James Van Der Beekdied at the age of 48 on February 11 following a battle with colorectal cancer, as reported by TMZ.
Van Der Beek cultivated a strong fanbase after starring as Dawson Leery on the WB teen drama, Dawson’s Creek. Van Der Beek discussed shooting the series for six seasons until 2003 during a panel at the Steel City Con in April 2025. While on stage with his former Dawson’s Creek co-star, Kerr Smith, shared that his favorite scene from the entire show’s run was an early moment between Dawson and Joey Potter, played by Katie Holmes.
“Honestly, my favorite scene was probably one of the first ones we shot. It was Katie and me in the bedroom,” said Van Der Beek during the panel.
He said he remembered instantly feeling the chemistry between Dawson and Joey when reading the scene with Holmes. As fans are aware, Dawson and Joey were close friends and had a relatively short-lived romantic relationship.
“To read it and have it on its feet with Katie, there was just like a chemistry that I don’t know, man. Like the Dawson-Joey relationship just existed on its own regardless of like wherever Katie and I were or like whatever is happening in our lives,” explained the actor to the audience. “There was this thing that just existed between these two characters, that just existed on another plane. And it was one of the first time, you know, to experience that and be like, ‘Oh, wow. This friendship works.’ That was just a real like feeling of elation. So, I think that’s probably the discovery.”
James Van Der Beek Opened up About the Audition Process for ‘Dawson’s Creek’
Van Der Beek opened up about auditioning play to Dawson in a 2013 interview on Larry King Now.
He shared that he was 20 years old when he tried out for the character, who was just 15 in the show’s first season. Van Der Beek said that he decided to “pitch [his] voice up” to appear younger during his audition for Dawson’s Creek. The actor said he made the right choice and was flown out to Los Angeles to screen test for the role.
According to Van Der Beek, Sony wasn’t keen on him being the lead for the show. However, the creator of Dawson’s Creek, Kevin Williamson, fought for him to play Dawson.
“Kevin Williamson, who created the show, had to put his foot down and said, ‘Listen, I created this guy. I know this guy. This kid is this guy,'” said Van Der Beek in the 2013 interview.
