{"id":522900,"date":"2026-06-28T16:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522900\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T16:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:54:08","slug":"katie-holmes-joshua-jackson-on-hope-in-reunion-movie-happy-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522900\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson on Hope in Reunion Movie Happy Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDawson\u2019s Creek fans have been excited about the Katie Holmes<\/a>\u2013Joshua Jackson<\/a> reunion at the heart of Holmes\u2019 latest film Happy Hours<\/a> since the first paparazzi photos emerged of the two actors walking down a New York City sidewalk.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut there was something broader that sparked Holmes\u2019 idea for her latest work as a writer and director, which premiered earlier this month at the Tribeca<\/a> Festival: the increased social isolation that many people have felt since the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked what she hoped audiences grappling with those feelings of loneliness and a struggle to connect emotionally could take away from the film, Holmes told The Hollywood Reporter that she hoped people would \u201cfeel a sense of compassion for themselves and others and a sense of hope and that we can have fun again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJackson added, \u201cAnd that love is possible; life is long; there\u2019s no given path; there\u2019s no shelf life, and you\u2019re going to be OK. It feels like knowing that you can take a deep breath and be OK right now is more important than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn putting together the cast for the film, Holmes didn\u2019t just rely on her familiarity with Jackson, she also looked to the actors she\u2019d worked with in the 2024 Broadway production of Our Town. Castmembers John McGinty, Donald Webber Jr. and Sky Smith were all part of the company of the Broadway production. McGinty had also worked with Jackson on Children of a Lesser God, describing joining Happy Hours as a \u201cnatural progression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWebber recalled how he and Holmes \u201cbecame close friends\u201d through their work on Our Town, and he was intrigued at the prospect of working with her on a project she wanted to direct.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI thought there\u2019s no way that this incredible person, incredible actress, incredible everything is also going to be an incredible director. And it turns out she was also an incredible director. I think people will see in the film,\u201d Webber said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the things that she\u2019s able to get out of us because I think she\u2019s an actor\u2019s director.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIndeed, as Holmes explained in a post-screening conversation with the cast and Tribeca Festival<\/a> director and senior vp, programming Cara Cusumano, she and Webber would discuss the progress of this film during their time on Our Town.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAfter the death scene every night, we would chitchat on the stairs,\u201d Holmes said, addressing Webber. \u201cYou really pushed me to keep going, and you\u2019d be like, \u2018How\u2019d that pitch go? And I\u2019d be like, \u2018Waiting to hear,\u2019 or, \u2018We\u2019re going to keep trying.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier, in her introductory remarks, Holmes spoke about how the film reflects the value of interpersonal connections and community.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis film was made in the spirit of what Tribeca Film Festival is all about. What you\u2019re about to see is a beautiful community of artists who inspire one another and support one another and who said yes to this experience,\u201d she said. \u201cCollaborating is not only fun but also essential and quite magical. We had a truly magical time making this film. And I thank everyone for sharing this vision with me. \u2026 Tonight is about this cast and crew. I truly love each and every one of you and I really wanted the camera to echo the light in each of you. Josh, thank you for sharing this space with me again. You created the ideal creative experience for me years ago and again on this film. This film is about connection and reconnection and our individual experiences that shape how we come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor other actors, like Joe Tippett and Jack Martin, who plays the younger version of Jackson\u2019s character and is part of the ensemble cast of Hulu\u2019s Not Suitable for Work<\/a>, it was the script that drew them to what Holmes envisions as a trilogy in the spirit of Richard Linklater\u2019s Before films.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was one of the best scripts I\u2019ve ever read,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt was phenomenal. I love romance movies \u2014 they\u2019re some of my favorite movies, that genre. And this was just beautifully written, very authentic dialogue, incredible relationships, it really moved me emotionally reading it, which is rare for me. And Katie\u2019s such a talent; she\u2019s so incredible. It was one of those things where every single day that I was a part of it was better than the last. Everybody was just so kind and generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMartin, Tippett and castmember Chlo\u00eb Kerwin all spoke to Holmes\u2019 supportive approach as a director.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe\u2019s just so encouraging and makes you feel like you\u2019re on the right track always,\u201d Kerwin said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd Tippett joked, \u201cShe knows how to talk to actors and convince you you\u2019re coming up with all of the ideas when they\u2019re really hers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMcGinty adds of Holmes, \u201cShe\u2019s like a collaborator really. She\u2019s amazing because she\u2019s so open to so many different ideas, and it wasn\u2019t like there was one way to do anything. She would ask what my ideas were, how to bring the character into life and think about what it would look like on the screen. Every time I work with her I learn about her as a person, as a human, on an intellectual level, on every level. I\u2019m just so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut, the reunion with Jackson is still of the most interest to fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tWebber offered a slight tease, \u201cEverybody asks me, \u2018Do they get together in the movie? Do they stay together?\u2019 Without giving anything away, all I can say is it was a reunion that\u2019s worth the wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd castmember Constance Wu shared her thoughts on why people are so eager to see the Dawson\u2019s Creek alums together again.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHistory between two people, which is kind of what this movie is about, that\u2019s something that you can\u2019t fake,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is such a richness to their history, even by virtue of the time that they\u2019ve known each other. They saw each other grow up, and that is a beautiful thing. And to look at that and appreciate that is very worthy of the big screen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dawson\u2019s Creek fans have been excited about the Katie Holmes\u2013Joshua Jackson reunion at the heart of Holmes\u2019 latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,29244,29243,76512,4915,51387,208795,171121],"class_list":["post-522900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-joshua-jackson","tag-katie-holmes","tag-movie-premieres","tag-red-carpet","tag-tribeca","tag-tribeca-2026","tag-tribeca-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}