# List of Dawson's Creek characters

The following is a list of characters for The WB teen television drama series, Dawson’s Creek (1998–2003). The series was created by Kevin Williamson and follows the lives of a group of close-knit friends who live in the fictional New England town of Capeside, Massachusetts.
The first season featured eight regular characters: the titular Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek); Dawson's childhood friend Joey Potter (Katie Holmes); new girl in town Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams); Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson), Dawson's other best friend; Gail Leery (Mary-Margaret Humes), Dawson's mother; Mitch Leery (John Wesley Shipp), Dawson's father; Bessie Potter (Nina Repeta), Joey's older sister; and Evelyn "Grams" Ryan, Jen's grandmother (Mary Beth Peil). In season two, siblings Jack (Kerr Smith) and Andie McPhee (Meredith Monroe) joined the series as recurring characters and became part of the main cast in subsequent seasons; though Andie was not present for season five, she appeared as a guest in season six. In season five, Audrey Liddell (Busy Phillips) was introduced as Joey's college roommate and became a recurring character that season, joining the main cast in season six.

## Main characters

| Character | Actor | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season |
| Character | Actor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Dawson Leery | James Van Der Beek | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Joey Potter | Katie Holmes | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Jen Lindley | Michelle Williams | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Pacey Witter | Joshua Jackson | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Gail Leery | Mary-Margaret Humes | Main | Main | Main | Main | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mitchell "Mitch" Leery | John Wesley Shipp | Main | Main | Main | Main | Guest | |
| Evelyn "Grams" Ryan | Mary Beth Peil | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Bessie Potter | Nina Repeta | Main | Main | Main | Main | Recurring | Recurring |
| Jack McPhee | Kerr Smith | | Recurring | Main | Main | Main | Main |
| Andie McPhee | Meredith Monroe | | Recurring | Main | Main | | Guest |
| Audrey Liddell | Busy Phillips | | | | | Recurring | Main |

## Recurring characters

The following is a list of characters that were recurring guests on the series; they are listed in the order that they first appeared on the show. Some characters have had story lines that spanned multiple seasons, while others are restricted to arcs that occurred during a single season of the show.
| Character | Actor | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season |
| Character | Actor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Gramps Ryan | Ed Grady | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Tamara Jacobs | Leann Hunley | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Lillian "Lily" Leery | Kristen Solt | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Nellie Oleson | Nicole Nieth | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Kristy Livingstone | Ali Larter | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Abby Morgan | Monica Keena | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Cliff Elliot | Scott Foley | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Bodie Wells | Obi Ndefo | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Doug Witter | Dylan Neal | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Billy Konrad | Eion Bailey | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mike Potter | Gareth Williams | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Mr. Peterson | Edmund J. Kearney | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Chris Wolfe | Jason Behr | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| John Witter | John Finn | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Devon | Rachael Leigh Cook | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Tyson "Ty" Hicks | Eddie Mills | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Joseph McPhee | David Dukes | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Nicole Kennedy | Mädchen Amick | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Eve Whitman | Brittany Daniel | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Rob Logan | Niklaus Lange | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Belinda McGovern | Vanessa Dorman | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Henry Parker | Michael Pitt | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Nikki Green | Bianca Lawson | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Principal Howard Green | Obba Babatundé | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Marcy Bender | Aubrey Dollar | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| A.J. Moller | Robin Dunne | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Ethan | Adam Kaufman | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Buzz Thompson | Jonathan Lipnicki | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Will Krudski | Rodney Scott | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Gretchen Witter | Sasha Alexander | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mrs. Valentine | Carolyn Hennesy | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Drue Valentine | Mark Matkevich | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Arthur "A.I." Brooks | Harve Presnell | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Principal Peskin | Harry Shearer | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Tobey Barrett | David Monahan | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Melanie Shea Thompson | Jennifer Morrison | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Professor David Wilder | Ken Marino | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Dr. Rachel Weir | Pauley Perrette | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Heather Tracy | Nicole Bilderback | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Charlie Todd | Chad Michael Murray | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Todd Carr | Hal Ozsan | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Karen Torres | Lourdes Benedicto | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Danny Brecher | Ian Kahn | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Eric | Ryan Bittle | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Oliver Chirchick | Jordan Bridges | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Amy Lloyd | Meredith Salenger | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Clifton Smalls | Afemo Omilami | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Alexandra "Alex" Pearl | Sherilyn Fenn | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Emma Jones | Megan Gray | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Professor Greg Hetson | Roger Howarth | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Eddie Doling | Oliver Hudson | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Professor Matt Freeman | Sebastian Spence | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| C.J. | Jensen Ackles | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Rich Rinaldi | Dana Ashbrook | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Natasha Kelly | Bianca Kajlich | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Harley Hetson | Mika Boorem | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| David | Greg Rikaart | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Sadia Shaw | Sarah Shahi | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Helen Lindley | Mimi Rogers | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |
| Jack Osbourne | himself | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Does not appear | Recurring |

## Notable guest appearances

* Melissa McBride as Nina in "Road Trip" and Melanie "In All Good Things..."
* Mel Harris as Helen Lindley in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
* Julie Bowen as Aunt Gwen in "Stolen Kisses"
* Danny Roberts as Jean-Jean in "Coming Home"
* Jane Lynch as Mrs. Witter in "The Te of Pacey"
* Pat Hingle as Irv the Mechanic in "Eastern Standard Time"
* Andy Griffith as Andrew Lanier in "A Winter's Tale"
* Eddie Cahill as Max Winter in "Everything Put Together Falls Apart"
* Ray Wise as Roger Stepavich in "All the Right Moves"
* Seth Rogen as Bob in "Rock Bottom"
* Paul Gleason as Larry Newman in "Sex and Violence"

### Special cameo appearances

* No Doubt as themselves in "Spiderwebs"
* Adam Carolla as himself in "Lovelines"
* Dr. Drew Pinsky as himself in "Lovelines"