Celeb Close-Up: Behind the Scenes With Boy Buds Kerr Smith and Jason Boal

November 1999

Kerr Smith: plays Jack on Dawson’s Creek
His buddy: Jason Boal
Friends since: Fourth grade, when Jason moved to Kerr’s hometown in Pennsylvania.

YM: How do you guys know each other?

Kerr: The four of us — me, Jason and two other guys, Matt and Jim — all grew up together in Exton, PA. I didn’t like Jason at first because he moved into town and took my kickball spot.

YM: How often do you see each other now?

Kerr: About twice a year. They all came down to Wilmington, NC, to visit me for a weekend this past summer.

YM: What’d you guys do?

Kerr: I just bought a Jet-Ski, so we were in the water all weekend, foolin’ around. We were gonna play golf, but we never managed to fit that in.

YM: What kinds of things did you do that weekend that you wouldn’t have done if girls had been there?

Kerr: We pretty much just acted like idiots. Jim’s a maniac and just goes insane. We had a party one night, and he was just dirty dancing with this pole in the middle of my living room, and everybody was cheering and egging him on. And if my girlfriend had been there, she’d have been like, “Don’t you dare join him”

YM: So in some ways you act different when girls are around?

Kerr: There’s just an element of “the girls are here, we need to tone it down a few notches.” Like sometimes when we’re out, Matt does this thing where he’ll suddenly turn to Jim and go, “Hey, Jim, did you take your medication?” and Jim’ll go, “Oh, no! Oh, no!” And he throws a fake seizure, starts foaming at the mouth, drops on the floor, and flops around like a fish out of water. It’s hysterical, but it’s kind of sick, too, because to somebody who actually does have seizures, it’s pretty rude.

Jason: It can be difficult for girls to fit in, because when you’ve been friends as long as we have you just know each other so well. We’ll sing a Monty Python song or something that’s funny to us but not to everyone. All of us have good girlfriends, but obviously there are times when you just want to let loose with the guys.

YM: What do you talk about when you’re just out with the guys?

Kerr: Women basically. And we go over stories from the past — it’s fun to reminisce.

Jason: We rarely get into deep discussions, though. Most of the time we’re just busting on each other. Girls would probably get sick of it within a half-hour.

YM: Do you ever talk about your friendship?

Jason: Never.

YM: And you never feel like you want to get deeper?

Jason: I think our friendships are pretty much perfect. I wouldn’t change anything.

YM: Is there anything you think you understand about Jason that his girlfriend doesn’t?

Kerr: No, I think that she understands him better than I do.

YM: How many details do you spill to each other about your girlfriends?

Jason: Few and far between. Once in awhile if you’re going through a hard time you call and lean on each other, without getting too emotional. Like I was in a long-distance relationship for awhile, so if one of the guys was going through that they’d ask me for advice. But we don’t talk on the phone till one or two in the morning or anything like that.

YM: Have you ever gotten emotional about girls in front of each other?

Kerr: Are you kidding? If I ever got all mushy on those guys about my girlfriend, they would just bust on me. So we don’t cross that line.

YM: Is it okay to make fun of someone else’s annoying girlfriend?

Kerr: Again, grounds for heckling.

YM: So you’ve dated some girls that the others didn’t like?

Kerr: I went out with this girl for a few months who was gorgeous but she was totally insane, and my friends were like, “Kerr, what are you doing? You’re asking for a world of hurt.” It took me awhile to come around. So they definitely helped me.

YM: What else is grounds for heckling?

Jason: Almost anything.

Kerr: Matt took my sister to the senior prom. He came over to my house, and we were all hiding on the balcony with a video camera, taping him getting out of his car with his tux on, giving her a corsage. And when they went out to the car, he didn’t open the door for her! To this day, we have not let him live that one down.

YM: Do you ever get pissed at each other?

Jason: Of we’re busting on each other and someone happens to be vulnerable for some reason, sure. But it’s very rare.

Kerr: There’s only one time I can remember when I actually fought with any of them. I had just had some surgery done on my mouth, so my gums were really sensitive. Jim was fooling around and wasn’t thinking and gave me one of those fish hooks — where you stick your fingers in the side of someone’s mouth and pull — and I got real pissed and then I hit him pretty hard.

YM: Did you ever hold a grudge?

Kerr: Maybe for an hour or two. But guys don’t really hold grudges.

YM: If a buddy wouldn’t call you for a long time, would you be mad?

Jason: No. I mean, if we didn’t hear from someone we’d probably make sure everything was all right, but we all understand everyone’s busy.

YM: What do you think makes you friendship so special?

Kerr: Our sense of humor is the same, just totally off the wall.

Jason: We really care about each other, but we don’t have to make an effort to make it work. We could sit around and eat potato chips — it’s always good just being together.

Kerr: We just know each other so well. When the four of us get together, it’s like we’re all 15 years old again. I like that childish aspect of our friendship.