Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson can't believe it came so fast

Joshua Jackson is the perfect actor to ask about the pitfalls of instant stardom. A few episodes of the new teen soap opera Dawson's Creek have already put the personable Canadian on the map as one of TV's hot young talents.

``It was like one day I'm minding my own business and nobody wants to see me. And the next day there are photographers staked out and I'm getting all these scripts,'' says Jackson, 20, shaking his head in wonder.

That's because Dawson's Creek is the teen show of the TV season.

The ratings are growing by the week, making it and another WB (for Warner Brothers) series, Buffy The Vampire Killer, the most popular series among U.S. teen viewers.

The frank and provocative treatment of sexuality has been causing an industry buzz.

The show can be seen by Canadians who have the superchannels on cable TV and the rest will have to wait until April 12 to see it on Global TV.

The series tells the stories of four 15-year-olds growing up in Capeside, a small coastal town in Massachusetts.

The pack is headed by sensitive, introspective Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and his tomboy best friend Joey (Katie Holmes).

There's Michelle Williams as Jennifer, the new girl in town.

And Jackson plays the wisecracking friend Pacey who has always had trouble with girls until he meets a beautiful and older English high school teacher. They soon become lovers after he rents her the romantic movie Summer Of 42.

The promotional material for the series gushes it's all about ``The agony and ecstasy of sweaty palms, surviving puberty intact and figuring out life in general.''

But Jackson thinks it's simpler: ``It's about growing up. The writing is pretty honest and the teens are real people. People are saying they recognize the characters.''

Vancouver-born Jackson had a day off from a show in Los Angeles on which he had a small guest part, and was asked to audition for Dawson's Creek.

``They were desperate because all the other roles had been cast. I got it very quickly and the day I finished the other thing they put me on an all night flight to Wilmington, North Carolina, where they had already started filming. I got off and directly went to the set and started acting.''

So far it's Pacey's affair with his teacher that has everybody talking. ``Well, it could happen,'' stutters Jackson. ``And it does - read the newspapers. But both of them pay for it in the end. She resigns and goes off but she's got this black mark on her resumé for ever. Her life will never be the same. And he's very affected. He's the laughing stock of the town - that's his cross to bear.''

Unlike his Dawson's Creek character, Jackson experienced success at an early age.

``I was acting since I was nine. It was just something to do. I'd get film roles during my summer vacation. I figured out that in a three-year period I had made six movies.''

He appeared in all three of the Disney Mighty Duck movies as well as Tombstone, Andre The Seal and a Canadian film, Digger.

``I want to do more Canadian movies but I think we hold ourselves back. There are so many government grants that the incentive to make a popular film just isn't there.''

Working in Wilmington for months at a time ``was fun but I'm not sure how I'll feel if the show lasts for years. We have a pick up for another 22 episodes.

``There were four of us kids and we just bonded for protection. There were the usual fights and squabbles but it made us closer. And we're all sharing our experiences now that the press is all over us. I can't wait to get back to work but that's still months off.''