Behavior" (2.10)
    • End: "Sex, She Wrote" (2.11)
      • Reason: They almost had sex, but didn't go through with it.
• Joey Potter
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Decisions" (1.13)
      • End: "The Dance" (2.06)
      • Reason: Joey broke up with him because she wanted to see if she could be her own person without him.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "A Perfect Wedding" (2.18)
      • End: "Parental Discretion Advised" (2.22)
        • Reason: Dawson made Joey turn in her dad to the police by wearing a wire and Joey broke up with Dawson because of it.
    • Almost Third Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Coda" (4.23)
      • End: "High Anxiety" (5.06)
        • Reason: They had thought about getting back together in this time, but after Dawson's dad died, he blamed Joey for it and they realized that it wasn't the right time to try for a relationship.
    • Fourth Relationship: (One Night Stand)
      • Beginning: "The Kid's Are Alright" (6.01)
      • End: "The Song Remains The Same" (6.02)
        • Reason: Joey found out that Dawson had a girlfriend in California that he only broke-up with the morning after they slept together. The possibility of a relationship ended after that.
• Eve
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Like A Virgin" (3.01)
    • End: "None Of The Above" (3.03)
      • Reason: Dawson realizes how manipulative she is and breaks it off, and she leaves town after that.
• Gretchen Witter
  • Girlfriend
    • Beginning: "The Tao of Dawson" (4.11)
    • End: "Promicide" (4.20)
      • Reason: Gretchen breaks up with him because she doesn't see a future with him and she believe he's not over Joey.
• Natasha
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: Between "Swan Song" (5.23) and "The Kids Are Alright" (6.01)
      • End: "The Kids Are Alright" (6.01)
        • Reason: Dawson breaks up with her over the phone after having slept with Joey the night before.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Spiderwebs" (6.08)
      • End: "Merry Mayhem" (6.10)
        • Reason: Natasha broke it off because she never really saw them going far, and it was more of a fling for her.

Pacey J. Witter is a fictional character on the American television series Dawson's Creek, portrayed by actor Joshua Jackson.

Fictional biography[link]

Background[link]

Pacey Witter is the son of the local chief of police John Witter and is the youngest of five children, including his older policeman brother, Doug Witter, and older sisters Gretchen and Kerry Witter (the third older sister was never named or ever seen). He is an academic underachiever who uses humor and sarcasm to relate to people, as well as to hide his emotional pain stemming from his very unhappy childhood. Because of Pacey's underachiever status in school and lack of common sense, he is branded by his uneducated, working-class family as their "great disappointment", or "great embarrassment". Both of his parents frequently call him a loser right in front of him, which has led to his very low self-esteem. Pacey's father is also an alcoholic and a domestic abuser, who either ignores or bullies Pacey every chance he gets. Pacey's best friend is Dawson Leery, and he appears in a few of Dawson's early films. Pacey is a romantic at heart, seeking from women the love and affection that he never receives from his parents. Some of Pacey's romantic interests were Tamara Jacobs (Season 1), Andie McPhee (Season 2), Audrey Liddel (Season 5), and Joey Potter, his true love.

Season 1[link]

In season one, Pacey falls in love with and loses his virginity to his English teacher, Tamara Jacobs (Leann Hunley). Unfortunately for Pacey, Dawson had accidentally filmed Pacey's first time with Ms. Jacobs during a getaway to the ruins with Jen Lindley. When Pacey relays the details of his sexual encounter with Ms. Jacobs to Dawson in a school bathroom, the conversation is overheard by another boy smoking marijuana in the next stall over. Rumors quickly begin to spread about the nature of Pacey's relationship with the 36-year-old teacher. The ensuing scandal eventually forced Ms. Jacobs to break up with Pacey and leave town.

The gang lands themselves in Saturday detention for eight hours with the annoying librarian and class trouble maker, Abby Morgan. While Dawson reveals that he's in for breaking Pacey's nose with a basketball, Joey for slugging Grant Bodine, a senior who was sexually harassing her, and Jen for swearing in class, it is not revealed until later that Abby was only in for class tardiness (although she said she was in for having an orgy on the floor of the boy's bathroom) and Pacey finally reveals that he was caught masturbating by a male teacher.

Forced to do a biology project together Pacey and Joey spend the whole day together. Pacey feels some sort of a romantic interest in Joey. He realized that maybe he could like her, but when he asks Dawson if he can ask Joey out, it forces Dawson to assess his own feelings toward Joey. Pacey asks Joey out and kisses her, but Joey swiftly turns him down. Pacey also comically enters a beauty pageant and performs a skit from Braveheart.

Season 2[link]

In season two, Pacey goes through a radical change when he starts dating Andie McPhee, an academic overachiever who tries to help Pacey reform his study habits. She succeeds and Pacey begins to do well in school, even achieving his first-ever A. But Andie begins to suffer some psychological problems, which are due to the death of her eldest brother Tim, and the effect that it has on her family. This affects her relationship with Pacey. She suffers a nervous breakdown when she begins to hallucinate that she is seeing her deceased brother, and takes a leave of absence for a stay in a mental health facility. Pacey misses her terribly and when his abrasive father makes a rude and snide comment about Andie being crazy, he hits him.

In season 2, we see more of the strained relationship Pacey has with his neglectful and alcoholic father, and the effect Andie has on that relationship. Near the end of the season, Andie tells Pacey's father over the phone to give Pacey a hug for her, and his father does. This ultimately leads to a touching moment — it seems that they have put their past behind them and, for the first time on screen, Pacey looks for some support from his father and actually gets it.

Along with Andie, Pacey feels like he must protect her brother Jack. This is highlighted when Jack is forced to read a very personal poem in front of the class which reveals that Jack is possibly gay, and Pacey spits in the teacher's face.

Season 3[link]

In season three, Pacey agrees to look after Joey Potter as a favor to Dawson as he says that he won't be around to look after Joey. He also breaks up with Andie due to her cheating on him with another patient while in treatment for her mental illness. He attempts a "friends with benefits" relationship with Jen which does not work out.

He buys and restores a wrecked boat, occupying himself with the project to get over Andie, in addition to looking after Joey. He gets into a fight with a bully who admits to vandalizing a mural Joey paints for the school. For Pacey's punishment, the principal has him participate in a program which requires him to act as a mentor for a young, neglected boy with a similarly rebellious attitude.

As the season progresses, Pacey's feelings for Joey begin to deepen. In the episode, "A Weekend in the Country" the scene is set up where Jen's grandmother tells a story that you know you are in love when you can watch the person all night while asleep in front of the fire. At the end of the episode Pacey comes upon Joey asleep in front of the fire and he sits down to watch her. Conflicted of his feelings for Joey, Pacey continues to be there for her whether it is teaching her how to drive, organizing a student protest, or renting a wall for her next mural. He eventually acts on these feelings and kisses Joey in "A Cinderella Story".

Despite her concerns about Dawson and Andie's feelings, Joey finally gives into her feelings for Pacey during a weekend away from Capeside in "Stolen Kisses". Pacey and Dawson's friendship is ruined when Dawson learns of Pacey and Joey's relationship in the episode "The Longest Day". A romantic triangle develops between Joey, Pacey, and Dawson.

Joey decides that she needs some space and time to figure out her heart. At the end of the season, Pacey decides to leave Capeside and spend the summer sailing, but not before making one last grand gesture to Joey. Realizing that she is in love with Pacey, Joey races to meet him before he sets sail. Pacey and Joey then leave Capeside for the summer on his boat, True Love.

Season 4[link]

In season four, Pacey and Joey return from their summer at sea very much in love. At this point it seems that Pacey's relationship with Dawson has been irrevocably altered.

Pacey's older sister, Gretchen, returns to Capeside from college and they move in together into a beach house that Gretchen leases. Pacey and Joey adjust to life back in Capeside as a couple. Pacey continues to struggle with school as he and Joey ponder their futures beyond Capeside.

Throughout the majority of the season Pacey and Joey re-affirm their commitment to one another and are chosen "Class Couple". On the senior class ski trip, Pacey and Joey eventually consummate their relationship. Pacey is later hurt to learn that Joey lies to Dawson about this at first, though she eventually tells him the truth.

Towards the end of the season, Pacey and Joey begin having difficulties stemming from the future beyond high school. Believing that he's holding Joey back and growing frustrated with himself and what he sees as his lack of prospects beyond high school, Pacey eventually breaks up with Joey at the senior prom. Despite their strong feelings for each other, both sadly go their separate ways for now. The season ends with Pacey graduating high school and taking a job on a yacht and leaving Capeside once again.

Season 5[link]

In season five, after working as a deck hand on a yacht all summer following graduation from high school, Pacey settles in Boston and takes a job working as a chef in a fancy restaurant, Civilization, which was set up by his brother Doug. When Jen discovers that he's in town Pacey asks her not to tell anyone of his whereabouts, but Joey sees him at the restaurant. They share a sweet reunion on Pacey's boat, but there is little contact between the characters throughout the season.

Pacey has a relationship with one of the waitresses of Civilization, Karen Torres. This turns out to be problematic because she is having an affair with the head chef, Danny, a married man that Pacey admires as his mentor. He also tries to help out Dawson, who is in a bad emotional state, as Mitch Leery died in the beginning of the season. He and Audrey Liddell (Joey's roommate) become interested in each other and quickly embark on a physical relationship.

During the gang's spring break trip to Florida, Audrey and Pacey decide to make their relationship official. Pacey's mentor, Danny, leaves Civilization (the restaurant) and a new manager, Alexandra Pearl (Sherilyn Fenn), takes over. Alex so alienated the rest of the restaurant staff that Pacey leads a walk-out en masse during a meeting with local investors to protest Alex's management policies. As a result, the restaurant is shut down and both Pacey and Alex are fired.

At the end of the season, Pacey goes back to Capeside, and picks up a job as a security guard at the Capeside Yacht Club for the summer, but he quits that to go in pursuit of Audrey. At the airport, after failing to contact her via the customer service phone, Pacey convinces a security officer to allow him to use the intercom to get to Audrey. He eventually convinces her to take him back and the two drive cross-country to Audrey's home in L.A.

Season 6[link]

In the sixth and final season, Pacey finds financial success as a stockbroker in a small stock trading firm in Boston which was set up by Audrey's father. Audrey breaks things off with him as his new job has a dramatic effect on his lifestyle, which clashes with hers.

Soon after, Pacey admits that he is not completely over Joey. They share a kiss following a party at Pacey's apartment and in a later episode both are marooned overnight in a K-Mart. Being locked in together overnight, the situation forces the two to discuss their past (and current) relationship, with both admitting that they miss the other. They attempt a reconciliation, but Joey ends things when her recent ex-boyfriend, Eddie, suddenly reappears.

Afterwards, Pacey somewhat makes amends with his estranged father when he visits him in Capeside after learning that his father suffered a mild heart attack. With Pacey's father too sick to work anymore because of multiple health problems from his life-long alcoholism, Pacey's brother, Doug, takes over as acting police chief of Capeside, and later full-time police chief.

While working as a stockbroker, Pacey clashes several times with his slick, arrogant boss, Rich Renaldi (Dana Ashbrook). Pacey and Joey briefly reunite in the latter part of the season. Pacey then loses his job following an physical argument with his boss over a significant financial loss from a bio-tech stock bust. Unfortunately, this stock bust also loses a significant amount of money for Dawson who had invested in the stock. The two have a serious argument regarding the money, the past and Joey.

Pacey returns to Capeside to look for a new job and moves in with Doug, and in the meantime, he gathers what money he can with the to pay Dawson back at least some of the money he's lost. He and Dawson are eventually forced to work out their issues after Joey tricks them into meeting up before leaving town.

Series finale[link]

Five years later, a 25-year-old Pacey is now the proprietor of the Icehouse, a successful restaurant in Capeside bearing the same name as the one Joey's family used to operate. When everyone returns to Capeside for Gale Leery's wedding, sparks fly between Pacey and Joey, but their reunion is interrupted when they discover that Jen is dying. The two spend time together in Capeside while Jen is hospitalized. Following Jen's death, they admit that things have kept them apart over the years, but they realize that they're still in love with each other. The series ends with Pacey and Joey romantically together watching the season finale episode of Dawson's television series, The Creek, which is based on their childhood in Capeside.

Notable relationships[link]

• Tamara Jacobs
  • Kissed
    • "Pilot" (1.01)
      • Reason: After Pacey got punched by Tamara's date at the movie theater, they're talking on the dock and he tells her he's the best she'll never have and she gives in and kisses him.
  • Affair/Girlfriend
    • Beginning: "Kiss" (1.03)
    • End: "Baby" (1.06)
      • Reason: After Pacey talked about his relationship with Tamara in the bathroom at school, a student overhears in a stall and their relationship comes out to the whole town, but Pacey lies and says he made the whole thing up, but she chooses to leave town to deal with her issues and because her reputation as a teacher has been sullied.
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Tamara's Return" (2.04)
    • End: "Tamara's Return" (2.04)
      • Reason: She leaves town again.
• Andie McPhee
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "The Dance" (2.06)
      • End: "Homecoming" (3.02)
        • Reason: She cheated on him.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Secrets and Lies" (3.06)
      • End: "Secrets and Lies" (3.06)
        • Reason: Pacey realized that she wasn't the one for him and he wasn't the one for her.
• Jen Lindley
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Escape From Witch Island" (3.07)
    • End: "Four To Tango" (3.09)
      • Reason: They both realized that there was nothing between them.
• Joey Potter
  • Kissed
    • "Double Date" (1.10)
      • Reason: He was attracted to her, but she didn't feel the same way, and he knew she was still hung up on Dawson anyway.
  • Kissed
    • "Cinderella Story" (3.17)
    • "Neverland" (3.18)
      • Reason: Pacey fell in love with Joey while she hadn't realized it yet. At the end of the weekend they reluctantly agreed it was a mistake and to just be friends.
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Stolen Kisses" (3.19)
      • End: "The Longest Day" (3.20)
        • Reason: When Dawson finds out about them, Joey feels that the only way she can save her friendship with Dawson is to not be with Pacey, so she breaks it off with him.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "True Love" (3.23)
      • End: "Promicide" (4.20)
        • Reason: Pacey breaks up with Joey because he feels that she deserves better than him and that he is holding her back from living her life to the fullest.
    • Third Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Clean & Sober" (6.14)
      • End: "Love Bites" (6.18)
        • Reason: They toy with the idea of getting back together in these episodes, but Joey breaks it off when Eddie comes back.
    • Fourth Relationship:
      • Beginning: "...Must Come To An End" (6.24)
      • Note: Pacey tells her that he wants her to be happy more than anything, whether it be with Dawson or some other guy, but Joey chooses Pacey to be happy with in the end and they lived happily ever after.
• Melanie Thompson
  • First Fling
    • Beginning: "The Lost Weekend" (5.02)
    • End: "The Lost Weekend" (5.02)
      • Reason: She leaves Boston.
  • Second Fling:
    • Beginning: "Sleeping Arrangements" (5.12)
    • End: "Sleeping Arrangements" (5.12)
      • Reason: She leaves Boston.
• Karen Torres
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Hotel New Hampshire" (5.08)
    • End: "Hotel New Hampshire" (5.08)
      • Reason: She leaves Boston.
• Whitney
  • One Night Stand: "Something Wild" (5.11)
• Audrey Liddell
  • Girlfriend
    • First Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Guerilla Filmmaking" (5.14)
      • End: "After Hours" (5.21)
        • Reason: Pacey cheated on her with his boss.
        • Note: Pacey didn't sleep with his boss, but he did make out with her and tried to sleep with her, before she stopped him.
    • Second Relationship:
      • Beginning: "Swan Song" (5.23)
      • End: "Living Dead Girl" (6.06)
        • Reason: Audrey overhears Pacey telling his roommate that he doesn't love Audrey anymore, and isn't sure if ever loved her at all. She promptly breaks up with him.
• Alex Pearl
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "After Hours" (5.21)
    • End: "After Hours"(5.21)
      • Reason: She stops it before they go too far.
• Sadia Shaw
  • Fling
    • Beginning: "Catch-22" (6.20)
    • End: "Catch-22" (6.20)
      • Reason: She tells him she has a fiance.
• Maddy
  • Affair
    • Beginning: Sometime before '"All Good Things..." (6.23)
    • End: '"All Good Things..." (6.23)
      • Reason: Her husband beats him up and Pacey breaks it off with her at the wedding by kissing Joey in front of her on the dance floor.

Popularity[link]

Pacey was originally planned to be portrayed as Dawson's funny best friend who was just there to make a joke. However he soon became very popular with the media, causing the writers to give him a more prominent role in the series. It was eventually decided that Pacey would end up with Joey, due to the on-screen chemistry and fan devotion that culminated around the two, although Kevin Williamson had originally intended for Dawson to end up with Joey. He also outgrew some of his lethargic, clownish ways; becoming more mature.

Mandy Moore
Moore at 83rd Academy Awards, February 27, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Amanda Leigh Moore
Born	(1984-04-10) April 10, 1984 (age 28) Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.
Origin	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Pop, dance,[1] folk pop, pop rock[2]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress, model, fashion designer
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Epic, Sire, The Firm Music, EMI, Storefront Recordings, RED Distribution
Website	www.mandymoore.com

Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of Wild Hope. Her most recent album, Amanda Leigh, was released on May 26, 2009.^[3] Moore has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.^[4] Moore subsequently branched out into film, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and later in other movies, such as Chasing Liberty, Saved! and License to Wed. Most recently Moore provided the voice of Rapunzel in Tangled. In April 2011, she ranked 5th in People's annual Most Beautiful issue.^[5]

Early life[link]

Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her mother, Stacy (née Friedman), is a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and her father, Donald "Don" Moore, is a pilot for American Airlines.^[6][7][8] Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of half-English and half-Jewish ancestry.^[9][10] Moore, who has an older brother Scott and a younger brother Kyle, grew up in Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, where the family moved shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot.^[11] She was raised Catholic (though she is no longer practicing),^[12] and attended Bishop Moore High School,^[13] in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.

Moore's interest in singing grew after seeing the musical Oklahoma!.^{[citation needed]} She was also encouraged to perform by her English-born maternal grandmother, who was her inspiration.^[10] Some of Moore's first public exposure occurred when she sang the national anthem at several Florida sporting events.^{[citation needed]} She subsequently came to the attention of the head of the artists and repertoire department at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.^[14]

Music career[link]

1999–2002[link]

[edit] So Real

Moore toured with N'SYNC throughout the first half of 1999.^[11] Her debut album, So Real, was released in December 1999 and reached No.31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album charts.^[15] Unfortunately for her image, at the time of the album's release, reviewers considered Moore the latest in a series of heavily-marketed female teen singers described as "pop princesses," akin to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.^[16] Entertainment Weekly Magazine's review of So Real, written by Elizabeth Vincentelli, accused Moore's songs of revolving around "not-yet-experienced love," of having been performed with "suffocating professionalism," and called the album's ballads "nauseating."^[17]

Moore reached mainstream radio later, and at a younger age, than Aguilera and Spears had, and she was initially not as successful as they were. However, So Real was still certified platinum in the U.S. in early 2000 and sold nearly one million copies.^[18] Moore's debut teen-oriented pop hit single "Candy," which Yahoo! Movies described as "strangely provocative,"^[7] peaked just outside the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[19] charts, and was certified gold.^[15] The single was more successful in Europe, especially in the UK, where it reached number 6.^{[citation needed]} Allmusic called the single "mediocre" and "typical," containing lyrics that described love "in terms of sugar treats."^[20]

[edit] I Wanna Be with You

Moore released I Wanna Be with You in May 2000.^[21] The album, which was mostly completed with synthesizers, bass, guitar, and drums^[22] comprised new songs alongside tracks and remixes from So Real. Several reviewers criticized it on the basis that it was a remix album and not a true follow-up,^[23][24] with Allmusic accusing its style of being "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether more disposable" than that of So Real.^[25] It peaked at No.21 on the Billboard 200, was certified gold in the U.S., selling nearly 1,000,000 copies.^[18] The title track, "I Wanna Be with You," was the album's only single and reached No.24 on the Hot 100,^[19] Moore's highest peak to date.^{[citation needed]} It was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Center Stage in 2000.^[26]

[edit] Mandy Moore

In June 2001, Moore released her second full-length album, her third overall, the self-titled album Mandy Moore. She promoted the album with her first headlining concert, "Mandy Moore Live@ShoutBack."^{[citation needed]} The album contained uptempo tracks and influences from Eastern music,^[27] and Allmusic described it as a "lush, layered production."^[28] It received mixed reviews from other critics.^[29] The album debuted at No.35 on the Billboard 200, and was later certified gold in the U.S., selling 443,000 copies.^[18] The lead single was "In My Pocket," which Entertainment Weekly said contained "pumping, Indian influenced Euro disco."^[30] The album's follow-up single was titled "Crush." The early 2002 release of the final single, "Cry", tied in with the film A Walk to Remember, Moore's debut as a lead actress.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Moore commented on her early albums, noting that although she believed that her first album was appropriate for her age at the time when she released it,^[10][31] she felt it "sucked"^[32] and that her first albums were "just awful."^[16] Moore also said that she "would give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums" if she could;^[33] during a radio interview in April 2006, the show's co-host—who had seen her comments—asked her for a refund on the first album, a request that Moore fulfilled.^[32]

2003–2006[link]

In October 2003, Moore released her fourth album Coverage,^[34] which Allmusic characterized as a "leap to musical maturity"^[35] and which Entertainment Weekly called an "effort to shed her bubblegum-blond image".^[36] The album peaked at No.14 on the Billboard 200;^[15] but "Have a Little Faith in Me" and "Senses Working Overtime", its only two singles, did not perform well on the charts.^[15] Moore's cover of "I Feel the Earth Move" appeared on Love Rocks, a compilation CD of songs from gay rights supporters.^[37]

Due to creative differences between Moore and her label, a split was announced.^{[citation needed]} The company released the hits compilation album The Best of Mandy Moore, which reached No.148 on the Billboard 200^[38] in November 2004 as a final obligation to Moore's contract.^[39] Another compilation, Candy, followed in 2005. During this time period, the only music Moore had recorded was a song demo, "Hey!", written by James Renald, and a cover version of Lori McKenna's "Beautiful Man".^{[citation needed]} Moore also voiced the character "Nita" in the 2006 film, Brother Bear 2.

2007–2009[link]

In early 2006, Moore stated that she missed her music career and that singing is what she was the "most passionate about."^[16] Moore had signed to Sire Records after her contract with Epic Records ended, but she left the company in May 2006.^{[citation needed]} She signed with a new EMI Music-owned record company, The Firm, in July that year, describing her new contract as "especially exciting,"^[40] and adding that she left Sire Records because she did not want to "follow the mainstream," but rather have "complete control and freedom" over her work.^[41] Moore's new album, Wild Hope, was released on June 19, 2007,^[42] and includes collaborations with artists Chantal Kreviazuk, Rachael Yamagata, Lori McKenna and The Weepies.^[43] Moore stayed alone in a house in Woodstock in Upstate New York while recording the album in late 2006.^[44] She performed new material from Wild Hope at the Sundance Film Festival;^{[citation needed]} her first single, "Extraordinary," premiered on her MySpace profile on January 29, 2007.^{[citation needed]} Moore performed the song at the Brick Awards on April 12, 2007^[45] and launched a tour in the summer of 2007.^[46]

The album was released in the USA in June 2007 to positive reviews.^{[citation needed]} It fared moderately well on the charts, debuting at number thirty on the Billboard 200 (Moore's third highest charting album in the U.S.), and at number 84 in Canada.^{[citation needed]} In August 2007, Moore toured with Paula Cole, and Rachael Yamagata, playing at mid-size venues in the United States and Canada.^{[citation needed]} Wild Hope was placed at number 10 on Entertainment Weekly's "The Must List" and also named Reader's Choice for that August 10 issue, two months after its release.^{[citation needed]} Moore surprised many with a free concert in Boston on July 18, 2007.^[47]

On February 23, 2008, Moore released Wild Hope in Australia, and subsequently toured with Ben Lee and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Western Australia, supporting Kelly Clarkson on her tour.^{[citation needed]} In October 2008, Moore posted on her website blog live videos of three new songs she's been working on, along with singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist Mike Viola. It was at first expected to a be a duo album between the two, but then in January 2009, it was revealed it would be a solo album with a collaboration with him, slated for release in April 2009.^[48]

On June 2009, Moore performed 5 tracks of her new Amanda Leigh album, including “Nothing Everything” and “Love To Love Me Back,” at the Walmart Soundcheck show.^[49]

In May 2009, she released her latest album, Amanda Leigh, to generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone said about the album: "the title is taken from the singer's real first and middle names, the acoustic instrumentation emits a cozy campfire glow, and the album was recorded in a modest basement home studio. Message: This is real music, not computerized starlet pop."^{[citation needed]} Time Magazine said that the album was "impeccably recorded."^{[citation needed]} An article on the album by Paper Magazine said, "Mandy (in the album)... shows real thoughtful and emotional depth." Paper concluded that "Moore is a far better musician than she's often given credit for."^[50][51][52]

Moore has a total of singles sales in Australia of more than 241,000 copies, and was ranked at # 281 on the 1000 artists chart of ARIA Music Decade Charts (1980–2010).^[53]

2010–present[link]

In 2010, Moore voiced Rapunzel in Disney animation film Tangled and recorded several songs for the soundtrack,^[54] including I See the Light,^[55] which she performed live during the Oscar presentation in February 2011.

Acting career[link]

2000–2002[link]

During the summer of 2000, Moore hosted a half-hour MTV talk show, The Mandy Moore Show, which was renamed Mandy a year later.^[56] Moore was also a Neutrogena spokesperson, appearing in commercials and print ads for the product.^[7] She has modelled for Penshoppe in the Philippines,^{[citation needed]} Coach handbags in Japan,^[57] and was a spokesperson for the School and Youth Programs of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.^[58] Her first acting role was in the straight-to-video children's film Magic Al and the Mind Factory in which she plays the character of Brittany Foster.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Moore appeared in a small part as the mean and popular cheerleader Lana Thomas opposite actresses Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews in the film The Princess Diaries. During the film, Moore's character performs "Stupid Cupid," a song from the film's soundtrack. She also had a voiceover role in Dr. Dolittle 2 as the Girl Bear Cub. In 2002, Moore had her first starring role in a major feature film in A Walk to Remember, which co-starred Shane West. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, the film revolved around the developing romance between a Protestant minister's daughter Jamie Sullivan (Moore) and an unruly teenager Landon Carter (West). The film was moderately successful, bringing in $41 million in the United States,^[59] and establishing Moore's status as a lead actress. Although the film received mainly negative reviews,^[60] Moore received several positive notices for her performance, with critic Roger Ebert calling her "quietly convincing".^[61] At that summer's MTV Movie Awards, Moore won an award for "Breakthrough Female Performance" for the role.^[62] The same year, she voiced the Final Fantasy VII character Aerith Gainsborough in the Square-Disney crossover video game Kingdom Hearts, was featured in the music video for Elton John's "Original Sin", and was ranked number sixty-seven in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World".^[63]

2003–2005[link]

In 2003, Moore starred in the romantic comedy film How to Deal, which failed to draw in teenage crowds in the U.S. and grossed a total of $14 million domestically.^[59] Her next film was 2004's Chasing Liberty, a romantic comedy that grossed approximately $12 million.^[59] Both films received negative reviews;^[64] however, Ebert once again singled Moore's performances out, noting in his review of How to Deal that Moore has "an unaffected natural charm" and "almost makes the movie worth seeing,"^[65] and adding in his Chasing Liberty review that she has "undeniable screen presence and inspires instant affection."^[66] Other critics described her as an "actress of limited range,"^[67] though one review of Chasing Liberty noted that she was the "most painless of former pop princesses."^[68] Later in 2004, Moore appeared in a lead role in the religion satire Saved! in which she played Hilary Faye, a proper and popular girl at a Christian school. The film was positively reviewed,^[69] though it did not receive a wide release. Moore received praise for her performance,^[70] with one critic calling her a "demented delight"^[71] and another naming it her best performance to date.^[72] She sang a cover version of The Beach Boys 1966 hit "God Only Knows", with Michael Stipe, that bookended the movie.

In 2005, Moore lent her voice to the film Racing Stripes as Sandy the white horse and appeared on the television series Entourage; she was also originally scheduled to star in the films Cursed, Havoc, and The Upside of Anger, all of which were eventually released in 2005 without Moore's involvement.^[13]

2006–2007[link]

In 2006, Moore guest-starred in two episodes of Scrubs: "My Half-Acre" and "Her Story II". The same year, she lent her voice to The Simpsons, playing Tabitha Vixx in the episode "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play".^[73]

Moore also appeared in the film American Dreamz, which was released in April 2006. In the film, she played a deranged contestant on a television series modeled after American Idol. Director Paul Weitz stated that he had Moore in mind for the role before she was cast, explaining that "there's something inherently sweet about Mandy; it makes it all the more interesting to see her in a villainess role".^[74] Moore has said that she enjoys playing mean-spirited characters but fears being typecast as a villain.^[75] American Dreamz opened at number nine at the U.S. box office,^[76] eventually totaling barely $7 million,^[77] and received mixed reviews;^[78] critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, however, wrote that Moore and co-star Hugh Grant have a "wicked barbed chemistry" in their roles,^[79] while Variety's Robert Koehler said Moore's role was a "pitch-perfect study of a woman for whom a reality show is reality".^[80]

Later that year, in what ComingSoon.net's review described as a "surprisingly good performance", Moore voiced Nita, the heroine of the Disney animated sequel Brother Bear 2, which was released directly-to-DVD on August 29.^[81] She was also originally cast to appear in that year's ensemble film Bobby, but was replaced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.^[82]

Moore, citing her conservative upbringing, has expressed dissatisfaction with her appearance on a May 2006 cover of Cosmopolitan; the magazine's headline is "orgasms unlimited", which refers to an article unrelated to her.^[83] In her movie following this, Because I Said So, co-starring Gabriel Macht, Lauren Graham and Diane Keaton, Moore's character describes in detail the feeling of an orgasm to her mother. It was released on February 2, 2007 and received mixed reviews.^[84] In License to Wed, Moore portrays a young bride-to-be who has to complete a three-week prenup course before her wedding. Co-starring John Krasinski as her fiance and Robin Williams as a priest, the film was released on July 3, 2007 to mostly negative reviews. Nevertheless, Variety described Moore's performance as "appealing."^[85][86][87] In 2007, Moore returned to the small screen in an episode of How I Met Your Mother entitled "Wait for It".

2009–present[link]

After a break of almost two years from big screen roles, Moore filmed the romantic comedy Swinging with the Finkels in the United Kingdom in 2009 for a 2011 release.^[88] Moore also starred with actor Kellan Lutz in the 2010 film, Love, Wedding, Marriage.^[89][90] She was a guest star on the sixth season finale of Grey's Anatomy on May 20, 2010, her first television role since 2007.^[91] She returned in a guest role for an episode of the show's seventh season.^{[citation needed]} Also that year, Moore voiced Princess Rapunzel in the CGI animated film Tangled. Moore, alongside Zachary Levi, performed the film's theme song, "I See the Light" at the 83rd Academy Awards where it was nominated for Best Original Song.^[92]

In October 2011, it was announced that she is set to star in an ABC comedy titled Us and Them.^[93] The series was eventually not picked up by ABC.^[94]

Along with her voice role in the upcoming 2012 Tron: Uprising animated series, she is also set to be the title character voice in the Disney Junior series Oki’s Oasis.^[95]

Fashion career[link]

Moore branched into the fashion world in 2005 with her own fashion line named Mblem., a brand of contemporary knitwear and cashmere. One of her aims was to provide clothing for taller women (Moore herself is 5'10).^[96] In February 2009, Moore announced that the line would be shutting down, but that she hoped to reenter the fashion world again under different circumstances in the future.^[3]

Philanthropy[link]

According to a press release from her own official website, Moore was involved in teaming up with nonprofit organization Population Services International (PSI), and its subsidiary, Five & Alive, which addresses health crises facing children under the age of five and their families.^[97][98]

According to USA Today, Moore was also involved in serving as the Honorary Chairperson of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's division on awareness for youth. She served as a spokesperson by helping young people be aware of the seriousness of leukemia and lymphoma.^[99] She also serves as the spokesperson for Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, held every January.^[100] In addition, to increase cervical cancer awareness, Moore teamed up with Dr. Yvonne Collins, The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF), and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).^[101]

Personal life[link]

Her relationships with Adam Goldstein aka DJ AM, singer Billy Crawford, tennis player Andy Roddick,^[102] and actors Wilmer Valderrama^[103] and Zach Braff,^[104] as well as her marriage to singer Ryan Adams, have become the subject of media coverage. Moore and Adams were married on March 10, 2009, in Savannah.^[105][106]

Moore has become a fan of mixed martial arts, often attending UFC events.^[107]

As to her religious beliefs, Moore considers herself spiritual, and has said that she does not think of herself as Christian.^[12]

Reporters have mentioned that Moore has a slight lisp in her performances,^[108] but Moore denied having one when asked by a fan on her official blog.^[109]

Social networking[link]

Moore is the ambassador for the UN Foundations’s “Nothing But Net’s” campaign. The campaign launched a mass distribution of mosquito nets, ensuring that young children, women and newborn babies are not infected with malaria.^[110] Through her use of social networking she has brought awareness to the cause. In August 2011, the campaign used the Town hall function on Facebook for the first time ever. Almost $5,000 was raised immediately. With nearly two million twitter followers, Moore continues to tweet about fundraising for the foundation.^[110] For further awareness of the cause she created a page on the commonly used site, crowdrise.com.

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Mandy Moore
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official website
• Mandy Moore at the Internet Movie Database
• Mandy Moore at People.com

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (May 2012)

Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes at the National Memorial Day in Washington, D.C., May 24, 2009
Born	Kate Noelle Holmes[n 1] (1978-12-18) December 18, 1978 (age 33) Toledo, Ohio, US
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse	Tom Cruise (2006–present)
Children	1

Kate Noelle "Katie" Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers including Abandon. She has also played on Broadway in a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. She achieved worldwide celebrity for her marriage to Tom Cruise, with whom she has a daughter, Suri.^[8][9]

Early life[link]

Holmes was born in Toledo, Ohio.^[10] She is the fourth daughter and youngest child of five children born to Kathleen (née Stothers), a homemaker and philanthropist, and Martin Joseph Holmes, Sr., an attorney specializing in divorces,^[11][12] She has three older sisters and one older brother: Tamera, Holly Ann, Martin Joseph, Jr., and Nancy Kay.^[4]

Holmes is of Russian, German, English and Irish ancestry and was baptized a Roman Catholic. She attended Christ the King Church and parochial schools in Toledo.^[13] She graduated from the all-female Notre Dame Academy (also her mother's alma mater), where Katie was a 4.0 student.^[14][15] At St. John's Jesuit, a nearby all-male high school, Holmes appeared in school musicals, playing a waitress in Hello, Dolly! and Lola in Damn Yankees.^[16] She scored 1310 out of 1600 on her SAT and was accepted to Columbia University (and attended for a summer session);^[10][14] her father wanted her to be a doctor.^[15]

At age 14, she began classes at a modeling school in Toledo run by Margaret O'Brien, who took her to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Competition held in New York City in 1996. Eventually, Holmes was signed to an agent after performing a monologue from To Kill a Mockingbird.^[7] An audition tape was sent to the casting director for the 1997 film The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee. She was cast in the role of Libbets Casey, in the film which starred Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.^[16]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

In January 1997, Holmes went to Los Angeles for pilot season,when producers cast and shoot new programs in the hopes of securing a spot on a network schedule. The Toledo Blade reported she was offered the lead in Buffy the Vampire Slayer but she turned it down.^[16] Columbia Tri-Star Television, producer of a new show created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson, asked her to come to Los Angeles to audition, but there was a conflict with her schedule. "I was doing my school play, Damn Yankees. And I was playing Lola. I even got to wear the feather boa. I thought, 'There is no way I'm not playing Lola to go audition for some network. I couldn't let my school down. We had already sold a lot of tickets. So I told Kevin and The WB, 'I'm sorry. I just can't meet with you this week. I've got other commitments.'"^[16][6][17]

The producers permitted her to audition on videotape. Holmes read for the part of Joey Potter, the tomboy best friend of the title character Dawson, on a videotape shot in her basement, her mother reading Dawson's lines.^[6][18] The Hollywood Reporter claimed the story of Holmes's audition "has become the stuff of legend" and "no one even thought that it was weird that one of the female leads would audition via Federal Express."^[19]

Holmes won the part. Paul Stupin, executive producer of the show, said his first reaction on seeing her audition tape was "That's Joey Potter!"^[20] Creator and executive producer Kevin Williamson said Holmes has a "unique combination of talent, beauty and skill that makes Hollywood come calling. But that's just the beginning. To meet her is to instantly fall under her spell."^[21] Williamson thought she had exactly the right look for Joey Potter. "She had those eyes, those eyes just stained with loneliness."^[22]

[edit] Dawson's Creek

"Joey Potter is a headstrong, vibrant, wily, sultry, and determined go-getter. And yet, in a gloriously contradictory manner, in spite of her tough-as-nails exterior demeanor, Joey's also a frail, sometimes uncertain, emotionally sensitive, in-need-of-love person", said the show's official book.^[23] Joey, named for Jo in Little Women, for years had been climbing in Dawson's bedroom window and platonically sharing his bed. Joey's mother had died from cancer when Joey was thirteen and her father, Mike (Gareth Williams), was in prison for "conspiracy to traffic in marijuana in excess of 10,000 pounds." Her harried, unmarried, and very pregnant sister, Bessie (Nina Repeta), about ten years older than Joey,^{[n 2]} was raising her while running the Ice House restaurant, where Joey worked as a waitress. GQ described Joey as "kind of an uptight fussbudget—one who's always twisted up over doing the right thing and bungling-up ways to hook up with her crush and across the creek neighbor, Dawson."^[22]

"I'm a lot like Joey", said Holmes. "I think they saw that. I come from a small town. I was a tomboy. Joey tries to be articulate and deny that she doesn't have a lot of experience in life. Her life parallels mine, which is all about new everything—relationships, personal perceptions—and about being guarded." Holmes filmed the pilot of Dawson's Creek in Wilmington, North Carolina, during spring break of her senior year of high school in 1997.^[3]

The 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall^[22][24] brunette enchanted the press, writers of both sexes commenting how Holmes was the sort of girl one wants to bring home to meet the parents and to marry.^[15][22] "The Audrey Hepburn of her generation", was one typical comment.^[25] Time called her "impossibly lovely" and Entertainment Weekly said she was "next up for idolhood."^[26][27] Variety, reviewing the pilot, said Holmes "is a confident young performer who delivers her lines with slyness and conviction."^[28] Holmes made such an impression in Hollywood, The New York Times Magazine claimed everyone was seeking to cast a "Katie Holmes type", who, the reporter claimed, "is a throwback to the 1950s: she is a smart girl next door (as opposed to the babe-o-rama blondes)".^[29] But her "type" was no less attractive, Arena magazine declaring her "the most coquettishly sexy woman on television. Anywhere."^[30]

Holmes was soon on the covers of magazines such as Seventeen, TV Guide, and Rolling Stone. Jancee Dunn, an editor at Rolling Stone said she was chosen for the cover because "every time you mention Dawson's Creek you tend to get a lot of dolphin-like shrieks from teenage girls. The fact that she is drop-dead gorgeous didn't hurt either."^[31]

Reviews of Dawson's Creek were mixed. The Toledo Blade said the characters "just talk like they came from a planet ruled by Manhattan psychologists, one where small talk is punishable by death."^[32] Holmes herself needed help with the dialogue. "Sometimes before we read a script, I have to get my dictionary and call people to make sure I'm pronouncing some of the words correctly."^[14] The show brought her national attention and many fans back home; Toledo's Thanksgiving Day parade in November 1998 had record attendance when Holmes was named grand marshal.^[33][34]

Dawson's Creek ran from 1998 to 2003, and Holmes was the only actor to appear in all 128 episodes. "It was very difficult for me to leave Wilmington, to have my little glass bubble burst and move on. I hate change. On the other hand it was refreshing to play someone else", she said in 2004.^[35] Holmes confirmed that, as often happens on soaps, the character was a caricature of the actor:

"As Joey", said Life magazine, "Holmes has had seismic influences on teen life... Through it all, Joey has managed to hang on to her integrity... The show—and Katie's character in particular—has touched a nerve."^[18]

Film[link]

This article is missing information about reception of Holmes' performances in Go, Teaching Mrs Tingle, Phone Booth, The Singing Detective, The Extra Man, The Romantics, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Son of No One. Please expand the primary text and the lead to include this information. (September 2011)

In 2005, Holmes characterised her film career as being a string of "bombs." "Usually I'm not even in the top ten", she said, the highest grossing film of her career then being Phone Booth.^[3] She lamented "It's not like I have a lot of stuff that's great just waiting for me to sign on to."^[36]

Her first leading role came in Disturbing Behavior (1998), a Scream-era Stepford Wives-goes-to-high school thriller, where she was a loner from the wrong side of the tracks. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote her character, Rachel, "dresses in black and likes to strike poses on the beds of pickup trucks and is a bad girl who is in great danger of becoming a very good one."^[37][38] The actress won a MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for the role, though Holmes said the film was "just horrible."^[15]

Holmes played a disaffected supermarket clerk in Doug Liman's ensemble piece Go (1999).^[39]

She had an uncredited cameo with Dawson's Creek co-star Joshua Jackson in Muppets from Space (1999), which was also filmed in Wilmington.^[40]

In Kevin Williamson's Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), which he wrote and directed, Holmes played a straight-A student whose vindictive teacher (Helen Mirren) threatens to keep her from a desperately needed scholarship.^[41]

In Wonder Boys (2000), directed by Curtis Hanson from the novel by Michael Chabon, Holmes had a small role (six and one-half minutes of screen time) but nevertheless attracted the attention of numerous film critics with her performance as Hannah Green, the talented student who lusts after Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas), her creative writing instructor and landlord. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said she was "just right as the beauty with kind of a crush on the old man."^[22][42][43]

In The Gift (2000), a Southern Gothic story directed by Sam Raimi and starring Cate Blanchett, she played the antithesis of Joey Potter: a promiscuous rich girl having affairs with everyone from a sociopathic wife-beater (Keanu Reeves) to the district attorney (Gary Cole), and is murdered by her fiancé (Greg Kinnear). Holmes did her first nude scene for the film, in a scene where her character was about to be murdered. Her appearance was lamented by Variety's Steven Kotler.^[44] In Ohio, the scene met with disapproval from Russ Lemmon writing in the Toledo Blade.^[45]

In Abandon (2002), written by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan, Holmes was a delusional, homicidal college student named "Katie." Todd McCarthy of Variety and Roger Ebert commended her performance,^[46] but other critics and audiences savaged it.^[47] The actress played the mistress of the public relations flack played by Colin Farrell in Phone Booth (2002) and Robert Downey, Jr.'s nurse in The Singing Detective (2003). Holmes's next starring role was in Pieces of April (2003), a gritty comedy about a dysfunctional family on Thanksgiving. Variety said it was "one of her best film performances."^[48] "Each actor shines", wrote Elvis Mitchell, "even Ms. Holmes, whose beauty seems to have fogged the minds of her previous directors" in playing "a brat who is slaving to find her inner decency and barely has the equipment for such an achievement, let alone to serve a meal whose salmonella potential could claim an entire borough. Yet it is her surliness, as well as her intransigent determination to make Thanksgiving work, that keeps the laughs coming."^[49]

In 2003, Holmes was a contender for the role of Christine Daaé in 2004's The Phantom of the Opera,^[50] but lost the role to Emmy Rossum.

Holmes played the President's daughter in First Daughter, which was originally to be released in January 2004 on the same day as Chasing Liberty, another film about a president's daughter, but was ultimately released in September 2004 to dismal reviews and ticket sales. First Daughter, directed by Forest Whitaker, also starred Michael Keaton as her father and Marc Blucas as her love interest. The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt called her character, Samantha Mackenzie, "a startling example of how a studio film can dumb down and neutralize the comic abilities of a lively young star."^[51] In the 2005 film Batman Begins, the most successful film of her career to date^[52], she played Rachel Dawes, an attorney in the Gotham City district attorney's office and the childhood sweetheart of the title character. Variety was unenthusiastic. "Holmes is OK", was its critic's sole remark on her performance.^[53] She was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for "worst supporting actress" for the film.^[54]

In 2005, she appeared in the film version of Christopher Buckley's satirical novel Thank You for Smoking about a tobacco lobbyist played by Aaron Eckhart, whom Holmes's character, a Washington reporter, seduces. Variety wrote one of the film's "sole relatively weak notes [came] from Holmes, who lacks even a hint of the wiliness of a ruthless reporter" and The New York Times said the cast was "exceptionally fine" except for Holmes, who "strain[ed] credulity" in her role.^[55][56]

Holmes had agreed to play in Shame on You, a biopic about the country singer Spade Cooley written and directed by Dennis Quaid, as the wife whom Cooley (played by Quaid) stomps to death. But the picture, set to shoot in New Orleans, Louisiana, was delayed by Hurricane Katrina, and Holmes dropped out because of her pregnancy.^[57][58][59]

After speculation about Holmes reprising her role in The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, it was finally confirmed that she would not appear. Her role was later recast with Maggie Gyllenhaal in her place.^[60] Instead, Holmes decided to star in the comedy Mad Money, opposite Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah.^[61] The Canadian Press criticized Katie Holmes's performance "While Keaton has long done zany and giddy well, and she and Latifah have an interesting contrast of personalities, Holmes' presence feels like an afterthought."^[62] The New York Post, The New York Times and Variety also criticized Katie Holmes's performance in the film, and The New York Times called Holmes "the movie's weakest link."^[63][64] In early July 2009, Holmes began filming a remake of the 1970s ABC telemovie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark; the film was released in August 2011.^[65]

Holmes and Chace Crawford have been cast as the leads in the romantic comedy Responsible Adults, to begin shooting in Los Angeles in "fall 2011".^[66]

Stage[link]

Holmes made her Broadway debut in the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons^[67] in September 2008. She opened to mixed reviews. Ben Brantley of The New York Times claimed "the neophyte Ms. Holmes" is a "sad casualty" of director Simon McBurney's "high concept approach" to the play. He adds that "Ms. Holmes delivers most of her lines with meaningful asperity, italicising every word."^[68] Clive Barnes of the New York Post was similarly unimpressed by Holmes – and had few compliments for her co-stars. He wrote, "Lithgow starts in a sunny, benign fashion, but eventually finds himself screeching alongside Holmes, looking tough under a glossy wig."^[69] However, The New York Daily News' Joe Dziemianowicz was won over by the actress' first stint on stage, writing, "Holmes, a TV and film vet, makes a fine Broadway debut. Her rather grand speech pattern takes getting used to, but she seems comfortable and adds a fitting glint of glamour."^[70] In 2009, Holmes appeared in the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. in a dialogue with Dianne Wiest celebrating the life of an American veteran seriously wounded in Iraq, José Pequeño.^[71]

TV work[link]

Holmes hosted Saturday Night Live on February 24, 2001, participating in a send-up of Dawson's Creek where she falls madly in love with Chris Kattan's Mr. Peepers character and singing "Big Spender" from Sweet Charity. On the November 9, 2003 episode, she was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher and the next year she was the subject of an episode of the MTV program Diary.^[72]

In 2008 Holmes appeared in an episode of Eli Stone as Grace, a lawyer, and her singing and dancing was praised by Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly.^[73]

In 2011, Katie Holmes played the role of Jackie Kennedy in The Kennedys. Linda Stasi felt that Holmes took a while to get into the role, but was ultimately convincing as Kennedy.^[74] Bob Owen felt that while Holmes resembled Kennedy, Holmes could not perform her accent correctly.^[75] Dorothy Rabinovitz felt that while Holmes had Kennedy's "whispery tone", that she could not pull off Kennedy's class.^[76]

In October 2011 she also played the role of the "Slutty Pumpkin" (Naomi), in the TV show How I Met Your Mother, episode "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns".

Other work[link]

Holmes was annually named by both the British and American editions of FHM magazine as one of the sexiest women in the world from 1999 forward. She was named one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2003; its sibling Teen People declared her one of the "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" that year;^[77][78] and in 2005, People said she was one of the ten best dressed stars that year.^[79] She has appeared in advertisements for Garnier Lumia haircolor, Coach leather goods, and clothing retailer The Gap.^[80]

On November 4, 2007 Holmes ran, and successfully completed, the New York City Marathon in 5:29:58.^[81]

After much speculation, in late November 2008 it was confirmed that she would be the new face of the spring 2009 campaign for the high-end fashion line Miu Miu.^[82]

In 2008 Holmes started a high fashion clothing line called Holmes &Yang with longtime stylist Jeanne Yang.^[83]

In January 2011 she became the new face of Ann Taylor Spring 11 collection.^[84] In April 2011, she ranked 6th in People magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful issue.^[85]

Awards[link]

In June 2011 Katie Holmes received the Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award. ^[86]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

Holmes with Tom Cruise in May 2009

Holmes dated her Dawson's Creek co-star Joshua Jackson early in the show's run. Holmes met actor Chris Klein in 2000. Klein and Holmes were engaged in late 2003, but in early 2005 she and Klein ended their relationship.^{[87][88][89][90]}

Weeks after her relationship with Klein ended, Holmes began dating actor Tom Cruise. Cruise proposed to Holmes in the early morning of June 17, 2005, on top of Paris's Eiffel Tower.^[91] On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy, in a Scientology ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars.^[92] The actors' publicist said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony.^[93]

Holmes, who was raised a Roman Catholic,^[8] joined the Church of Scientology shortly after the couple began dating.^[9]

On April 18, 2006, Holmes gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Suri. The Los Angeles Times summarized the written statement Cruise released on the birth, saying the name "is a word with origins in both Hebrew and Persian. In Hebrew, it means 'princess' and in Persian, 'red rose,' it was claimed in the release."^[94] Although some Hebrew linguists had never seen the word for "princess" spelled this way and its meaning,^[95] others said it was a Yiddish pronunciation of the Hebrew name "Sarah".^[96] The first photographs of Suri appeared in the October 2006 issue of Vanity Fair, shot by Annie Leibovitz,^[97] and became the publication's second best selling issue of all time, selling more than 700,000 copies.^[98]

Legal issues[link]

In July 2009, Holmes, Nigel Lythgoe, Adam Shankman, and Carrie Ann Inaba announced the launch of a dance scholarship fund called the Dizzy Feet Foundation.^[99]

In early March 2011, Katie Holmes filed a $50 million libel lawsuit against the Star Magazine following a cover story which insinuated that she took drugs.^[100] The suit was settled on April 27, 2011 when Star wrote a public apology in the May 6, 2011 issue along with an undisclosed "substantial" donation to Katie's charity Dizzy Feet.^[101]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

Notes[link]

Scientology portal

References[link]