They were the couple of the ’90s, co-stars-turned-lovers whose real-life love story was the thing of teenage dreams.
And Dawson’s Creek fans everywhere were bursting with excitement to see Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes back together in New York last week, as it’s revealed the actor has always felt that Katie was the one that got away.
“The sparks have never stopped flying between Josh and Katie. They literally are each other’s childhood sweetheart, so it’s lovely to see them come together like this after so many years of highs and lows, certainly when it comes to romance,” an insider tells Woman’s Day.
The pair – who met playing teens Pacey Witter and Joey Potter in the coming-of-age drama in 1998 – famously dated on the downlow during the first two seasons of the hit show.
Each cited the other as their first love and, while their romance didn’t last, they remained close.
Now, 22 years after the series wrapped, Katie, 46, and Joshua, 47, have come together again for her film Happy Hours, where they’ll play a couple onscreen for the second time.
“Working with Josh after so many years is a testament to friendship,” Katie says of the film, which she will write, star in and direct. “[It’s] a love story that includes so many people I adore.”
Insiders suggest Joshua is hoping the creative reunion will also bring him and Katie back together romantically…
“Josh and Katie have never had a bad word to say about each other,” the source says. “Josh is thrilled to be spending so much time with her for this project. It’s true she was the one who got away and the deep-rooted reason why his relationships with other women haven’t worked out.”
Indeed, while Joshua is known to be a relationship guy and has been in several notable long, high-profile romances over the years, lasting love has thus far eluded him.
MEANT TO BE
Joshua was famously in a serious long-term relationship with Inglourious Basterds star Diane Kruger from 2006 until 2016 and is said to have been heartbroken by their split – while his ex felt “liberated”.
But his heart was mended when he met Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith two years later. The couple were married on August 18, 2019, and welcomed daughter Juno on April 13, 2020. Unfortunately, their union wasn’t to be, and the British actress filed for divorce in October 2023.
Katie too has struggled to find The One. Soon after she and Joshua broke up, she began dating American Pie star Chris Klein and they were engaged in 2003. Two years later, however, they broke up.
In April that same year, she moved on with Top Gun star Tom Cruise, who proposed after a whirlwind seven weeks of dating – and that infamous Oprah Winfrey couch jump!
A year to the day after they got together, the couple’s daughter Suri was born, and they were married on November 18 that year in a Scientologist ceremony, after Katie converted early in their relationship.
Of course, their marriage lasted just five-and-a-half years, with Katie filing for divorce in June 2012. Now both single and with Katie an empty nester since Suri, 19, began her studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, last year, our source notes the timing has never been better for Katie and Joshua to give things another shot.
“There’s so much unfinished business between them, it’s only a matter of time before they take the next step,” they say. “It’s rare that they’re both single at the same time and it’s been a pretty lonely world for Katie since Suri left for college. She’s enjoying being wined and dined by her first true love.”
AN ENDURING LOVE
Even before their new film was announced, the former couple had reconnected for another special reason – to discuss the Dawson’s Creek cast possibly reuniting for a one-off special in support of cast member James Van Der Beek, who was sadly diagnosed with colorectal cancer last November.
According to our source, Katie and Josh have been “incredibly excited” at the prospect of all working together again, not least because talks about the project and how they can support James and his family had them meeting “on a regular basis”.
“They adore each other. They finish each other’s sentences and have the same wicked humour that drew them together back in the ’90s,” our insider says.
