STATS: Real Name: James Van Der Beek Occupation: Actor Birthday: March 8, 1977 Birth Place: Cheshire, CT Sign: Taurus Contact Address: James Van Der Beek c/o Dawson's Creek WB Network 4000 Warner Blvd. Burbank, CA 91522

A Little Bit About... In case you haven't heard (or change channels after Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Dawson's Creek is the semiautobiographical creation of Kevin Williamson, the red-hot screenwriter of Scream, Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Set in a breezy coastal Massachusetts town, it follows four teens caught somewhere between the worlds of David Mamet and Beverly Hills, 90210 as they struggle to come of age. "He lets [teens] speak eloquently about the things that are plaguing them," says Van Der Beek, who plays title character Dawson Leery, "and they aren't always necessarily able to do that." In the first episode, Dawson's childhood gal pal Joey (The Ice Storm's Katie Holmes) explains why she won't sleep over anymore: "I just think our emerging hormones are destined to alter our relationship, and I'm trying to limit the fallout." He talks her into staying anyway, and sexual tension begins to build even before the opening credits do. Dawson's Creek's Links James Van Der Beek Michelle Williams Joshua Jackson Katie Holmes A bittersweet slant defines the show's focal point, the bond between soul mates Dawson and Joey. Her shattered family life contrasts starkly with his cozy existence, and when he starts dating Jen (Michelle Williams), the new girl on the block, Joey has her first brush with the green-eyed monster. Though Holmes, 18, claims to be a stranger to unrequited love, she can relate. "Everybody goes through that stage of having a crush on somebody without realizing it, or realizing it and not feeling the same way," she says. "You just combine all that, and you get somewhere in the middle of Joey and Dawson's relationship."