It seems kind of quaint nowadays, but at the time, Kerr Smith’s character struggling with his sexuality on “Dawson’s Creek” was a big deal. In fact, when Jack came out during a special two-parter episode, it was headline news. In an even more revolutionary moment, he shared a kiss with another male actor onscreen — the first of its kind on network television. “We were the first ones to do that,” Kerr confirmed with Too Fab.
Smith continued, “It was a crazy experience back then … Look at every single show now, it’s pretty amazing. There’s always a gay storyline, a lesbian storyline or whatever.” The teen icon also acknowledged it was a “huge” responsibility, especially since series creator Kevin Williamson is openly gay (though he wasn’t at the time). “Every character in ‘Dawson’s Creek’ is an extension of Kevin Williamson,” Smith explained.
He added, “I remember calling everybody I respected and said, ‘Hey should I do this?'” Moreover, “Doing the first male-male kiss, I remember it was intense. I’m glad we did it and it was part of history.” Smith still gets recognized as Jack, as he told Bustle, noting, “I understand why people still relate to Jack, because I think that character was a big part of a lot of people’s lives growing up. People that were going through the same situation.”
