James Van Der Beek, best known for leading Dawson’s Creek as aspiring filmmaker Dawson Leery, has died following a battle with colorectal cancer. He was 48.
His family confirmed the news in a statement shared to social media, saying he passed peacefully and asking for privacy as they grieve.
Van Der Beek’s breakout arrived in the late ’90s when Dawson’s Creek became one of the defining teen dramas of its era. Premiering in 1998, the series helped usher in a new wave of youth-focused storytelling and turned its young cast into household names. The show ran for six seasons and later found new life in streaming, introducing Dawson and the residents of Capeside to another generation.
While television made him a star, Van Der Beek’s career stretched well beyond the creek. On the big screen, he anchored the football drama Varsity Blues, a role that became a staple of millennial pop-culture memory. He later showed a sharp comedic edge with memorable turns in projects like Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, where he famously played a heightened version of himself.
Born in Connecticut, Van Der Beek began acting as a teenager and maintained a deep love for theater even as Hollywood called. Over the years, he built a career that moved between drama and comedy, indie projects and studio films, always aware of the unique place Dawson Leery held in television history.
In november 2024, he publicly shared that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. At the time, he expressed optimism and gratitude for the support surrounding him, emphasizing that his focus was on his health and his family.
He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and their six children.
For many who came of age at the turn of the millennium, Van Der Beek’s work formed part of the emotional language of that period of television — earnest, romantic, and unafraid of big feelings. His performances continue to live on through reruns, memes, and rediscovery by younger audiences finding the series for the first time.
A generation met him as Dawson. Millions grew up with him from there.