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'It just kind of happened,' said a teenage of her bond with on Dawson's Creek back in 1997. 'We have a lot in common. The chemistry was there.'
The feeling was shared by a then 20-year-old Van Der Beek who claimed they 'just kind of clicked from the read through,' telling E! News: 'We got really lucky I think because we met each other like two days before we started shooting.'
It was this chemistry that adhered fans to the two young stars who would weeks later hit screens as film buff Dawson Leery and his love interest, girl next door Joey Potter, on the popular teen drama which ran from 1998 until 2003.
Having spent their formative years together in the spotlight, it is perhaps no surprise that their bond would survive decades, until Van Der Beek's death at age 48 earlier this month.
But what fans might not know was just how close the actors once were.
Insiders have exclusively told the Daily Mail that the pair briefly dated in secret on set before Holmes went on to date their costar , who also played Holmes' onscreen love interest Pacey Witter.
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The late James Van Der Beek developed a decades long bond with his co-star Katie Holmes after they shot to fame on the set of Dawson's Creek
The two young actors starred together on the WB show from 1998 to 2003, where Holmes played his love interest, girl next door Joey Potter while Van Der Beek starred as Dawson Leery
One insider said Holmes, 47, has told close friends that Van Der Beek was her 'teen love.'
'James and Katie dated for a bit,' they said. 'They tried to keep their relationship secret but everyone on the set knew about it. Then news of them being a couple began to filter out.'
Holmes grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and was raised in a close-knit family before moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, after high school to film Dawson's Creek. It was an overnight success and quickly became the top-rated show among teenage girls, averaging six million viewers during its run.
The response was overwhelming for the youngsters who 'suddenly found themselves the stars of one of TV's hottest shows,' and as a result decided to keep tight-lipped about their romance.
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'Katie was a shy 19-year-old and James was just into his twenties,' the insider continued. 'They didn't want to talk about their love lives in public, so they decided to keep quiet about it.'
Insiders have exclusively told the Daily Mail that the pair (pictured in 2011) secretly briefly dated on set before Holmes, 47, went on to date their costar Joshua Jackson
'The set was high school for the cast. Everyone had crushes on each other, and everyone at one point or another would date and hookup,' said a second insider. 'Katie and James had a brief fling with each other.
