› Big Screen Big Break (Pop Star magazine)
With almost two years on the hit WB drama Dawson's Creek under his belt, Kerr Smith (aka Jack McPhee) is enjoying every minute of it. The series is filmed down in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Kerr told us he *likes* being away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood.
"It's a unique combination. You get to have a really cool job, yet live somewhat of a normal life in a normal paced town."
But it's not *all* about TV — Kerr was recently featuring in the film Final Destination, in his first major role.
"It's a thriller/drama and it's actually kind of funny, too. It's a unique combination where you have some nice sci fi and horror, and you have some twisted comedy in there."
Kerr was charming when we spoke and had a blast at our exclusive photo shoot — sometimes nice guys *do* finish first!
Popstar!: How's everything on DC?
Kerr: It's pretty good. It's the third season and we've got more cast members on the show now. We're going full steam ahead. It's a lot of fun!
Do you get a lot of fans coming to the set?
Actually, we do. The local people in Wilmington have pretty much had it with us blocking up the street downtown and taking over UNC-W. But there are a lot of people this year and last year that have started to come from out of town. I've even met people who've coming from as far as Australia and the UK. Apparently, we're really big internationally, now.
It's weird...I can't imagine it. I've never been to Europe or Australia, so if I went over there and someone down the street like, "Hey, you're the guy...", I'd be like, "What the?!" [Laughs]
It's just weird that it reaches everybody.
Some friends of mine are teachers and they have Dawson's Creek chats on Thursdays right after show. All of the kids are talking about it anyway, apparently, so they just sit down and devote some class time to it.
How did you feel when they brought up the whole storyline about your character being gay? Were you okay with that?
Yeah. To be honest with you, I was a little nervous. I didn't know what kind of response we were going to get. But it was positive and it still is. Ninety percent of my fans are still females. [Laughs] They don't care.
I was originally hired to create a love triangle between Dawson, Joey and Jack. We kind of played that out over the first six, seven, eight, nine episodes. And we just decided to go down a different avenue with Jack. I was completely excited. It's osmething that I've never played before.
And it's something that's not seen a lot on teen TV.
Exactly. It was really a ground-breaking effort on everybody's part. Nobody's ever really done a gay character who was truly telling their story of someone struggling with their sexuality. We told it from being in the closet, to coming out to his family and friends, dealing with the repercussions of that. It's just an enormous amount of opportunatiy for all kinds of stories with Jack. The writers really never have a hard time writing for me. [Laughs]
Are you good friends with the rest of the cast?
It's a unique situation. The six of us are kinda trapped down there, so I think we've becoming closer than most people would on L.A. sets.
Do you guys joke around a lot?
I played this trick on Katie once. Last year, I had to do this episode where I had to be naked for the entire day. I knew it was going to be a long day and I thought I'd break the ice for myself and everybody. So I went to wardrobe and had them stuff a sock for me. Then I went to rehearsal and I had my boxers on and I had a robe over my boxers, and I had the sock in my boxers. At some point during the scene, my robe comes off — with a three-foot sock slinking out of my shorts! [Laughs]
Everybody was cracking up. Katie thought it was the real thing and she was scared to death. She couldn't look at me the rest of the day.
What's been your fave episode so far?
I'd have to say the most interesting for me was when Jack comes out to his dad. That was the most challenging work I've had thus far on the show.
Any hints for upcoming stories on the show?
Honestly, I don't even know what's going to happen in the next script! [Laughs]
Tell me about your new movie Final Destination.
One of the guys has a premonition before a plane takes off, we get into a big fight, we get kicked off and then it blows up. It turns out he was right. So now the FBI is all over him and we're all over him. And then we find out that death is catching up with each one of these survivors, knocking them off one by one.
It's unique in the way that they did it. It's not your typical slasher movie where there's a guy running around with a knife stabbing kids. Death is represented in a very general way. There's no physical person running around. There's no grim reaper. Right before it happens, things are just a little off.
The movie itself is about cheating death. What we're trying to get across is that everybody is going to die at some point in their life. Enjoy every moment of your life, because you can die tomorrow. I think that's how you feel when you leave the theatre.
What was it like doing your first big movie?
It was pretty exciting. It's a big-budget movie. WE did a lot of green-screen stuff, which was new for me. You really have to whip your imagination, which is fun, since that's kind of the way I act anyway. I've always wanted to do action-packed movies and this has some action in it. The plane-crack sequence is amazing.
What are your career goals?
To do everything. I dion't know what I like, I don't know what I'm good at it — if I'm good at anything! [Laughs] Just to give everything a shot and keep plugging away.