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The cast of Dawson’s Creek has come a long way since the series wrapped in 2003. Michelle Williams went on to play Marilyn Monroe, James Van Der Beek moved his family to Austin, and recently, Katie Holmes had a film collaboration with her daughter, Suri Cruise.
Busy Philipps, who later joined the show, has also been active on TV these days, starring in the Netflix comedy, Girls5eva. As for Joshua Jackson — who played the lovable Pacey — lately, he’s been working on some serious projects like the award-winning HBO anthology, Dr. Death.
But looking back at his breakout role, Jackson recalled having some mental health issues due to his salary on Dawson’s Creek. He even said that he wouldn’t want to go back to that time.
“It really centers around, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe that we all went through that thing together,'” he said of that period. Still, he acknowledged that “it’s obviously such a formative point in all our lives.”
How Much Did The Dawson’s Creek Cast Make From The Show?
In 2012, Van Der Beek said that he was paid “almost nothing” during the five-season run of Dawson’s Creek. The actor, who played Dawson Leery in the show, told Today at that time: “There was no residual money. I was 20. It was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that.” Thanks to his later projects, he’s managed to build an $8 million net worth.
Williams also compared her time in the show to “a factory job.” In a 2019 interview with Variety, “he said it was “a learning experience,” adding that they did “22 episodes a year, and you’d be getting scripts at the last minute and you had zero input.” In 2010, she also told PopEater that doing the series “was kind of like being a mobster.”
“You set up a shop selling pizza but in the back you’re laundering money,” she explained. “You’re doing one thing in plain sight and secretly plotting something else. I was plotting my tastes, my interests, my beliefs and hopes for what I could be.” The Fabelmans star has a net worth of $30 million.
As for Holmes — who became the most famous member of the cast — she reportedly made $30,000 per episode at the beginning of the series. Once Dawson’s Creek gained popularity, the Batman Begins actress began to earn $178,000 per episode. She’s now worth $25 million.
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Joshua Jackson’s Dawson’s Creek Salary Gave Him Imposter Syndrome
In a recent interview with The Times, Jackson opened up about struggling with his small paycheck back in Dawson’s Creek. “I wouldn’t want to go back to my twenties again, that amount of angst. I would make more money doing four episodes of Dawson’s Creek than most of my friends’ parents made in a year,” he shared.
He then noted that his forties is the “best decade” of his life. He said of his twenties: “That was the center of my imposter syndrome: ‘You’re trying to set me up to be a role model to kids, and I definitely am not, and you’re paying me all this money that I don’t deserve.'”
Still, he treasures the friendships he made from the show at age 19. He even revealed that the cast has a WhatsApp group chat. “It doesn’t get a lot of use but every once in a while someone will crop up,” he said. “[In January] we passed the 25th anniversary [of the show] so there was a flurry of texts. It really centers around, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe that we all went through that thing together.’ It’s obviously such a formative point in all our lives.”
What Has Joshua Jackson Been Up To Since Dawson’s Creek?
Jackson continues to do TV shows. After Dawson’s Creek, he went on to star in Fringe, The Affair, When They See Us and Little Fires Everywhere. He’s set to appear in the 2023 mini-series, Fatal Attraction. The actor has also forayed into films like Americano, Shutter, and One Week.
But being aware that “this business can consume you,” he’s “always been conscious that although I love what I do for a living, I don’t like it all the time.” So nowadays, his priority is “this dream of building this life with my wife [Jodie Turner-Smith] and seeing her achieve her goals,” he said.
“In my twenties it was, ‘Maybe I’ll feel like this when I get here.’ At this point in my life I’m already here,” he continued. Jackson and his wife tied the knot back in 2019. They now have a 3-year-old daughter, Janie Jackson.
“The work [of being a parent] is constant because she’s constantly a new version of herself,” he told People about being a first-time dad. “So I think [you have to be] open to the fact that you have to rediscover your child all the time.”
