James Van Der Beek passed away after a cancer battle last weekCredit: instagram/vanderjamesIt has now been revealed that James and his wife renewed their wedding vows before he diedCredit: GettyJames and his wife are seen here with their six childrenCredit: James Van Der Beek/Instagram
Along with his wife, Kimberly, James is survived by their six children Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.
Now his heartbroken wife has revealed how the couple renewed their vows shortly before he died.
Kimberly revealed they managed to quickly put together a small ceremony with the help of close friends and family.
Speaking to People, she said: “We decided two days beforehand, and our friends got us new rings, filled our bedroom with flowers and candles, and we renewed our vows from bed.”
Kimberly described their vow renewal as ‘simple and beautiful and moving’Credit: Getty
The heartbreaking statement read: “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace.
“There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time.
“Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
This article contains spoilers from the Season 3 finale of “Tell Me Lies.”
“Tell Me Lies” ended with the hard truth.
Based on the book by Carola Lovering, the Hulu series centers on the toxic and manipulative on-again, off-again relationship between college students Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco — portrayed by real-life couple Grace Van Patten and Jackson White — whose distressing bond causes a ripple effect of chaos and turmoil for their friend group that stretches across eight years.
It all culminated in Tuesday’s Season 3 finale, which brought explosive revelations, the return of old habits and final fractures to the friend group. But what about its central pair?
Across the show’s two timelines, Stephen’s admission to Yale Law School was revoked and his engagement blew up — but is that enough retribution for the most-hated fictional millennial man with a buzz cut after all the emotional and mental abuse he inflicted? Meanwhile, Lucy’s life is upended when she is expelled from school; but years later, and not without making another questionable choice, she is finally free from his torment. For good. Hours before the finale dropped, creator Meaghan Oppenheimer announced the series would not return for another season.
Over two separate video interviews from New York — Oppenheimer from her home; Van Patten and White, later in the day, from a hotel room — The Times caught up with the trio to discuss bringing the dark and twisted saga to an end, why Stephen wasn’t dealt more severe punishment and the love story between Bree and Wrigley. The conversations have been combined and edited for clarity and length.
Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White) in the series finale of “Tell Me Lies.”
(Ian Watson / Disney)
Before we dive into the finale, the other big news is the announcement that the show will not return for another season. Would you have wanted more or arethree seasons enough?
Oppenheimer: This was definitely a very thoughtful, mutual decision that I came to with Hulu and 20th [Television,” which produces the show]. I went into this season wanting to write it with a sense of finality. I always felt like three seasons was sort of a perfect number for a smaller show like this. I always envisioned Lucy and Stephen’s worst, biggest breakup in college, and her public downfall culminating with the wedding weekend. But we went into this season not knowing for sure if there would be another one — and after seeing the amazing fan response and the numbers being so great, we definitely discussed “is there an organic way to keep it going?” I was definitely trying to make a very specific point with the way that Lucy and Stephen ended, which is that it was inevitable that he was going to hurt her, and that if she chooses him over her friends, she’s going to lose them. To keep going after that and force them back in each other’s lives, it would have felt like it was undermining the stakes of everything we set up.
Does it feel like the right time to be done with these characters?
Van Patten: It does. Of course, it’s bittersweet. But in terms of the story, it feels really right that it’s ending here, and we’ve had a beginning, a middle and an end.
White: I like the way that goes out.
Will you be glad to not be the most hated fictional man on TV?
White: I’m stoked. I’m stoked. I really am. I’m really excited to not trigger people like that. It’s a strange burden, like an odd social burden.
Van Patten: Because it’s out of love, but what they’re saying is so negative.
White: Yeah, it’s a compliment, but it’s mean. It’s kind of like how Stephen talks to the other characters.
Grace Van Patten as Lucy Albright in the final moments of the “Tell Me Lies” series finale.(Ian Watson/Disney)(Ian Watson/Disney)
Finales are challenging because they come with a lot of expectations from fans. Since you weren’t sure if the series might return, how did that shape how you wrapped this third season?
Oppenheimer: I had to go into it not worrying too much about what would happen in the future. When we found the [Season 3] ending in the writers room, we all were like, “Oh s—, that’s the ending to the story, not the ending of the season.”
Sometimes, when I see certain [fan] theories, I’m like, “What show are you watching?” I think people that were expecting a resolution to the Macy story, for instance, for him [Stephen] to get arrested — that’s so surprising to me … because I’m like, “I don’t feel like you’re watching the same show that I’m watching.” It’s one of the few things that we kept from the book. He doesn’t get justice for that. In reality, people get away with really bad things and that’s one of the scary truths of the show.
How did you and the writers decide on the moment that ends the series? Lucy choosing to ride off with Stephen after the wedding goes off the rails, only for him to leave her stranded at a gas station.
Oppenheimer: The show was going to end in one of three ways: Does she reject him? Does he reject her? Or do they end up together? I felt for a very long time that they should not end up together because this is a story about abuse. I don’t think this is a love story. It felt like staying true to what the show meant not having this overly positive, optimistic ending where she wins.
At the same time, the one thing we’ve learned about Stephen is that he will never let you go unless he’s the one making that decision. For Lucy to actually be free of him, he needed to be the one to walk away. It actually is the only way for her to really wake up and see it.
I will get images for scenes before I know what the actual scene is, and it’ll be almost more of like a symbolic image, or it’ll be a fable that I’ve heard before. But I said to the writers room, “I just want it to be her finally having the decision — Bree or him, friends or him — and her choosing him and then, it’s not this, but it’s as if he just drives away and leaves her by the side of the road.” And they were all like, “He could literally just drive away and leave her by the side of the road.” The idea of her being on this island alone, and the inevitability of it. And that’s why we have the whole —
Grace Van Patten on ending the series: “Of course, it’s bittersweet. But in terms of the story, it feels really right that it’s ending here, and we’ve had a beginning, a middle and an end.”
(Dutch Doscher / For The Times)
Allusion in the previous episode to the scorpion and frog fable?
Oppenheimer: Yes. The answer is, of course, he was going to hurt you because he’s Stephen. It’s in his nature. Also he’s not driving away, thrilled and happy. When he says, I’ve just blown up my entire life. If I hurt you, I’m hurting myself. It’s true. He would have more fun if he just learned to be nice and be with Lucy. But he can’t help it. His nature is to win and to wound and to get the last laugh.
White: That character is all about himself, and this is one final way to leave on the last laugh.
Van Patten: I find the ending to actually be a little bit helpful. I think there’s a lot of freedom and relief in that last moment when she realizes he left her.
There’s that almost wistful look that she has at the gas station, getting the coffees. Then there’s the one when she realizes she’s been stranded and all she can do is laugh. It’s quite the trajectory.
Van Patten: Every time Lucy has gone back to Stephen, she’s completely in denial. There’s a sense of hope, maybe it’s going to be different this time — also, he had just blown up every relationship she had at the wedding. We’re completely on an island together. There’s this hope of like, maybe we can be OK now, there are no more secrets left. The friend group isn’t together. There’s nothing being held over one another’s head. Then she’s hit with, “Oh, my God he did it again. Shame on me.” She totally could have cried, but she just decided to laugh instead because it is predictable. She actually saw it for the first time as definitive.
Jackson White on playing the hated character Stephen: “It’s a strange burden, like an odd social burden.”
(Dutch Doscher / For The Times)
How did you and the writers grapple with why Evan and Bree would invite Stephen to the wedding after everything that happened in college?
Oppenheimer: It’s one of the things that struck me in the book and scares me about a lot of young men in general (especially operating within groups) — the way guys tend to forgive other guys for what they do to girls. When Evan and Stephen leave things in senior year, they’re actually at a relatively good place with each other. Even though Evan knows that Bree knows the truth (about Lucy‘s one-night stand), he knows that Stephen still recognizes the worst parts of him, so he’s made a decision to keep him close in order to keep himself safe. Bree has a line where she says, “I begged Evan not to invite him.” So it’s not up to Bree, and like a lot of people do, she’s decided to accept that her fiancé has this friend she hates.
On social media, there are fans who say they won’t be satisfied if this show doesn’t end with Stephen dying. And there was the theory that characters were plotting their revenge on him to take place at the wedding. What do you make of that? Why not go that route?
Oppenheimer: When you’re writing anything based on fan expectations or giving them the happy ending all tied in a bow, I think you’re doing a disservice to the story. Different writers would do different things. I have to stay true to my taste. Hoping for all that, I get it. But I think that the way that we do it is with a laugh.
But why not go that route? It just didn’t feel realistic. Maybe I’m just very jaded, but as I look around the world — everyone after #MeToo was like, “Oh, did we cancel all the men?” It’s like, “No, we didn’t.” That is the reality of the world that we live in, especially now, with everything coming out about the Epstein files — it’s appalling. To me, it feels almost belittling to people who’ve been abused and been in these kind of things to say, “Oh, it all works out in the end.” But also, I will say, Stephen is not going to be happy. He’s miserable.
White: He was hardwired to hate. I think the character was designed to start hating. He’s started as a confusing character, and by the end, I think it’s pretty clear that he is one-sided and complicated, sure, but also unquestionably immoral. And there’s a lot of satisfaction in wanting to take that person out, especially if you’re projecting your own whatever onto this character. I totally understand the impulse to want to ice him. But that’s not the way the world works, and I think that’s why the ending is well done because [that’s] not always the case. You don’t get that satisfaction. You actually have to live with it for a long time. And I think the message is that it’ll keep happening over and over and over unless you fix it yourself. No one’s gonna save you. You have to heal yourself.
What about the outcome of the college timeline — in the end, Yale revokes its law school admission offer to Stephen after receiving a tip about behavior that goes against itscode of conduct, namely the distribution of pornographic material, which we come to learn was Wrigley’s doing. And that’s one big loss for Stephen. What intrigued you about that? And was it always going tobe Wrigley who did that?
Oppenheimer: We didn’t think, initially, that it was going to get reported. That was something that someone — I can’t remember who it was — said, “It really doesn’t feel fair for Diana not to get to go to Yale after everything she’s done to get past every obstacle to better her life.” Then when we were deciding who reports him, it was just very obvious that it needed to be Wrigley because it’s the last person Stephen expects. I thought it was really important to have a guy … it really devastates me the way that men choose other men over their female friends and turn a blind eye. I just wanted one boy to stand up against the other mean boys.
White: I think [having Yale revoke his admission] really messed him [Stephen] up. He is a survivor, though, he’s a shark. A lot of these people don’t face consequences. I think eventually they do. Everything does come around. I think the people who wish ill upon other people will get what’s coming to them. We’re just not going to see when. But in his lifetime, he will get his ass kicked in that way.
Grace Van Patten, left, on the set of “Tell Me Lies” with showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer.
(Ian Watson / Disney)
To move on to Lucy, we learn what happened in the college timeline that led to her being largely estranged from the friend group. Grace, what stands out to you about playing her in that state of numbness to her life crashing down?
Van Patten: It’s been set up the past two seasons, in the present day, that the worst thing happened to Lucy in college, and we haven’t known what that thing was until this last episode. It’s the last piece of the puzzle for the audience to see what really ruined Lucy’s life. It was so tragic and heartbreaking because she is not computing anything. She’s completely reverting back to being a little girl and doesn’t know how to deal with getting in trouble, and she’s not taking in what’s what’s going on; she’s completely disassociating. I think if she allows herself to feel, then she would not be able to pick herself up off the floor. It’s self-protection and complete denial.
“It’s the last piece of the puzzle for the audience to see what really ruined Lucy’s life,” says Grace Van Patten of “Tell Me Lies.”
(Dutch Doscher / For The Times)
At what point did you both learn that it was Bree who released the tape with Lucyconfessing to lying about being sexually assaulted by Chris — a lie she told to protect Pippa, his actual victim?
Van Patten: I forget if it was through reading or Meaghan just telling us before we got the scripts. I was definitely surprised by that because the first few episodes, they’re really emphasizing the closeness between Lucy and Bree and how they’ve developed this really tight-knit relationship, which made sense; they were bumping it up to make that feel like real betrayal. But I just see it as Bree getting even.
White: I really did like that. I liked playing that I genuinely didn’t do it.
Tell me more.
Van Patten: His first time!
White: Just because every single person will obviously think he did. We’ve just established him for three years as the guy who would do that. And to actually have it not be him is confusing, and it was very fun to play. I did not do this horrible thing — I’ve done a lot of other horrible things, but I didn’t do this.
I love the way you deliver the line, when it clicks for you that it was Bree — “Oh, my God, you released the tape, didn’t you?”
White: If the character’s putting pieces together, I like to try and put pieces together. It was just easy to act in that moment. That entire wedding sequence was very easy for everybody because it was well-crafted. We were all bringing it. We knew it was one of the big, important moments.
The cake got demolished.
White: Branden Cook [Evan] is amazing in that sequence.
Van Patten: He insisted that he do that stunt. He was like stretching beforehand.
White: He was chomping at the bit. Oh, he was ready.
Was the end goal to find a way to use ‘Toxic” by Britney Spears to score the climax?
Oppenheimer: I love it so much. It’s really funny because since Season 1, I was, “When are we gonna use ‘Toxic’?” It’s just so perfect for the show. We were editing that scene and we were throwing different songs in, and we’d actually tried this other song that worked really well — “I Gotta Feeling” [by the Black Eyed Peas]. But then I was like, “Should we just try ‘Toxic’?” And my editor, Jen, was like, “It’s literally now or never.” The way that the music lines up with Evan crashing into the cake. It timed out perfectly.
Wrigley (Spencer House) and Bree (Catherine Missal), during a break from the engagement party, have a conversation about their relationship that leads to sex. (Ian Watson / Disney)
The night of his wedding to Bree, Evan (Branden Cook) learns about her affair with Wrigley. (Danielle Blancher / Disney)
How did you arrive at some of the other big moments, like Bree and Wrigley. She goes through with the wedding, but their secret is out. What happens next for them? It’s also like, is this trauma bonding or … ?
Oppenheimer: I don’t think it’s trauma bonding. I think they’re soul mates, personally. Trauma bonding is a thing, but there’s also something very real about meeting someone in a moment of grief and it has just taken all of your outer layer off, and it has exposed the real you. I think that’s what they’re seeing when they connect at the beginning of Season 3; they’re the truest version of themselves. I knew that I wanted it to come out because Evan could not get away with this. Evan could not have the happy marriage to Bree. Lucy had a choice that she was making with the full knowledge of the choice, but Bree doesn’t know all the things that Evan did to her to completely destroy her relationship with her mom. It would have felt so unfair for that to work out. I always saw that exploding and coming to light. That smile at the end of the wedding, that tells you they’re going to make this work. I literally wrote it into the action line of the script. I said, “Their eyes meet across the room, and they smile. And you get the sense that in spite of it all” — I think I wrote “carnage” — “they’re gonna find a way to make it work.” And I think they do.
White: I like happy endings, just as a viewer. I like when things work out for characters that didn’t really do anything bad. I love Wrigley and Bree. It’s a great relationship.
Van Patten: I love that relationship. I feel like they deserve each other and like they’re the two with the most well-rounded moral compass. They feel right together. And so do Pippa and Diana. They’re the only ones who are leaving happy, in the end. They’re like, “Let’s get out of here. We do not belong here.” And they just walk off. They kind of leave unscathed when everyone else is in the fire?
Grace Van Patten and Jackson White of “Tell Me Lies.”
(Dutch Doscher / For The Times)
Do you wish, especially as a real-life couple, that’s what you could have played?
Van Patten: I thought it was the perfect ending for these characters. If they ended up together and figured things out, it would just be so unrealistic. Look what these people have done to each other for the past three seasons. They’re not going to be OK together.
I guess I mean the whole trajectory, having to play the fictional couple that’s so toxic as you’re starting a relationship.
White: Yeah, not a lot of blending between work and real life.
Van Patten: Thank God. It’s only a nice, warm feeling to know we’re nothing like them. But it’s just fun acting together. We have to do crazy things and say crazy things. It’s very, very separated for us.
What do you hope for your characters?
White: I don’t hope much for him. I’m trying to think if I know anybody like that or with those tendencies — I do. I do know people who have a lot of similarities, and I pray for them, and I hope they do well. I also hope they get what’s coming to them. Actually let me take it to back because if somebody has wronged me, then I wish them the best. But for somebody like him, he’s sort of beyond that, isn’t he? I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know what I would want for him.
Van Patten: I hope that final instance that we see in the last episode pushes her into a journey of self-analysis and her really trying to figure out why she looks for that type of thing in a relationship, and why she has been so drawn to that. Hopefully she does the work to change that and focus on the relationships that matter, that she should be paying more attention to. I hope it’s the beginning for her.
On a final note, I will say, I was relieved to see Stephen at least left behind Lucy’s purse.
White: That’s pretty funny.
Van Patten: I wish there was footage of him placing it there. Like, him hopping out of the car and carefully placing it. I always wondered if he parked in a place where he can see Lucy, just to see her reaction.
Support for James Van Der Beek’s family continues to pour in. The GoFundMe created to support them following the “Dawson’s Creek” star’s death approached $2.3 million in donations Friday morning.
Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw are among the celebrity donors who have contributed to the fundraiser organized by the late actor’s friends. The couple’s donation is listed as $25,000. Those familiar with Van Der Beek’s breakout role on the millennial teen drama know that Spielberg is Dawson Leery’s favorite director.
Originally airing from 1998 to 2003, “Dawson’s Creek” was a seminal teen drama that followed four friends growing up in a small coastal town as they navigated their dreams, relationships and various coming-of-age milestones. Van Der Beek’s Dawson was an aspiring filmmaker whose dreams were bigger than his small hometown. Along with friends Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Jen (Michelle Williams), Dawson grappled with very relatable teen dilemmas including heartbreak, betrayal and bad decisions.
The fundraiser, which had more than 44,000 donors as of Friday morning, was organized to help support Van Der Beek’s wife and children, who “are facing an uncertain future” due to the financial strain of the late actor’s medical costs. The late actor died following a battle with colorectal cancer. Funds will be used to “help cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children’s education,” the organizers wrote.
Van Der Beek revealed in 2012 that he had been paid “almost nothing” for his work on “Dawson’s Creek” and had not received any residuals from the hit show.
“There was no residual money,” he told “Today.” “I was 20. It was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that.”
Before his death, Van Der Beek auctioned off personal memorabilia and sold collectibles to help pay for his cancer treatments. In September, his “Dawson’s Creek” co-stars helped organize and stage a reunion fundraiser to support Van Der Beek and his family — a reunion the actor had to miss because of a virus. “Black Bird” actor Paul Walter Hauser had also been raising funds through Cameo videos and auctions to help the late actor prior to his death.
Besides Spielberg, celebrity donors to Van Der Beek’s GoFundMe also reportedly include Zoe Saldaña, Jon M. Chu, Derek Hough, Busy Philipps, Jenna Dewan and others.
Van Der Beek’s “Dawson’s Creek” colleagues have also been among the many who have shared tributes to the late actor.
“Several times today, from my heart, I’ve tried to form the words to express the beautiful brilliance of James and what his presence has meant to my life,” “Dawson’s” creator Kevin Williamson wrote Thursday in a post shared on Instagram. “But I am truly at a loss for words. I will have to trust that one day those words will come… But today, all I can think about is Kimberly and the entire Van Der Beek family.”
Holmes, meanwhile, shared a handwritten note addressed to Van Der Beek on Instagram Wednesday. She was the first of “Dawson’s Creek’s” surviving core quartet to publicly acknowledge Van Der Beek’s death.
“Thank you,” Holmes wrote in her note, which was addressed to Van Der Beek. “To share a space with your imagination is sacred — breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each others’ hearts are safe in their expression.”
In her remembrance, Holmes highlighted their shared “laughter, conversations about life, James Taylor songs” and their “adventures of a unique youth.” She also highlighted Van Der Beek’s “Bravery. Compassion. Selflessness [and] Strength.”
“I mourn this loss with a heart holding the reality of his absence and deep gratitude for his imprint on it,” wrote Holmes, who also sent love to Van Der Beek’s wife and children in her message.
Other members of the extended “Dawson’s Creek” family, including actors Chad Michael Murray, Kerr Smith and Sasha Alexander, have also been among those offering condolences and paying tribute to Van Der Beek and his family online.
“James Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed and i don’t know what else to say,” wrote Busy Philipps in her Instagram tribute. “He was my friend and i loved him and i’m so grateful for our friendship all these years.”
Mateus Fernandes (West Ham): He’s one of those players that looks like he would infuriate me, both to play with and against. He did all the ratty things really well. He’s got high energy, he’s young, talented and he’s the heartbeat of the team. He gets caught up sometimes in silly moments, trying to buy fouls when he doesn’t really have to. I thought it was his best performance for West Ham this season – a very mature performance.
Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City): I love seeing him play in midfield. He adds the legs and energy into City’s midfield – and obviously he gets his goal there as well. I feel the more he plays in his natural position – with Rodri around him – he’ll be a star, not only for Manchester City but England moving forward as well.
Jacob Ramsey (Newcastle): When Newcastle’s midfield has been torn up because of injury or suspension in the last few weeks, he’s quietly gone about his business. He’s been excellent and made sure he delivers in terms of performances and now goals. I think he’s a real steal for Newcastle.
Cole Palmer (Chelsea): I’m going to give a sympathy vote to Cole Palmer. He was in there last week because he scored a hat-trick against Wolves – but this week: goal, assist, and is a level above everyone else – but what a miss that was. If he scores that goal, Chelsea obviously win the game. He’s a shoo-in. That miss does put a little stain on it, but I thought his overall performance was miles better.
Their final moments together were filled with laughter, sharing, “My last moment was making him laugh one last time.”
A lengthier tribute on Ribeiro’s Instagram described Van Der Beek as his “true friend, brother and life guide” who will “live forever in my heart.”
He wrote: “I‘m so broken right now with the passing of my friend James Van Der Beek today.
“He was my true friend brother and life guide. I was with him through this horrible journey to beat cancer.
“His family and friends went on this roller coaster ride. The highs when it looked like he had it beat to the breaking lows of it coming back.
“I’ve learned so much from James. He and Kimberly Van Der Beek changed my life. I will forever be in debt for all they’ve given me and my family.
“He will live forever in my heart. I will always be there for their children. I will always hold my role as Gwen’s Goddie daddy as one of the most important roles of my life.
“I love you James and know I have a guardian angel watching over me. Being able to say goodbye this weekend will always live with me. RIP my brother. RIP.“
Van Der Beek revealed his diagnosis publicly in November 2024, telling PEOPLE Magazine that he had been “privately dealing” with it and had been taking steps to resolve it.
“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” he said at the time.
By the end of his life, the noughties heartthrob was physically weakened, but his mind remained resolute, and his wisdom moved his many friends and fans.
A source told the Mail: “James was on hospice for several weeks and he was rail thin when he passed.
“He was mostly in bed because he was very weak, and he was not eating.
“He was in hospice, they held his hand and were there for him, of course, but it has been hard because James was so ill, he was weak.
“He had so much charisma, he was a wonderful soul, and his presence is missed. Those poor little kids.”
Van Der Beek leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and six children – Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12. Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, seven, and Jeremiah, four.
James Van Der Beek attends the FX TV series New York premiere of ‘Pose’Credit: GettyJames Van Der Beek reveals heartbreaking final wish just days before death in unseen video to fansCredit: Tiktok
A clause in James’s contract meant he made no money from reruns or streamingCredit: THA/ShutterstockThe actor passed away on Wednesday after a two year battle with cancerCredit: InstagramHis wife and children are now said to be at risk of losing their homeCredit: James Van Der Beek/Instagram
Friends then set up a GoFundMe to support his wife Kimberley and their six children, who are said to be at risk of losing their home due to the cost of James’s medical bills.
James shot to fame in 1998 as lead character Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek.
Despite the show’s huge popularity – which has continued since it ended in 2003 – he previously confessed he makes no money from reruns or streaming deals.
Speaking to Today in 2012, James explained: “There was no residual money.
“I was 20. It was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that.”
A GoFundMe page was set up and donations have already surpassed $1 million.
The message on the account reads: “In the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future.
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“The costs of James’s medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds.
“They are working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time.
“The support of friends, family, and the wider community will make a world of difference as they navigate the road ahead.”
Following his diagnosis with cancer in 2023 James began working with Propstore to sell off his Dawson’s Creek memorabilia in order to cover his medical costs.
When “Dawson’s Creek” premiered on Jan. 20, 1998, I was 11 years old. I had never been in a love triangle or gotten drunk at a house party. Yet, like so many other millennials, I religiously set the VHS player to record “Dawson’s Creek” every week on the WB.
My parents didn’t approve of their impressionable child devouring the semi-debaucherous teen melodrama, so I labeled the VHS tapes “The Brady Bunch,” then routinely snuck out of bed late at night to quietly watch Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen navigate their hormonal angst via unbelievably erudite dialogue.
On Wednesday, “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek died at 48 after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He left behind six kids, a wife and decades of work across film and television.
But for many millennials, he will always be Dawson Leery.
Van Der Beek’s health was already in decline when I profiled “Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson for The Times last year. Still, the actor kindly agreed to answer questions for the piece via email. His commentary went beyond what was expected, graciously detailing his time on the show and praising his co-stars and collaborators.
In the “Dawson’s” audition room, for example, Van Der Beek said his soon-to-be co-star Joshua Jackson “stood out because while other actors nervously went over their sides (myself included), he had the energy of a guy who was ready for a prize fight. I remember thinking, ‘THAT GUY is really interesting. If they cast him as Pacey, this is going to be really good.’”
James Van Der Beek, left, and Joshua Jackson in “Dawson’s Creek,” which would launch them to stardom.
(Fred Norris/The WB)
Van Der Beek likewise effused that, as a showrunner, Williamson “felt like a friend who was excited to go make a movie in his backyard. Even the way he ‘pitched’ storylines — it was never a pitch. It was a campfire story about people he cared about that he’d unfold in such a simple, compelling way that you couldn’t help but care about them too.”
Millennial viewers did care. Alot.
“Dawson’s Creek,” a simple drama about four friends growing up in a small, coastal town, quickly became a defining touchstone of Y2K culture, a major hit for the WB network — the series finale drew more than 7 million viewers — and a star-making machine for its four leads: Van Der Beek, Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.
The floppy-haired, often flannel-clad Van Der Beek wasn’t the show’s breakout heartthrob. (That honorific belonged to Jackson, who played Pacey, Dawson’s charming best friend and Joey’s end-game paramour.)
But as the title character and a partial avatar for Williamson — who had similarly spent his own teen years dreamily pining and aspiring to be a filmmaker — Dawson was the boy-next-door pillar around which the show orbited.
Yes, Dawson was whiny and moody and extremely self-centered, but so are a lot of teenagers. Through Van Der Beek’s wistful performance, viewers were given a window through which to grapple with betrayal, death, heartbreak and a litany of bad decisions.
For better or worse, Dawson served as an emotional, often cautionary, proxy for millennials’ own coming-of-age messiness.
In the years since the series ended in 2003, Dawson has largely been reduced to the “Dawson crying” meme: a Season 3 screenshot of Van Der Beek, face contorted in pain and on the verge of crying messy, heaving tears as Dawson tells Joey she should choose Pacey over him.
The emotional relationship between Joey and Dawson was core to the series.
(Fred Norris/The WB)
Van Der Beek later revealed that the tears weren’t scripted. So attuned had he become to his character’s sensitivity by that point that the emotions flowed naturally.
“I think at the heart of [Williamson’s] projects are characters that he himself cares about deeply — flaws and all,” Van Der Beek said in his email last year. “They’re authentic to their background, sincere according to their world view… and vulnerable.”
Van Der Beek was vulnerable, too. As his cancer progressed, he was open with fans about his health struggles and the early warning signs. He appeared via video at a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion event in New York City last September, the proceeds of which raised money for cancer awareness.
In Van Der Beek’s death, there is no real-world instrumental score or innate montage of his best moments to soften the blow, as would have happened with a character on “Dawson’s Creek” (though the internet will surely be awash in such fan-made edits).
But through his work on “Dawson’s,” a generation can take comfort in a starry-eyed boy on a dock in Capeside who once invited us into his messy, emotional world.
Produced by Reese Witherspoon, James Van Der Beek’s final TV role will debut on Amazon Prime later this year, months after the actor’s death following a harrowing cancer battle
James Van Der Beek’s final TV show set to air this summer(Image: Instagram)
Produced by Reese Witherspoon, the show follows a young Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) in her pre-Harvard high school years, and James played Dean, a mayoral candidate and the school district’s superintendent. His scenes, the last of his that will ever air, were shot in May 2025.
Elle will air on Prime Video on 1 July 2026. This will come months after James’ death. He died aged 48 after a two-year battle with colorectal cancer.
The news was confirmed in a statement from his wife, Kimberley: “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now, we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
In an additional statement, Kimberly said: “James Van Der Beek was a beloved husband, father, and friend who touched the lives of everyone around him. After a long and courageous battle with cancer, James passed away on February 11, 2026, leaving behind his devoted wife, Kimberly, and their six wonderful children. Throughout his illness, the family faced not only emotional challenges but also significant financial strain as they did everything possible to support James and provide for his care.
“In the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future. The costs of James’s medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They are working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time. The support of friends, family, and the wider community will make a world of difference as they navigate the road ahead.” The family have since launched a GoFundMe to help them cover costs.
James was diagnosed with cancer in August 2023, after getting checked following changes in his bowel movements. He announced the diagnosis over a year later in November 2024.
Speaking about his diagnosis when he chose to go public, he explained: “The trickiest thing is there are so many unknowns with cancer. You think, ‘How do I fix this? Is this healing me? Is this hurting me? Is this working? Is it coming back?’ As someone who likes answers, not knowing is one of the hardest things. I have a lot to live for.”
In November last year, he announced that he would be auctioning off personal items from Dawson’s Creek, where he played Dawson Leery, in order to help with the costs associated with his ongoing treatment.
He starred in the show alongside Katie Holmes, who played Dawson’s childhood love Joey Potter, and Joshua Jackson, who played their friend and Joey’s second love Pacey Witter.
For more information or support about bowel cancer, you can contact Macmillan Cancer Support or you can call 020 7940 1760 for advice.
Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.
Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.
Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.
The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.
If players are level on points after the 16 weeks then places are decided by nights won and then matches won.
Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham – the top two try-scorers in Scotland history – as well as British and Irish Lions Test full-back Blair Kinghorn have been left out of the side for the Six Nations opener against Italy.
Coach Gregor Townsend has opted for a back three of Bristol’s Tom Jordan at full-back flanked by Glasgow Warriors wingers Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie – who will make his first start in a Six Nations game – for Saturday’s game in Rome.
Graham is among the replacements but Van der Merwe and Kinghorn are not even in the matchday 23, with stand-off Adam Hastings and scrum-half George Horne the other backs cover.
Other than the shock omissions of three 2025 Lions tourists, Townsend’s selection for Scotland’s first game of the championship is otherwise predictable.
Grant Gilchrist, 35, has beaten off the challenges of the more youthful Gregor Brown and Max Williamson to partner Scott Cummings, who missed last year’s championship through injury, in the second row.
Matt Fagerson, vice-captain Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey form an all-Glasgow back row, with versatile Warriors forward Brown also covering the breakaway unit.
Ewan Ashman, Scotland’s leading try-scoring forward, gets the nod at hooker ahead of George Turner and will have Lions props Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson either side of him.
Ben White partners vice-captain Finn Russell at half-back despite strong claims from in-form Horne.
The midfield is the familiar pairing of Huw Jones and captain Sione Tuipulotu – the 18th Test match the pair have played together.
Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen was knocked out by Damon Heta on the opening night of the World Masters in Milton Keynes.
The 36-year-old Dutchman – who won the Masters five times in a row between 2015 and 2019 – lost 3-1 to Australian number one Heta, who checked out 101 to seal his victory.
World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen was solid on his Masters debut, progressing 3-1 past Ryan Joyce despite losing the first set, while former world champion Gerwyn Price racked up a three-dart average of 108.51 to defeat in-form James Hurrell.
Jonny Clayton – last year’s beaten Masters finalist – saw off Wessel Nijman 3-1, with Nathan Aspinall defeating Shane McGuirk by the same scoreline.
Defending Masters champion Luke Humphries and world champion Luke Littler – the world number one – both enter the tournament on Friday.
