Michelle Williams Says There's a Little 'Dawson's Creek' in Everything That She Does

It's been a long time since the Dawson's Creek crew shed their last tears (the show wrapped back in 2003), but Michelle Williams says that the decades since — including her acclaimed roles and all the awards she's earned — have always touched on her time in the fictional seaside town of Capeside. She even mentioned the beloved series during her acceptance speech at the Gotham Awards last year.

While many people would be quick to brush off the show as nothing but a soapy teen drama, Williams mentioned that she learned a lot about the intricacies of acting on the series, which also starred Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and James Van Der Beek. 

“Maybe there’s a connection between firstness and lastness, so I’m constantly reconnecting with my time on Dawson’s Creek because every project that I end somehow recalls that to me,” Williams told The New York Times. “But it was an incredible kind of training because you’re also learning these really fundamental things, like how to have a conversation with somebody where you’re looking them in the eye but some part of you is also scanning downward to hit your mark. It’s that kind of technical stuff that seems sort of silly and small that still comes in handy for me.”

Williams also mentioned that the show's greuling production schedule taught her a lot about discipline and work ethic. Of course, post-Dawson's Creek, she starred in similarly tear-jerking projects like Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, and Manchester by the Sea.

“So much dialogue, oh my god,” she said about the Dawson's Creek scripts, which were famously lambasted by just about every TV critic in the '00s. “Twelve pages a day, really verbose.” 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qrrSrbClnV6YvK57zKKaoZ2cobJuw8ilo6KZnah6pa3WrKanq12Yv6axymaYnKyZo7Rutc2fo66dnpiyboOPcmhtaWY%3D