From teen sweethearts on Dawson’s Creek to lifelong friends who reunited on screen decades later, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes have one of Hollywood’s most enduring bonds.
The two first met as teenagers when they were cast on the WB teen drama in 1997, and their connection has only deepened through breakups, career milestones and devastating loss.
Keep scrolling to look back at their friendship in their own words:
Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes’ Real-Life Romance
Before they were beloved TV couple Pacey and Joey, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes were the real deal. The actors — who were cast alongside James Van Der Beek and Michelle Williams on Dawson’s Creek in 1997 — dated for about a year after the show debuted in January 1998.
Holmes opened up about the relationship in a Rolling Stone interview that same year, saying she was “more apt to go for a dark-haired man.”
“I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always,” she admitted. “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 continued, “He’s been in the business so long, and he’s really helped me. I respect him as a friend and as a professional.”
Jackson later got candid about the ups and downs of working with an ex during a 2006 appearance on Late Night With Conan O’Brien.
“Katie and I did have a romance. Which is ancient history now, but I can’t tell you how much fun it is to have an actual romance, and then we broke up, and then a year later to have an onscreen romance,” he quipped. “Because there’s nothing more fun than going to work with your ex-girlfriend everyday.”
Looking into the camera, he added, “Sorry, Katie, I love you, but it was a little difficult there for a while.”
How Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes Stayed Close After the Show
The series wrapped in 2003, but Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes never lost touch. In April 2025, Jackson shared an update on their dynamic during an appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s on Me” podcast.
“Busy [Philipps] and Michelle [Williams] are very, very close, and Katie and I are very close,” Jackson said. “It’s not a daily call.”
He added, “Sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call. But when you’re together, A) there’s always that, like, I know you know. And B) these moments — like, these major moments — in life are, like, other than your husband, there’s probably no other people in your life that you are that forged to ‘cause you had to go through good and bad, and happy and ‘f*** you,’ and don’t talk to me and I love you. … But life happens.”
Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes Reunite for ‘Happy Hours’
In July 2025, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes were spotted filming together in New York City for Happy Hours, a film trilogy written and directed by Holmes that follows two young lovers who reconnect and rekindle their romance years later.
Holmes celebrated on Instagram, writing, “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.”
During a March 2026 interview on Today, Jackson called the experience “kind of magical.”
“She’s a lifelong friend now,” he said. “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, “We spent so much intense time at a particular moment in our lives and then we have maintained our friendship for all of these years, but we’ve never had a chance to be on camera together, and it was magic.”
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
