Inside Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes’ Friendship: The Quotes That Say It All
From Dawson’s Creek teen sweethearts to on-screen reunions decades later, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes have turned a set crush into one of Hollywood’s most enduring bonds—surviving breakups, reinventions, and time itself.
Some TV couples fade when the cameras stop. Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes did the opposite: they grew up, stayed friends, and somehow circled back to work together again decades later. It is both extremely wholesome and a little surreal in the best way.
Back when Pacey and Joey were actually dating
Quick rewind to 1997: the WB casts Jackson and Holmes (alongside James Van Der Beek and Michelle Williams) in Dawson's Creek. The show premieres in January 1998, becomes a teen juggernaut, and yes, the two leads behind the slow-burn ship actually date in real life for about a year after the debut.
Holmes told Rolling Stone in 1998 that she tended to go for dark-haired guys, and then dropped this about Jackson, which pretty much melted an entire generation of dial-up modems:
'I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always. And that I feel so fortunate because he's now one of my best friends. It's weird, it's almost like a Dawson-and-Joey type thing now.'
She also credited him for helping her navigate the business early on and said she respected him as both a friend and a pro. The on-and-off-screen symmetry here was very on-brand for late-90s WB melodrama.
Then came the fun part: acting with your ex
The show ran until 2003, which meant a lot of post-breakup screen time. Jackson joked about the awkward charm of it all on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in 2006: 'Katie and I did have a romance... Because there's nothing more fun than going to work with your ex-girlfriend everyday.' He capped it with, 'Sorry, Katie, I love you, but it was a little difficult there for a while.'
Post-Creek: the friendship holds
More than 20 years out, they still check in, even if it's not constant. On Jesse Tyler Ferguson's podcast 'Dinner's on Me' in April 2025, Jackson said Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams remain very close, and that he and Holmes are too — just not in a call-you-every-day way. As he put it, it's 'not a daily call' — sometimes not even weekly, monthly, or semiannual — but when they do reconnect, there's an unspoken 'I know you know' shorthand. He also acknowledged they were forged by the whole ride together — the highs, the lows, the 'f*** you' phases, and everything in between.
2025: A very meta reunion on set
In July 2025, they were spotted filming in New York City for Happy Hours — a film trilogy (yes, trilogy) written and directed by Holmes. The story tracks two young lovers who reconnect years later and rekindle their romance, which is... not exactly subtle casting, and I mean that as a compliment. Holmes posted about it on Instagram, saying, 'I am so very grateful to be working again with so many of my wonderful friends on this film HAPPY HOURS. And working with Josh after so many years is a testament to friendship.'
2026: Jackson sums it up
By March 2026, Jackson was on Today and got a little reflective about the whole experience, from Creek-era intensity to reuniting on camera. His bottom line:
'She's a lifelong friend now... and for us to get to go back and be able to do this again and honestly for her to create that space for us, was kind of magical.'
He added that despite staying close all these years, they had never actually been back on camera together until Happy Hours — and when they finally did, it felt like, well, magic.
Quick timeline
- 1997: Cast together on Dawson's Creek (with James Van Der Beek and Michelle Williams).
- Jan 1998: Show premieres; Jackson and Holmes date for about a year after the debut.
- 1998: Holmes tells Rolling Stone about her first love and how they remained close.
- 2003: Dawson's Creek ends.
- 2006: Jackson jokes on Late Night With Conan O'Brien about acting opposite his ex.
- April 2025: On 'Dinner's on Me,' Jackson explains how he and Holmes stay connected, even without frequent check-ins.
- July 2025: Filming begins in NYC on Holmes' Happy Hours, a film trilogy about rekindled romance; she calls working with Jackson again a testament to friendship.
- March 2026: Jackson tells Today the reunion was 'kind of magical' and calls Holmes a lifelong friend.
Long story short: teen co-stars become real-life couple, then exes, then lifelong friends who wind up filming a romance about, well, reconnecting exes. Sometimes the universe really leans into a theme.