These Photos Of The 'Dawson's Creek' 20-Year Reunion Will Bring A Tear To Your Eye

One of the most influential teen dramas of the '90s debuted on television 20 years ago. To celebrate the milestone, and its six seasons coming to Hulu, Entertainment Weekly is releasing multiple Dawson Creek reunion covers. The magazine hits stands on Friday, but it's already getting fans excited with its photos of the lead actors all back together again and promises of untold stories from when the show was in production from 1998 to 2003.

The massive Dawson's Creek reunion includes a joint interview with much of the former cast: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, Busy Philipps, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, and Mary Beth Peil. The show's creator Kevin Williamson (Scream andVampire Diaries), who loosely based the plot on his own life growing up on a creek in North Carolina with dreams of becoming a filmmaker, spoke candidly about the show's origins and what it was like to develop his first series.

There are also multiple covers of the issue available for all of the nostalgic fan's needs. The five covers are set in front of a rustic, Dawson's Creek-reminiscent dock, with an option for an individual shot of Dawson (Van Der Beek), Joey (Holmes), or Pacey (Jackson), as well as a cover with just Jen (Williams) with her IRL best friend Audrey (Philipps) together or one with the original core four members Dawson, Pacey, Joey, and Jen standing together.

If you're thinking to yourself, "I don't wanna wait for this work week to be over, I want to know right now what the actors say," there's a one-hour reunion video that was released on PeopleTV on Wednesday ahead of the magazine.

In the video, the former cast and Williamson shared what the show meant for their lives and careers, and why they think Dawson's Creek has remained such a culture touchstone. According to Monroe, who played Andie McPhee, the young actors were close while filming the show on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. "It was like growing up together,” Monroe said.

She added, "I felt like I was so grateful that it was shooting in Wilmington. We all got to really connect in a way that I don’t think we would have had we been in New York or L.A."

Williams echoed those thoughts, sharing just how much the series meant to her and fans. "I loved that we were able to get in there in those formative years for people," she said. "That’s why people, I think, are so connected to it. When something affects you while you were growing up, it kind of stays in there forever."

Of course, for super fans already acquainted with the Dawson's Creek origin story, the interview and magazine also includes a fair amount of anecdotes from the actors about how their lives while working on the show as well as how they really felt about their characters and the series. Case in point, Van Der Beek also agreed with viewers who found Dawson to be a bit cloying. He explained,

"There’s so much about Dawson that annoyed me. I mean I love that he was sensitive and I love that he was very open and not trying to be a jock, so I loved the vulnerability there, that was something I was very happy to bring out, but the rest of it I found pretty annoying to be honest with you."

The whole video serves a great primer for viewers who haven't watched the coming-of-age series in a while or missed it when it originally aired. To see more pictures from the reunion, check out the EW story here. You can also relive all the sweet romantic moments by marathoning the show on Hulu.