James Van Der Beek, the 'Dawson's Creek' star who later mocked his own hunky persona, has died at 48

NEW YORK (AP) — James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred successful coming-of-age dramas astatine the dawn of the caller millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular quality successful “Dawson’s Creek” and successful aboriginal years mocking his ain hunky persona, has died. He was 48.

“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his last days with courage, faith, and grace. There is overmuch to stock regarding his wishes, emotion for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days volition come,” a connection from the actor's household that was posted connected Instagram said. “For present we inquire for peaceful privateness arsenic we grieve our loving husband, father, son, member and friend.”

Van Der Beek revealed successful 2024 that helium was being treated for colorectal cancer.

Van Der Beek made a astonishment video quality successful September astatine a “Dawson's Creek” reunion foundation lawsuit successful New York City aft antecedently dropping retired owed to illness.

He appeared projected onstage astatine the Richard Rodgers Theatre during a unrecorded speechmaking of the show’s aviator occurrence to payment F Cancer and Van Der Beek. Lin-Manuel Miranda subbed for him connected stage. "Thank you to each azygous idiosyncratic here,” Van Der Beek said.

Forever tied to ‘Dawson’s Creek'

A one-time theatre kid, Van Der Beek would prima successful the movie “Varsity Blues” and connected TV successful “CSI: Cyber” arsenic FBI Special Agent Elijah Mundo, but was everlastingly connected to “Dawson’s Creek,” which ran from 1998 to 2003 connected The WB.

The bid followed a precocious schoolhouse radical of friends arsenic they learned astir falling successful love, creating existent friendships and uncovering their footing successful life. Van Der Beek, than 20, played 15-year-old Dawson Leery, who aspired to beryllium a manager of Steven Spielberg quality.

“Dawson’s Creek,” with the moody taxable opus Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait,” helped specify The WB arsenic a haven for teens and young adults who related to its hyper-articulate dialog and frank speech astir sexuality. And it made household names of Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.

The amusement caused a disturbance erstwhile 1 of the teens embarked connected a racy matter with a teacher 20 years his elder and erstwhile Holmes' quality climbs done Dawson's chamber model and they curl up together. Racier shows similar “Euphoria” and “Sex Education” beryllium a indebtedness to “Dawson's Creek.”

Van Der Beek sometimes struggled to get retired from nether the shadiness of the amusement but yet leaned into lampooning himself, similar connected Funny Or Die videos and connected Kesha's “Blow” euphony video, which included his laser weapon conflict with the popular prima successful a nightclub and dormant unicorns.

“It’s pugnacious to vie with thing that was the taste improvement that ‘Dawson’s Creek’ was,” helium told Vulture successful 2013. “It ran for truthful long. That’s a batch of hours playing 1 quality successful beforehand of people. So it’s earthy that they subordinate you with that.”

A fashionable GIF and ‘Varsity Blues’

More than a decennary aft the amusement went disconnected the air, a country astatine the extremity of the show’s 3rd play became a GIF. Dawson was watching arsenic his psyche mate embarks connected a emotion matter with his champion person and burst into tears.

“It wasn’t scripted that I was expected to cry; it was conscionable 1 of those things wherever it’s a magical infinitesimal and it conscionable happens successful the scene,” helium told Vanity Fair. He seemed exasperated erstwhile helium told the Los Angeles Times: “All of a sudden, six years of enactment was boiled down to 1 seven-second clip connected loop.” (Van Der Beek himself recreated the GIF successful 2011 for Funny oregon Die and gave it a 2nd life.)

While inactive connected “Dawson’s Creek,” Van Der Beek hosted “Saturday Night Live” — the philharmonic impermanent was Everlast — and landed a plumb relation successful “Varsity Blues,” playing a second-string precocious schoolhouse backmost who leaps into the breach erstwhile the prima suffers an injury.

Van Der Beek’s character, Mox, turns retired to not beryllium a shot fanatic, preferring to work Kurt Vonnegut and yearning for the assemblage acquisition which volition let him to flight the jock mentality of his Texas town. “I don’t privation your life,” helium screams astatine 1 point. Critic Roger Ebert called him “convincing and likable.”

After ‘Dawson’s Creek’

Some of his projects aft “Dawson’s Creek” see co-creating and playing Wesley “Diplo” Pentz, a dull but likable euphony shaper successful the mockumentary satire connected Viceland, “What Would Diplo Do?” In 2019, helium made it to the semifinals of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and played a balding, out-of-shape ex-boyfriend connected “How I Met Your Mother.”

“The much you marque amusive of yourself and don’t effort to spell for immoderate benignant of respect, the much radical look to respect you,” helium told Vanity Fair successful 2011. “I’ve ever been a clown trapped successful a starring man’s body.”

Between 2003 and 2013, helium made appearances successful shows similar “Criminal Minds,” “One Tree Hill,” and “How I Met Your Mother.” He played himself with a crackpot strength successful the Krysten Ritter-led ABC play “Don’t Trust the B— successful Apartment 23,” and the short-lived “CSI” spinoff “CSI: Cyber” and CBS’ “Friends With Better Lives.”

He’s besides appeared successful a fig of movies, specified arsenic Kevin Smith’s 2001 drama “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and its 2019 sequel, “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.” He besides was successful the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation of “The Rules of Attraction” successful 2002 other Jessica Biel and Kate Bosworth.

In 2025, helium was unmasked arsenic Griffin connected “The Masked Singer,” aft singing a screen of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen.

Early beingness arsenic a theatre kid

Van Der Beek, who was raised successful Cheshire, Connecticut, started acting astatine 13 aft suffering a concussion playing shot that prevented him from playing for a twelvemonth connected doctor’s orders. He landed the relation of Danny Zuko successful his schoolhouse accumulation of “Grease.”

He stuck with theater, landing astatine 16 successful 1994 an off-Broadway relation successful “Finding the Sun” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee and 1 of the sons successful a revival of “Shenandoah” astatine the prestigious Goodspeed Opera House successful his location state.

He earned a assistance to New Jersey’s Drew University but near schoolhouse aboriginal erstwhile helium got “Dawson’s Creek.” In 2024, helium returned to field to judge an honorary grade for his “selfless work and exemplary committedness to the ngo of Drew,” the assemblage said.

Drew University President Hilary Link welcomed Van Der Beek with a fashionable punctuation from his “Dawson’s Creek” character: “Edge is fleeting,” she said, “but bosom lasts forever. So connected this morning, we wage tribute to that heart.”

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.

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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report.

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