Michelle Williams says 'Dawson's Creek' was 'formulaic': 'You had zero input'

June 6 (UPI) -- Former Dawson's Creek star Michelle Williams says the popular teen drama was "formulaic."

The 38-year-old actress likened the WB series to a "factory job" in an interview with Patricia Clarkson for Variety published Thursday.

Williams played Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek, which had a six-season run from 1998 to 2003. She said the show taught her a lot but provided no opportunities for creative exercise.

"Doing Dawson's Creek for six-and-a-half years, while it was an incredible learning experience -- we did 22 episodes a year, and you'd be getting scripts at the last minute and you had zero input. It was a little like a factory job," the star said.

Williams agreed with Clarkson, who said the series was formulaic.

"It was formulaic, yes," Williams said.

Williams said her experience with Dawson's Creek made her reluctant to work in TV until the FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon.

"Try as I might, I don't think I've done television in between then and now because of a fear of a loss of input," she explained. "When [Fosse/Verdon] came around, people had been saying for a long time, 'Television is different now.' And I could see that that was true and that it was something that I should open myself up to."

Dawson's Creek co-starred James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Busy Philipps. Williams and Philipps recalled meeting on the show's set during an episode of Busy Tonight in February.

"I remember being prepped that we were going to love each other, and so it felt very high stakes. We ended up immediately loving each other," Philipps said.

Williams portrayed actress and dancer Gwen Verdon in Fosse/Verdon, which dramatizes the relationship between Verdon and director and choreographer Bob Fosse. She is slated to star in a number of new films, including The Challenger.