You'd think Joshua Jackson would be used to hearing Paula Cole's “I Don't Want to Wait” by now, after the 1997 song opened his teen drama series. Dawson's Creek for six seasons on the WB in the late '90s and early 2000s. However, he was still caught off guard on Sunday night (September 15) when he took the stage at the 2024 Emmys and the familiar No. 11 executives Billboard Hot 100 hit played over it.
Jackson was with Matt Bomer to present the next award, and the moment the song played, the two actors burst out laughing. “Oh yeah, that song,” Jackson laughed when he got to the microphone.
It was a fitting song for the moment because Jackson and Bomer presented Greg Berlanti with the Emmys' Governors Award for his work bringing LGBTQ+ representation to network television, including the first romantic gay kiss on Dawson's Creek in 2000. Berlanti's first television work began Dawson's Creek and graduated to executive producer in Season 3, overseeing the stories of Jackson's Pacey Whitters and the rest of the Massachusetts Capeside Gang.
Emmys viewers immediately took to social media to celebrate the nostalgic TV moment and Paula Cole's soundtrack, with one user X writing: “Joshua Jackson laughs right to the Dawson's Creek theme song lmaoooo.” Another viewer wrote: “Pacey laughing and shaking his head while belting out 'I Don't Wanna Wait' and commenting 'that song' before handing the award to Greg Berlanti is iconic #Emmy.”
Watch the moment below and find a gallery of fan reaction.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/joshua-jackson-dawsons-creek-theme-song-2024-emmys-1235775736/
