Jen Lindley
Encyclopedia
Jennifer "Jen" Lindley is a fictional character
on the American
television
drama
Dawson's Creek
. The character is portrayed by American
actress Michelle Williams
.
to live with her grandmother, Evelyn "Grams" Ryan
, after her parents realized just how out of control she was. She was nicknamed Duck, Jen initially provided a love interest for Dawson Leery
, and the two dated throughout the first season, which caused tension between Jen and Joey Potter
. Jen was the girl who grew up too fast and Joey was the girl who wondered what it would be like to do the things that Jen had done, so Joey was immediately threatened by the "City Girl". Jen and Dawson broke up when Jen's ex-boyfriend Billy came to Capeside to win her back. Billy caused immediate tension between Dawson and Jen, as Jen's past was coming back to haunt her and Dawson. Dawson in the heat of the moment basically called Jen a "slut", and she broke up with him because she had never been made to feel so cheap by anyone. By the end of the season she was regretting her decision to break up with him, and wanted Dawson back, especially as her sick grandfather died.
. While Dawson was writing his script, she served as a mentor to him, in getting his inner youth out of him, and she was also a shoulder to cry on while his parents were going through their marriage troubles. She also again befriended the abrasive Abby Morgan, who died after falling off a pier while drunk. After Jen gave a brutally honest speech at Abby's funeral, Grams kicked Jen out of the house as Jen clearly showed a lack of respect, even though Grams had done everything she could to help her. Jen briefly stayed with the Leerys before she attempted a reconciliation with her parents, but they again rejected her. So Jen then went to live with Jack McPhee
, as Andie and his father left for Providence to get Andie some help. But eventually they decided that they couldn't afford to live in the house by themselves, and so Jack and Jen moved back in with Grams and became close.
Jen was aggressively courted by Capeside High's star freshman quarterback
, Henry Parker
(Michael Pitt
). The two dated throughout most of Jen's junior year.
After Pacey is deemed the failure again by his family, he pursues a purely sexual relationship with Jen; both agree that there will be no emotion involved whatsoever. While trapped on Witch Island with Joey and Dawson, the two proceed to make out in the condemned church, which seems to be haunted by the spirits of thirteen girls who were burned alive there in the 17th century.
Pacey and Jen are nearly caught having sex in Dawson's room after he returns home from a dentist appointment. He finds Pacey on his bedroom floor apparently playing a video game. Pacey later must confess to Dawson his secret arrangement with Jen after Dawson finds a condom on his bedroom floor. Dawson and Jen later join Joey and Pacey in ballroom dancing, and Dawson automatically assumes that Pacey is sleeping with Joey. When he and Joey find Pacey and Jen making out in the coat closet of the ballroom studio, everyone is shocked. Finally, Pacey and Jen decide their plan is no good and end the arrangement. Jen is the first person to see Pacey is falling for Joey.
Jen's mother, Helen, unexpectedly shows up at Grams' house for Thanksgiving dinner. Although Grams tries to warn Jen, she finds out too late, walking in on Helen, who is dressed up and wearing pearls---just as Jen remembers her being before she was sent to Capeside. Dawson, unsure of whether or not to tell Jen, confronts Helen about the visit of Eve Whitman (Brittany Daniel
), Jen's half-sister. Due to Helen's request that Dawson not mention it to anyone, Jen never learns of Eve's existence.
to a private school, broke up with Jen through Jack, devastating her. She became closer with Jack after the break-up and the two almost shared a drunken sexual encounter on the school ski trip.
One of Jen's old acquaintances from her days in the New York
party scene, the cynical Drue Valentine (Mark Matkevich
), moved to Capeside to live with his mother and brought an unhappy reminder of her past. The only child of Yacht Club owner, the snobish, Cruella DeVil-like Mrs. Valentine (and Joey's boss in seasons 3-4), Drue offered her ecstacy, which Jen accepted from him but never took. But after an in-depth conversation with an obviously disturbed Andie McPhee, Jen's friend took the ecstacy, which, mixed with her medication, caused her to gain a high fever and could have killed her. This caused a massive rift between Jen and the rest of her friends, which was only healed after Andie told them that she was leaving for Italy.
While her friends were all applying to colleges, Jen was reluctant to do so; Jack, with Grams' help, eventually applied to several schools for her, using previous school work for the essays. Though she considers returning to New York for school, she decides to go to Boston
instead to attend the fictional Boston Bay College with Jack. During a read-aloud of her shrink's favorite author, Jen meets Toby, an admittedly gay teen whom Jack finds strongly unattractive. However, Jen gets along with Toby and soon learns that he has a 'thing' for Jack. After he makes it perfectly clear that he does not wish to take Toby to the gang's senior prom, Jen goes against Jack's wishes and tells Toby that Jack wants to ask him out. Jack gets even by setting Jen up with her old drug buddy, Drue as her prom date. While Jen and Drue seemingly reunite, Jen confesses to her old friend that she has changed her mind about attending college in New York. Drue tells Jen that he is going to a college in Boston after graduation which inspires her to do the same.
In the season finale, Grams sells the house and decides to move to Boston with Jen and Jack when they both decide to attend Boston Bay College.
, which (coupled with the alcohol
abuse and academic decline it coincided with) created a rift in his relationship with Jen. While at Boston Bay Jen briefly dated musician Charlie (Chad Michael Murray
) and ran a school radio show, However she found out that Charlie was cheating on her and she comically made him confess---with the help of Charlie's other girlfriend Nora, Jen convinces Charlie to "shut-up and get naked" just before locking him out of his dorm room in a hallway full of students.
After the death of Mitch Leery
, Dawson invites Jen to attend the Hookset Film Festival in New Hampshire after he learns that his father entered him in the competition, using his film about now-deceased-director A.I. Brooks. Dawson wins first place, and jokingly thanks "his girlfriend Jen Lindley". After losing his virginity to her, Dawson dives into a serious fast-paced relationship with Jen, but she breaks it off after realizing that it was the wrong thing to do.
During the gang's spring break trip to Florida, Jen finds Joey spending some quality time with her ex-boyfriend Charlie Todd. In trying to warn her, Jen's advice goes unheeded by Joey. In the meantime, Jen tries to have a serious conversation with Jack about his drinking problem.
At the end of the season, Jack relays to Jen that he's passed all of his classes, and the two friends prepare to take a vacation to Costa Rica. However, an unexpected phone call from Jen's parents in New York, ruin their plans. At first, Jen decides to spend the summer with her best friend, but when everyone collides at the airport in the finale, Dawson convinces Jen to go see her parents. She takes the next flight out to New York as Grams sneaks to Vegas with her boyfriend, Cliffton Smalls. Jen runs into "Damage Ink" director, Todd Carr on the plane; the same director who fired Dawson from his internship at USC.
) whom she met at a campus cafe. Jack convinced her to call the helpline where C.J. worked to invite him to a Halloween party, but she forgot to mention to him that it was a costume party so he and his friend, David, show up in casual dress.
Joey's roommate Audrey, ends up sleeping with C.J. when she gets drunk before a gig with Emma's band at Hell's Kitchen. Jen learns of C.J.'s sexual misadventures only after he tells her that he no longer dates. Upset, Jen leaves the situation, while C.J. gets into a fist fight with Pacey during a No Doubt
concert.
In the meantime, Grams is diagnosed with breast cancer and decides not to tell Jen. When Grams gives in and tells Jen of her illness, Jen retaliates by dumping C.J. before they have to host a Loveliness Questionnaire with Drew Pinsky
and Adam Carolla
, though during the Questionnaire when asked why Jen dumped him she tells them that C.J is perfect, everything she'd ever wanted but it was all too much due to Grams illness. When the pressure gets to be too much, Jen gives the hosting job to an ecstatic Audrey.
Towards the end of the season, Jen calls on her mother Helen, (Mimi Rogers
) to talk things out with Grams, mainly so Grams can tell her own daughter about the cancer. Eventually, Grams' boyfriend, Bill Braxton (also C.J.'s uncle) breaks the ice and tells Grams that she can't give up the fight. Grams, Jen, and Jack decide to move to New York to live with Jen's mother while Grams undergoes treatment.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
. The character is portrayed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (actress)
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
.
Season One
The only child of Theodore Lindley and Helen Ryan, Jen was introduced to the show in the first episode when she arrived from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to live with her grandmother, Evelyn "Grams" Ryan
Evelyn Ryan (Dawson's Creek character)
Evelyn 'Grams' Ryan is a fictional character from the American television program, Dawson's Creek, played by Mary Beth Peil. She appears in all six seasons.-Biography:Evelyn 'Grams' Ryan is the maternal grandmother of central character Jen Lindley...
, after her parents realized just how out of control she was. She was nicknamed Duck, Jen initially provided a love interest for Dawson Leery
Dawson Leery
Dawson Wade Leery is the central fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television drama Dawson's Creek. The character is portrayed by American actor James Van Der Beek.-Biography:...
, and the two dated throughout the first season, which caused tension between Jen and Joey Potter
Joey Potter
Josephine "Joey" Lynn Potter is a fictional character portrayed by Katie Holmes in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Character biography:...
. Jen was the girl who grew up too fast and Joey was the girl who wondered what it would be like to do the things that Jen had done, so Joey was immediately threatened by the "City Girl". Jen and Dawson broke up when Jen's ex-boyfriend Billy came to Capeside to win her back. Billy caused immediate tension between Dawson and Jen, as Jen's past was coming back to haunt her and Dawson. Dawson in the heat of the moment basically called Jen a "slut", and she broke up with him because she had never been made to feel so cheap by anyone. By the end of the season she was regretting her decision to break up with him, and wanted Dawson back, especially as her sick grandfather died.
Season Two
After the Jen and Dawson breakup, Jen became isolated from the rest of the main characters for most of the second season, especially with Joey as Jen's attempts to win back Dawson were stepping on Joey's toes. Jen became friends with Abby Morgan, the cynical and trouble-making girl everybody hated, as she was seen as the Devil incarnate, and Jen and Abby often drank together. They both were intrigued by a sailor who was docked at Capeside and they both made moves on him; he liked Jen and this caused Abby's and Jen's short friendship to break up. Jen was caught with the sailor in her home by Grams. During her sophomore year Jen briefly dated a conservative Christian, but broke up with him after he was revealed as a homophobe; this came out while gay rumors were circulating about Jack McPheeJack McPhee
Jack McPhee is a fictional character portrayed by Kerr Smith in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Fictional Biography:The son of Joseph McPhee, Jack is the shy new kid on the block when he and Andie begin their Sophomore year at Capeside High School. It is later revealed he and Andie...
. While Dawson was writing his script, she served as a mentor to him, in getting his inner youth out of him, and she was also a shoulder to cry on while his parents were going through their marriage troubles. She also again befriended the abrasive Abby Morgan, who died after falling off a pier while drunk. After Jen gave a brutally honest speech at Abby's funeral, Grams kicked Jen out of the house as Jen clearly showed a lack of respect, even though Grams had done everything she could to help her. Jen briefly stayed with the Leerys before she attempted a reconciliation with her parents, but they again rejected her. So Jen then went to live with Jack McPhee
Jack McPhee
Jack McPhee is a fictional character portrayed by Kerr Smith in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Fictional Biography:The son of Joseph McPhee, Jack is the shy new kid on the block when he and Andie begin their Sophomore year at Capeside High School. It is later revealed he and Andie...
, as Andie and his father left for Providence to get Andie some help. But eventually they decided that they couldn't afford to live in the house by themselves, and so Jack and Jen moved back in with Grams and became close.
Season Three
In the third season, although Jack moved out to live with Andie again, his relationship with Jen remained close - not unlike a sibling relationship. Jen attends the cheerleader tryouts purely to denounce the extremely unpleasant head cheerleader. This takes an unwelcome turn when the cheerleaders who have become very discontented with their head, elect Jen as head cheerleader instead. Even more disconcertingly, she is elected homecoming queen.Jen was aggressively courted by Capeside High's star freshman quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, Henry Parker
Henry Parker
Sir Henry Watson Parker, KCMG was Premier of New South Wales. He fitted into colonial society and politics in the pre-responsible government era, but his style was not suited to the democratic politics that began to develop in 1856.-Biography:Parker was the son of Thomas Watson Parker of Lewisham,...
(Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
). The two dated throughout most of Jen's junior year.
After Pacey is deemed the failure again by his family, he pursues a purely sexual relationship with Jen; both agree that there will be no emotion involved whatsoever. While trapped on Witch Island with Joey and Dawson, the two proceed to make out in the condemned church, which seems to be haunted by the spirits of thirteen girls who were burned alive there in the 17th century.
Pacey and Jen are nearly caught having sex in Dawson's room after he returns home from a dentist appointment. He finds Pacey on his bedroom floor apparently playing a video game. Pacey later must confess to Dawson his secret arrangement with Jen after Dawson finds a condom on his bedroom floor. Dawson and Jen later join Joey and Pacey in ballroom dancing, and Dawson automatically assumes that Pacey is sleeping with Joey. When he and Joey find Pacey and Jen making out in the coat closet of the ballroom studio, everyone is shocked. Finally, Pacey and Jen decide their plan is no good and end the arrangement. Jen is the first person to see Pacey is falling for Joey.
Jen's mother, Helen, unexpectedly shows up at Grams' house for Thanksgiving dinner. Although Grams tries to warn Jen, she finds out too late, walking in on Helen, who is dressed up and wearing pearls---just as Jen remembers her being before she was sent to Capeside. Dawson, unsure of whether or not to tell Jen, confronts Helen about the visit of Eve Whitman (Brittany Daniel
Brittany Daniel
Brittany Ann Daniel is an American television and film actress. She is the twin sister of actress and photographer Cynthia Daniel...
), Jen's half-sister. Due to Helen's request that Dawson not mention it to anyone, Jen never learns of Eve's existence.
Season Four
Jen's senior year comprised much of the fourth season's plot lines. Though the third season had ended with Jen's unreserved (and public) commitment to Henry, Michael Pitt, who had played Henry, felt the role to be artistically undemanding. Henry we learn in the first episode had accepted a football scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to a private school, broke up with Jen through Jack, devastating her. She became closer with Jack after the break-up and the two almost shared a drunken sexual encounter on the school ski trip.
One of Jen's old acquaintances from her days in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
party scene, the cynical Drue Valentine (Mark Matkevich
Mark Matkevich
Mark Matkevich is an American actor best known for appearing as Drue Valentine in 17 episodes of the television program Dawson's Creek. Matkevich has also had recurring roles on Ed and Joan of Arcadia...
), moved to Capeside to live with his mother and brought an unhappy reminder of her past. The only child of Yacht Club owner, the snobish, Cruella DeVil-like Mrs. Valentine (and Joey's boss in seasons 3-4), Drue offered her ecstacy, which Jen accepted from him but never took. But after an in-depth conversation with an obviously disturbed Andie McPhee, Jen's friend took the ecstacy, which, mixed with her medication, caused her to gain a high fever and could have killed her. This caused a massive rift between Jen and the rest of her friends, which was only healed after Andie told them that she was leaving for Italy.
While her friends were all applying to colleges, Jen was reluctant to do so; Jack, with Grams' help, eventually applied to several schools for her, using previous school work for the essays. Though she considers returning to New York for school, she decides to go to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
instead to attend the fictional Boston Bay College with Jack. During a read-aloud of her shrink's favorite author, Jen meets Toby, an admittedly gay teen whom Jack finds strongly unattractive. However, Jen gets along with Toby and soon learns that he has a 'thing' for Jack. After he makes it perfectly clear that he does not wish to take Toby to the gang's senior prom, Jen goes against Jack's wishes and tells Toby that Jack wants to ask him out. Jack gets even by setting Jen up with her old drug buddy, Drue as her prom date. While Jen and Drue seemingly reunite, Jen confesses to her old friend that she has changed her mind about attending college in New York. Drue tells Jen that he is going to a college in Boston after graduation which inspires her to do the same.
In the season finale, Grams sells the house and decides to move to Boston with Jen and Jack when they both decide to attend Boston Bay College.
Season Five
The fifth season, which spanned Jen's freshman year in college, was somewhat tumultuous. Grams moved to Boston with Jen and Jack and the three lived together until Jack joined a fraternityFraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, which (coupled with the alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
abuse and academic decline it coincided with) created a rift in his relationship with Jen. While at Boston Bay Jen briefly dated musician Charlie (Chad Michael Murray
Chad Michael Murray
Chad Michael Murray is an American actor, former fashion model and spokesperson. Murray is well known for portraying Lucas Scott in The CW young adult drama series One Tree Hill, in addition to the commercially successful films A Cinderella Story, Freaky Friday and House of Wax...
) and ran a school radio show, However she found out that Charlie was cheating on her and she comically made him confess---with the help of Charlie's other girlfriend Nora, Jen convinces Charlie to "shut-up and get naked" just before locking him out of his dorm room in a hallway full of students.
After the death of Mitch Leery
Mitch Leery
Mitchell "Mitch" Leery is a fictional character from the American television series, Dawson's Creek, portrayed by John Wesley Shipp.-Biography:Mitch Leery is the husband of Gail Leery. The couple have two children - Dawson Leery and Lily Leery...
, Dawson invites Jen to attend the Hookset Film Festival in New Hampshire after he learns that his father entered him in the competition, using his film about now-deceased-director A.I. Brooks. Dawson wins first place, and jokingly thanks "his girlfriend Jen Lindley". After losing his virginity to her, Dawson dives into a serious fast-paced relationship with Jen, but she breaks it off after realizing that it was the wrong thing to do.
During the gang's spring break trip to Florida, Jen finds Joey spending some quality time with her ex-boyfriend Charlie Todd. In trying to warn her, Jen's advice goes unheeded by Joey. In the meantime, Jen tries to have a serious conversation with Jack about his drinking problem.
At the end of the season, Jack relays to Jen that he's passed all of his classes, and the two friends prepare to take a vacation to Costa Rica. However, an unexpected phone call from Jen's parents in New York, ruin their plans. At first, Jen decides to spend the summer with her best friend, but when everyone collides at the airport in the finale, Dawson convinces Jen to go see her parents. She takes the next flight out to New York as Grams sneaks to Vegas with her boyfriend, Cliffton Smalls. Jen runs into "Damage Ink" director, Todd Carr on the plane; the same director who fired Dawson from his internship at USC.
Season Six
During the sixth season, Jen embarked on a relationship with C.J. (Jensen AcklesJensen Ackles
Jensen Ross Ackles is an American actor. He is known for his roles in television as Eric Brady in Days of our Lives, which earned him several Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as well as Alec/X5-494 in Dark Angel and Jason Teague in Smallville...
) whom she met at a campus cafe. Jack convinced her to call the helpline where C.J. worked to invite him to a Halloween party, but she forgot to mention to him that it was a costume party so he and his friend, David, show up in casual dress.
Joey's roommate Audrey, ends up sleeping with C.J. when she gets drunk before a gig with Emma's band at Hell's Kitchen. Jen learns of C.J.'s sexual misadventures only after he tells her that he no longer dates. Upset, Jen leaves the situation, while C.J. gets into a fist fight with Pacey during a No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
concert.
In the meantime, Grams is diagnosed with breast cancer and decides not to tell Jen. When Grams gives in and tells Jen of her illness, Jen retaliates by dumping C.J. before they have to host a Loveliness Questionnaire with Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
and Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
, though during the Questionnaire when asked why Jen dumped him she tells them that C.J is perfect, everything she'd ever wanted but it was all too much due to Grams illness. When the pressure gets to be too much, Jen gives the hosting job to an ecstatic Audrey.
Towards the end of the season, Jen calls on her mother Helen, (Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers is an American movie actress and competitive poker player.-Early life:Rogers was born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, Florida, the daughter of Philip C...
) to talk things out with Grams, mainly so Grams can tell her own daughter about the cancer. Eventually, Grams' boyfriend, Bill Braxton (also C.J.'s uncle) breaks the ice and tells Grams that she can't give up the fight. Grams, Jen, and Jack decide to move to New York to live with Jen's mother while Grams undergoes treatment.