WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – More than two decades after leaving Wilmington, actor Kerr Smith still has a place in southeastern North Carolina that he visits in his mind when he wants to get away from it all.
“I close my eyes and I go to my happy place, it’s Masonboro Island,” Smith writes in his new book, I Don’t Want to Wait: My Life on Dawson’s Creek.
Smith, who played Jack McPhee for five seasons on the WB series that filmed around the Port City, says he hasn’t been back to the island — or to Wilmington — since the series ended in 2003. That is about to change. The new author is returning to the city for a panel discussion and book signing this Sunday, November 15, at Hollywood East Brewseum. Much like he outlines in his new book, Smith is planning to share stories about the show, his path into acting and the place that became home to the hit show’s cast and crew.
“I think it was time,” Smith said of writing the book. “It may have taken me 25 years to truly understand how remarkable a job that was and what a fantastic time that I had in Wilmington. You know, I just felt like the story needed to be told. It deserved to be told.”
Smith said he spent two years writing his first book, interviewing many of the people who developed and worked on Dawson’s Creek, including its creator Kevin Williamson. It looks back at the work and friendships that grew out of the series’ six-year run. He believes filming in Wilmington helped create a bond that might have been harder to find in Los Angeles or New York.
“We were a family,” he said. “Because we were all in Wilmington, we weren’t in Los Angeles. So it was kind of a camp type of atmosphere that was really special. I don’t think the show would have been the same had we shot it in Los Angeles. Because you go to work, then you go home, you have your own life. But when you’re in Wilmington, you’re all on location. So you’re kind of forced together. And that created some real friendships between us and a pretty special experience.”
At first, the slower pace of life in Wilmington took some getting used to. Smith remembered coming from New York and growing impatient early on while waiting for change at a local gas station. After several months, his perspective changed.
“I can’t get my change fast enough, I can’t get out of there fast enough, and for about four or five months, that’s how it was for me,” he remembers. “And then all of a sudden, I realized, this is great! This is the way you should live. Slow it down and enjoy every moment of it.”
In one of my favorite lines of the book, Smith writes that “Wilmington is the kind of place that gets under your skin without permission.” His memories of Masonboro Island help explain why. Crew members with boats and others with Jet Skis would meet at Dockside in Wrightsville Beach, load up and head to the island for a day on the water.
“Anytime the weather was decent enough, we were at Masonboro,” Smith said. “We would all congregate at Dockside (restaurant), take everybody out to Masonboro, sometimes we hit Figure Eight, but it was usually Masonboro, and just had a great time all day long.”
The book title echoes Paula Cole’s song, familiar to Dawson’s fans as the show’s theme. But Smith says I Don’t Want to Wait also describes the ambitious young actor he was at the time.
“You know, I didn’t want to wait for anything, next career move, next chapter,” the now 54-year-old veteran actor says. “So it signifies that desire to move, to prove, to do. I just thought it kind of summed me up pretty well back then.”
A friend gave Smith the book Acting: The First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavsky, when he was 23. It helped motivate him to pursue his passion. So did the encouragement of his parents, who supported his decision to sell his Bronco and move to New York to pursue an acting career.
“They were wise enough to send their son out into the world to follow his dreams,” Smith said. “Because I think my parents understood that I didn’t want to be that guy later on in life saying, ‘Man, I wish I would have given that a shot!’.”
Smith also writes about the groundbreaking storyline involving his character Jack, who show creator Williamson decided to introduce as a gay teenager. The finale of DC’s third season included a milestone moment: the first passionate kiss between two men on network television, when Jack kissed Ethan, the character played by Adam Kaufman. Smith recalls that both actors were nervous but understood the importance of the moment.
“When I interviewed Adam, he was like, ‘Man, you were nervous”. I was like, ‘Yeah, I was’. But don’t let him fool you. He was nervous too,” Smith says about the scene. “We knew that was the beginning of changing television, honestly. It was a historical moment in American television in prime time. We knew what we were getting into and we knew there was no turning back, but we were excited that we were going to do something that was truly groundbreaking.”
Smith remembers protesters outside the gates of then-Screen Gems Studios (now Cinespace Studios) along 23rd Street, where the show was filmed. But it was a letter from a series viewer that brought home the responsibility of playing Jack. The young man wrote that after watching Jack come out to his father (which happened in Season 2), he went to his parents and told them he was gay.
“I felt, I guess, relieved for him, happy for him,” Smith said. “But on the other side of that coin, I was terrified. Because I don’t know his family dynamic, nor should I. It’s not my business. But it was then I realized the impact of what we were doing. And it was then I realized the amount of responsibility that comes along with playing a character like Jack. So that was a big turning point for me.”
Smith’s trip to Wilmington for the book tour event will be his first visit to the city since the show ended. He will appear for a panel discussion and book signing at Hollywood East Brewseum, 1202 Market Street on Sunday, November 15. Doors open at noon, and a panel discussion and Q&A begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by the signing. For Smith, the trip is also a chance to return to a community that remains part of his life story.
“You guys live in such a beautiful town and I just can’t wait to get back,” he said. “It’s going to be really fun.”
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Kerr Smith as much as I did. His book is a fun read, and a trip back in time for many of us who used to see the Dawson’s Creek actors and crews as they worked on locations across the area.
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