Joshua Jackson is back at it—and no, he’s not sailing the seas on a medical adventure as Dr. Odyssey, but rather, he’s crashing the stage at the 2024 Emmys like a nostalgic wrecking ball. The 46-year-old actor (yes, time flies, but Joshua Jackson does not age—he just upgrades) strolled onto the stage, arm-in-arm with Matt Bomer, to present the coveted Governors Award to Greg Berlanti. But wait! Drama alert!
Just as his foot hit the stage, the auditory time machine kicked in. Cue the unmistakable sounds of Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.” Yes, that’s the theme song from Dawson’s Creek, the show that made teens everywhere weep, cringe, and desperately try to understand their feelings.
Joshua, ever the showman, smiled like a man who just stumbled across his high school yearbook in a thrift store. “Ah, yes, this song,” he said with the kind of grin you give when you’re both embarrassed and deeply proud of the questionable hairstyle choices from your youth. He leaned into it though, embracing his Pacey Witter glory days—because let’s face it, who wouldn’t?
For those living under a rock (or perhaps just a really solid Wi-Fi signal), Joshua played the lovable, perpetually troubled Pacey Witter on Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2003—back when The WB still existed and wasn’t yet The CW, where the drama was dialed up to 11 and teenage angst reigned supreme.
Oh, and Greg Berlanti, the Emmy winner of the hour? He was the mastermind writer and executive producer of Dawson’s Creek. Basically, Greg helped engineer all those teary-eyed moments where you yelled at the TV, “WHY WON’T JOEY JUST PICK PACEY ALREADY?!”
Joshua Jackson, Matt Bomer, Paula Cole’s classic banger, and a whole lot of nostalgia made for a legendary Emmy moment—because if there’s one thing better than Joshua Jackson on stage, it’s Joshua Jackson on stage with a killer 90s soundtrack playing in the background.
@entertainmenttonight Joshua Jackson was genuinely shook when the Emmys made him walk out on stage to the 'Dawson's Creek' theme song. 😭