‘Dawson’s Creek’ actors reflect on landmark same-sex kiss

By the year 2000, Ellen DeGeneres had come out publicly on her sitcom and lost her career overnight. Wilson Cruz had played out teen Rickie Vasquez on the cult favourite My So-Called Life, which had been cancelled after only one season. So, when Dawson’s Creek (watch the full 6 seasons on CTV Throwback) one of the biggest shows on television in the early 2000s, introduced a gay character, viewers noticed. Going a step further, the teen drama made history by airing the first same-sex kiss on primetime television. Twenty years later, actors Kerr Smith and Adam Kaufman are reflecting on the impact of the monumental scene.

Speaking to Us Weekly on the 20^th anniversary of the kiss, Smith said that he knew there was a major cultural weight attached to the scene. “Nobody had really done it before, and I was being asked to do this,” said Smith. “I said, ‘All right, let’s make some history. Let’s change the way people think.’”

As for Kaufman, he told Us Weekly that he didn’t realize the impact the scene had until years later when a stranger became emotional while sharing his own coming out story. “[The scene] gave millions of people a story line that was reflective of their reality,” said Kaufman. “I’m so honored to have been a part of that.”

First introduced in Season 2, Kerr Smith played jock Jack McPhee, the new kid in school who quickly began dating Katie Holmes’ Joey. By the end of the season, Jack had come to the realization that he was gay, leading to an emotional coming out moment with his conservative father. Smith’s role on Dawson’s Creek was already an important shift for representation as Jack’s social standings as a popular jock with a pretty girlfriend expanded on the stereotype of how gay men were typically depicted in the media. Smith again made history in the Season 3 finale, when he kissed his crush Ethan, played by Kaufman. The kiss marked the first time a same sex couple had locked lips on network television and helped usher in a new generation of storytelling that was more inclusion. 

Dawson’s Creek writer Gina Fattore, who helped pen the iconic episode that also gave the internet a crying James Van Der Beek gif, said that the studio was nervous about the kiss. “A day before filming, the WB asked if the scene could be shot from across the street. They didn’t want it to be ‘too passionate,’” said Fattore.

Dawson’s Creek executive producer, writer and later showrunner Greg Berlanti, who went on to help create Riverdale, You and direct Love, Simon, was adamant that the scene be perfect. “The main thing I remember is Greg calling me that morning and yelling at me like he was an old-time movie mogul: ‘This has to be a real kiss! I want to see passion,’” said Fattore. “He couldn’t be on set that day, but the scene was so important to him, and I knew that I had to be his eyes and ears, and make sure the footage we got would work.”

Smith and Berlanti have recently reunited thanks to the actor’s new role on Riverdale, which features several gay characters and same sex relationships. “Look at any show today — comedy or drama — you’re going to have gay, lesbian and transgender characters. That’s the way it should be,” said Smith. “That was the goal back then. In society, we’ve made that transition and I’m very proud we did that.”

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