COVER
terone-heavy set was a shock for a
graduate of an all-girls Catholic high
school, but not necessarily a bad thing.
“I was surrounded by beautiful boys—
it’s a no-brainer,” she says. “I’m a bit of
a tomboy, so I can hang with the guys—
tell dirty jokes, do a shot of tequila.”
And help ward off the girls hanging
around for glimpses of Pacey? Jackson
swears his Dawson’s Creek fan base
was never a distraction: “We’re not
talking about massive throngs of peo
ple,” he demurs. “The scale is quite
manageable.” Bibb tells a slightly dif
ferent story: “I look at Josh and say,
‘These girls look at you like you’re
Andy Gibb. These girls look at you
like you’re Rob Lowe.’ ”
Cohen looks at Jackson with anoth
er actor in mind. “He has that liabili
ty—that Spencer Tracy quality,”
opines the director, who says Jackson
was his first choice for the role. The
deal was struck over a late-night pizza
in Wilmington, N.C., after Cohen and
writer-producer John Pogue (U.S.
Marshals) landed at the Dawson’s
Creek set in the middle of a snow
storm. “[His] wisdom is not in every
one of these young actors out there,”
says Cohen. “There are good-looking
young men, and actors with good abil
ities as performers. But Josh carries
with him an old-soul quality.”
Such experience may come in handy
if The Skulls raises any ire from its
real-life Yale counterpart, Skull and
Bones—a secret society that, like oth
ers in the Ivy League, graduates mem
bers to top power positions in business
and government (presidential candi
date Bush and his father are reportedly
alums). Although Pogue says he inten
tionally kept the university in his
screenplay generic, he drew on his own
time at Yale. “I had both a repulsion
and a perverse curiosity as to what ac
tually goes on,” says Pogue, who joined
PAUL WALKER
a secret society himself—although he
won’t say which one. “It’s a little hypo
critical on my part,” he admits.
In the end, Pogue expects to hear
few grumbles from any real secret so
ciety—he feels he actually polished
their image. “I believe there are things
that have gone down in real life a lot
worse than anything in this movie,” he
says ominously. An impressive boast,
considering the movie features sexual
favors, dueling, and death—all, of
course, in the name of a good time.
“It’s a fun movie,” Jackson says.
“You have a bunch of people who are
up-and-coming involved in this thing a
little bit above our station. We haven’t
had a chance to get jaded.” And it’s go
ing to be followed by more work: Bibb’s
Popular is expected to be picked up for
another season, Walker is reteaming
with Cohen for next year’s drag racing
thriller Racer X, Harper is starring in
CBS’ City of Angels, and Jackson ex
pects to spend another year on Daw
son’s Creek. In the meantime, he’s
keeping his star turn in perspective. “I
gave myself the challenge of seeing
whether I could survive carrying this
movie from start to finish,” he says.
“Regardless of whether people like the
film, I survived that test.” • • •