Creek star 'set for sci-fi role'

Joshua Jackson played Pacey in hit teen series Dawson's Creek

Former Dawson's Creek star Joshua Jackson is returning to TV screens in a new sci-fi series, according to trade journal the Hollywood Reporter.

Jackson will play the lead role in Fringe, a highly anticipated drama from Lost and Alias creator JJ Abrams, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The two-hour $10m (£5.1m) pilot centres on an FBI agent who teams up with Peter Bishop, played by Jackson.

The pair confront the spread of unexplained phenomena.

Pilot filming

The character of Peter Bishop will be a high school drop-out with a high IQ who is trying to clear a gambling debt.

The cast for Fringe's pilot, which has begun filming in Toronto, also includes Blair Brown, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo and Jasika Nicole.

Jackson played Pacey in Dawson's Creek, the successful teen drama series that ended in 2003.

It also spawned film careers for Katie Holmes, now also married to Tom Cruise, and Michelle Williams, who starred in Brokeback Mountain opposite her former partner, the late Heath Ledger.