Another anniversary to make ’90s kids feel old: The beloved teen drama Dawson’s Creek is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The iconic show, which premiered on January 20, 1998, was a breakout success for The WB — and, along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, helped pave the way for the entire teen soap genre, which came to include hits like Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, and Smallville.
So where are the trailblazing stars now? FEMAIL takes a look back at the lives and careers of the biggest stars who joined the series two decades ago.
Happy anniversary! Dawson’s Creek turned 20 this week
Trailblazer! The hit show premiered on January 20, 1998 on The WB
Then and now: James van der Beek played Dawson Leery
He went on to star in several shows, including Don’t rust The B—- In Apartment 23
He also starred in Friends with Better Lives and CSI: Cyber (pictured)
James van der Beek: Dawson Leery
James was 20 when he played 15-year-old Dawson, a movie buff and aspiring director who is best friends with the girl next door.
He took on several big roles on the side during the show’s run (including Varsity Blues) and once the show ended went on to act in 2007’s Final Draft, 2010’s The Big Bang, and half a dozen TV movies.
Mostly, he’s stuck to TV, appearing in several episodes of Criminal Minds, One Tree Hill, Mercy, and How I Met Your Mother.
He’s also starred in several TV shows that only got a season each: Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Friends with Better Lives, and CSI: Cyber. He recently did voice work for the animated show Vampirina.
As for his personal life, the 40-year-old married actress Heather Ann McComb in 2003 but divorced in 2009. He went on to wed business consultant Kimberly Brook in 2010, and together the couple have four children
Two decades ago… Katie Holmes was 19 when she took on the role of Joey Potter (pictured left in 1998 and right in 2017)
Girl next door: She played Dawson’s best friend and eventual love interest
Young love: Their romance — with a Pacey-shaped wrench thrown in — was one of the major storylines of the show
Iconic: Katie went on to play Jackie Kennedy for The Kennedys mini-series in 2011
She’s has several movie roles, too, including opposite Adam Sandler in Jack and Jill
Katie Holmes: Joey Potter
Katie has experienced quite a roller-coaster ride since playing shy Capside High School freshman Joey Potter in 1998.
Just 19 when the series premiered, Katie was still in high school in Toledo, Ohio when the producers were running auditions for the teen drama. In fact, her own audition was submitted on videotape, since she refused to abandon her high school production of Damn Yankees to fly out to LA to read for the part.
Reflecting on the anniversary this week, Katie took to Instagram to post an old script from the show.
‘I am so grateful that 20 years ago we premiered Dawson’s Creek,’ she wrote. ‘I am so honored to have been a part of it … Such wonderful memories. Such wonderful friends. Such incredible fans. Thank you all!’
Since the series wrapped, she’s returned to TV a handful of times, including as Jackie Kennedy for The Kennedys mini-series in 2011, a pair of cameos on How I Met Your Mother, and Ray Donovan in 2015.
Moving on quick: In 2005, she split from actor Chris Klein and took up with Tom Cruise
Odd couple: The two got engaged in a matter of weeks, but many found the romance puzzling
Fast: Together they had a daughter, Suri, who was born a year after their first date
Mommy and me: Since their 2012 divorce, Katie has maintained full custody of Suri
Most notably, she’s been in a slew of movies, including 2004’s First Daughter, 2005’s Batman Begins, 2008’s Mad Money, 2010’s The Romantics, 2011’s Jack and Jill, and 2014’s Miss Meadows. She’s also set to appear in this year’s Ocean’s 8.
The fashion fan briefly ran her own clothing line, Holmes & Yang, which she launched with her stylist Jeanne Yang, and did campaigns for Miu Miu, Coach, Gap, H.Stern, Ann Taylor, J.Crew, Olay, and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics as well.
It’s been her personal life, though, that’s made the most headlines. After breaking off her engagement with actor Chris Klein in 2005, Katie began dating Tom Cruise that same year.
In a whirlwind romance, the two were engaged in a matter of weeks, and welcomed their daughter Suri just a year after they first met.
The happy days didn’t last long, though. On June 29, 2012, Katie filed for divorce, and ended up with full custody of their daughter. They former couple has continued to be tabloid fodder, thanks to claims that Tom has a minimal relationship with Suri and that Katie is trying to keep the little girl away from Scientology.
Michelle Williams played Jen Lindley, a troubled teen from New York City who comes to live with her grandma
Dawson’s Creek was one of the first popular teen dramas and a big hit for The WB
Dawson and Jen had a complicated relationship on the show
Michelle Williams: Jen Lindley
Michelle’s career has hit incredible highs since she played the troubled New York teen banished to a sleepy Massachusetts town to live with her strict, religious grandmother.
The 37-year-old’s biggest credits include Blue Valentine, Shutter Island, My Week with Marilyn (for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress), Manchester by the Sea, All the Money in the World, and The Greatest Showman.
There have been stints on Broadway as well, including Cabaret in 2014 and Blackbird in 2016, and fashion campaigns for Louis Vuitton.
She also starred 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, where she met and began dating co-star Heath Ledger. Together, the pair had a daughter named Matilda Rose in 2015 — just two years before Heath’s tragic death ten years ago.
After Dawson’s Creek, Michelle starred in Brokeback Mountain alongside Heath Ledger
They were a top Hollywood couple, but they split shortly before Heath’s death in 2008
Little girl: Together, they had a daughter named Matilda Rose
Michelle has starred in several blockbusters and critically-acclaimed films, including My Week with Marilyn (left) and Oz The Great and Powerful (right)
She also starred in Manchester by the Sea (pictured), All the Money in the World, and The Greatest Showman
Since then, she has continued to wear her hair short, and told Elle UK in 2011 that it’s in honor of him: ‘I cut it for the one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it.’
Michelle also met another soulmate while working: best friend Busy Philipps, who joined the cast of Dawson’s Creek in Season 6.
The duo regularly attend events and award shows together, and this week Busy was there to comfort Michelle on the anniversary of Heath’s death.
Also this week, it was revealed that she is newly engaged to New York financier Andrew Youmans.
Joshua Jackson played Dawson’s best friend (and Joey’s eventual love interest) Pacey Witter
Still on TV: He now stars on the Showtime series The Affair
Joshua started dating actress Diane Kruger, but the two split after a decade together
Joshua Jackson: Pacey Witter
In an early episode of Dawson’s Creek, heartthrob Pacey has an affair with his teacher, Mrs. Jacobs — a storyline that screenwriter Kevin Williamson said they got a lot of ‘flak’ for.
Years later, Joshua Jackson is starring on the Showtime series The Affair, a role that earned him two People’s Choice Awards nominations.
In between, he starred on the show Fringe, acted in a handful of movies including Aurora Borealis, Bobby, and One Week, and appeared on Broadway.
Currently, he is gearing up to star in the Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God, which opens in the spring.
As for his love life in 2006, Joshua started dating actress Diane Kruger, with the two announcing their shocking split a decade later.
Nice run: The show ran for six seasons and ended in 2003
Boundary-breaking: Kerr Smith played Jack McPhee, a gay classmate who went on to share the first gay kiss on primetime TV
Since then, he has starred in Life Unexpected, E-Ring, Justice, and a season of Charmed
Teen-friendly: Most recently he appeared on the ABC Family show The Fosters
Kerr Smith: Jack McPhee
Kerr Smith’s came to Capeside in Season 2 of the show, which premiered in the fall of 1998.
Despite coming on in the second season, his character was one of the biggest headline-grabbers of the series: Though he started off his run in the closet, Jack went on to come out and share the first male gay kiss to ever air on U.S. primetime television in 2000.
After the show, Kerr briefly married actress Harmoni Everett and kept busy with acting.
He appeared in a season of Charmed and the shows E-Ring, Justice, and Life Unexpected. Most recently, he played Robert Quinn on The Fosters.
Meredith Monroe played Andie McPhee, Jack’s sister and Pacey’s girlfriend
Since the show ended, she appeared in episodes of Criminal Minds (pictured), Joan of Arcadia, CSI: Miami, House, Cold Case, Bones, Crossing Jordan, and Castle
Surprisingly, she also played a mom — do Jaime King — on Hart of Dixie
Meredith Monroe: Andie McPhee
Like her brother Jack, Andie joined the Creek in the second season of the show. The high-strung over-achiever was an unlikely love interest for slacker Pacey, and left in Season 4. (She came back for the Season 6 finale.)
Since then, Meredith went on to have bit parts on episodes of Joan of Arcadia, CSI: Miami, House, Cold Case, Bones, Crossing Jordan, Californication, Private Practice, The Mentalist, Psych, NCIS, The Closer, Hawaii Five-0, and Castle.
She had a longer arc as Haley Hotchner on Criminal Minds and went on to play Jaime King’s mother on Hart of Dixie.
Meredith is married and has two kids.
Mary Beth Peil played Jen Lindley’s Grams, who takes her in when she gets a bit out of control
She went on to act in several movies and also played Jackie Florrick, Julianna Margulies’s meddling mother-in-law on The Good Wife (pictured)
Mary Beth Peil: Grams
Aged 57 when the series began, Mary Beth Peil only had a handful of on-screen credits prior to playing Jen’s no-nonsense Grams.
Her Hollywood career has been much more illustrious since, with credits including 2004’s The Stepford Wives, 2006’s Flags of our Fathers, and 2008’s Mirrors.
From 2009 to 2016, she headed back to television to play Jackie Florrick, Julianna Margulies’s meddling mother-in-law on The Good Wife.
The trained as an opera singer — who has sung with both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera — has also returned to the stage for Broadway productions of Follies and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
Mary-Margaret Humes played Dawson’s mom, Gail Leery
Recently, the 63-year-old reminisced about her time on set and shared her hopes for a reunion
Mary-Margaret Humes: Gail Leery
As Dawson’s mom Gail, Mary-Margaret got to play out some drama of her own on the show, cheating on her husband, separating from him, and eventually getting back together before his untimely death.
Since leaving the Creek, the former Miss Florida USA has done episodes of Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, and Ghost Whisperer, and also appeared in a handful of films.
Recently, the 63-year-old reminisced about her time on set and shared her hopes for a reunion.
‘Some say too many people are dead and yada, yada, yada. But in my mind, I have this thought that there’s a way to suspend your disbelief where everyone can get the happily ever after,’ she told US Weekly. ‘I’m just putting it out there into the universe because I’m harboring a little secret idea and we’ll see what happens!’
John Wesley Shipp played Mitch Leery, Dawson’s dad and Gail’s on-again, off-again husband
He now stars as the title superhero on The CW’s The Flash
John Wesley Shipp: Mitch Leery
The 62-year-old has kept busy since his character, Mitch, was killed in a car accident in Season 5.
Besides small roles in the TV shows Palmetto Pointe and Teen Wolf, he had a longer arc on One Life to Live from 2010 to 2012.
Now, he’s starring as the title superhero on the CW series The Flash, which premiered in 2014.
Nina Repeta played Bessie Potter, Joey’s big sister who helped raise her
Nina Repeta: Bessie Potter
Nina was 30 when she played Joey’s big sister Bessie on the show, whom Joey lived with after their mom died and their dad was sent to prison.
After spending all six seasons on Dawson’s Creek, she had roles in the films Southern Gothic and The Remaining, and most recently appeared in an episode of Good Behavior. She also has a career in music.
She married Mike Repeta, and in 2008 they had a child.
Dylan Neal played Doug Witter, Pacey’s brother and Jack’s eventual boyfriend
Since Dawson’s, he starred opposite Andie MacDowell in Cedar Grove
Dylan Neal: Doug Witter
The 48-year-old Canadian actor has packed his resume since Dawson’s 2003 finale.
Most notably, he starred in the one-season vampire series Blood Ties, the movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and a season of Arrow.
He also starred opposite Andie MacDowell in Cedar Grove and is set to reprise his role as Anastasia Steele’s stepfather in Fifty Shades Freed.