Why James Van Der Beek's death hits hard for generations of fans

James Van Der Beek's death today at just 48 will no doubt leave many feeling melancholy.

The actor left behind an adoring wife, Kimberly, and six children who ranged in age from 15 to four, as well as a father with whom he shared the same first name.

While Van Der Beek found fame in the late '90s, where his fanbase was made up mainly of what is now known as Millennials, his fame transcends that one generation.

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The late star became interested in acting after appearing in a high school performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

He asked his mother to take him into New York City to get an agent when he was 15, and made his professional debut in an off-Broadway theatre production a year later.

After appearing in one episode of a TV show, he made his film debut, then appeared in three episodes of soap opera As the World Turns, before winning the titular role as angst-ridden teen Dawson Leery in the hit TV show Dawson's Creek.

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Van Der Beek was 21 when the show first aired in 1998 and became an instant hit. It made stars of not only himself but the cast of unknowns, including Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams.

The show was classed as a teen drama, and ran for six seasons.

But while much of its original fanbase were Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), his popularity extends past that one generation, to include Xennials and younger Generation Xers.

Because here is the thing: In the age before iPhones and streaming services, it was not uncommon for families to view TV shows en masse, meaning it wasn't just the show's teenage demographic who were watching, but their parents and siblings as well.

"I was in Year 5 when Dawson's Creek came out and one of the cool girls in my year had the CD soundtrack. I thought that was radical because it had a song called Life's a Bitch on it," one Nine.com.au staffer said.

"I didn't watch the show, but even still he was a huge part of the pop culture landscape of my formative years.

"He was always in the magazines I read and even as a youngster I realised he was a different kind of heartthrob to what we'd seen before – this soft, sensitive kind of guy."

Others said while they were too young to watch the show when it first aired, they were still aware of some of the bigger storylines.

"I remember him being the centre of some sort of love triangle at some point in the show," said one.

That love triangle, which saw Katie Holmes' Joey forced to choose between Dawson and Pacey (Joshua Jackson), dominated most of the six series of the show.

While the show's creator planned to have Joey choose Dawson, he changed his mind and she ended up with fan favourite Pacey instead.

Many of Van Der Beek's fans came after the show ended.

During the show's run, which ended in 2003, Van Der Beek capitalised on his Dawson's Creek fame, starring in several films, including 1999's Varsity Blues, which earned him the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance.

He also starred in 2001's Texas Rangers and the 2002 comedy, The Laws of Attraction, as well as a guest star on TV shows including Criminal Minds, Ugly Betty, One Tree Hill and Medium.

The following decade, he won a role in the medical drama Mercy and starred in sitcoms Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 and Friends With Better Lives, before winning a new generation of fans from his starring role in TV drama CSI: Cyber, alongside Ted Danson and Patricia Arquette, as FBI Agent Elijah Mundo.

The show aired from 2015 to 2016, and after it ended he made a guest appearance as Bo Johnson in Modern Family and appeared in five episodes of Pose.

He also voiced the character of Boris in the animated children's TV series Vampirina, which ran from 2017 to 2021.

Then there's a new generation of Dawson's Creek fans, who watched the show years after filming wrapped either in re-runs aired on Australia free-to-air TV and on streaming platforms, where it remains today.

And let's not forget that meme.

Years after Van Der Beek stopped playing the mopey Dawson, memes and gifs of his character's crying face turned up on social media.

The actor was asked how he felt about the meme back in 2018 when the cast reunited for an interview with Entertainment Weekly to mark the show's 20th anniversary.

"I love it. It's my favourite thing about the whole show," he said.

"It's hilarious to me that you can work for six years on a show… and it gets boiled down to three seconds.

"It's a perfect way-of-the-internet."

Van Der Beek was working solidly up until the pandemic hit in 2020, and he and his family moved from LA to Austin, Texas.

He then shuttled back and forth to LA for work when a colonoscopy in 2023 changed his life.

Van Der Beek revealed late last year he was waking up from the anaesthetic when a doctor delivered the news he had stage three colorectal cancer.

He kept the news to himself at first while he started treatment, only revealing his diagnosis publicly in November 2024 after a news outlet forced his hand.

He spent much of the last 15 months of his life being an advocate for earlier detection of colorectal cancer.

He also turned to fundraising, both for his own treatment, and to help others through the charity F Cancer, by selling memorabilia from the show.

He first announced in 2024 he would sell items to support his family and others battling cancer.

"100 per cent of my net proceeds will go to families recovering from the financial burden of cancer (including my own 😇)," he wrote.

Then last November, he announced further sales, including the outfit he wore in the pilot episode of Dawson's, the necklace Dawson gifted Katie Holmes' Joey for prom and the cleats the star wore for his role in Varsity Blues, as well as a collection of jerseys.

"I've been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them, and with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it's clear that the time is now," the star said in an Instagram post in November.

"While I have some nostalgia tugging at me as I part with these items, it feels good to be able to offer them to... those who have supported my work over the years."

During what would be his final television interview, recorded at his home in Texas two months ago, he told the US Today show's Craig Melvin, that after learning his diagnosis, he decided to turn a negative into a positive.

"One of the things I was really lucky about was when I heard the news, I was like, 'This is gonna be the best thing that's ever happened to me'," he said.

"I had this little voice in my head that said, 'You're gonna make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn't have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it's gonna add healthy, happy years to your life'."

Now, following the news the star has died, leaving behind wife Kimberly and six children, – Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, seven, and Jeremiah, four – many of us will be replaying in our minds the words of that all-too-familiar Dawson's Creek theme song.

So open up your morning light
And say a little prayer for I
You know that if we are to stay alive
Then see the peace in every eye
I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over
I want to know right now, what will it be?
Will it be yes or will it be sorry?

Whether you were a fan of Van Der Beek's most famous character Dawson, or simply admired the way he chose to embrace a cancer diagnosis, which he admitted at times reduced him to tears, we can all agree life was a little better with him in it.

And his death will leave a void that right now feels impossible to fill.

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