James Van Der Beek, ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star Who Navigated Fame and Reinvention, Dead at 48

James Van Der Beek, the actor who became a defining face of late 90's teen television as Dawson Leery on Dawson's Creek and later built a career marked by self-awareness and range, has died at 48.

His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, confirmed the news in a statement, saying he passed away peacefully, surrounded by family. “He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” she wrote, asking for privacy as the family grieves. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed, though in November 2024, Van Der Beek revealed he had been battling colorectal cancer.

The actor had kept his diagnosis private for more than a year and a half before speaking publicly about it. In interviews, he described the emotional toll of the illness, acknowledging both fear and resilience. He told morning television audiences that the experience forced him to reexamine priorities and embrace change, even as the journey proved longer and more demanding than he initially anticipated.

Born March 8, 1977, in Connecticut, Van Der Beek grew up in an athletic household. His father was a former minor league baseball pitcher; his mother was a dancer and gymnastics teacher. After a concussion sidelined his football ambitions as a teenager, he turned to acting, landing roles in school productions before persuading his mother to help him secure professional representation.

He made his off-Broadway debut at 16 in Edward Albee’s Finding the Sun and soon transitioned to television and film. Early roles in projects like Angus (1995) and I Love You, I Love You Not (1996) preceded the career-defining moment: being cast as Dawson Leery in Dawson's Creek, which premiered in 1998.

The WB series quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Its earnest, hyper-articulate teens and romantic entanglements resonated with audiences, turning Van Der Beek into an overnight heartthrob. The fame was swift and overwhelming. In later interviews, he recalled being mobbed by fans within weeks of the show’s debut and struggling to process the intensity of sudden celebrity at 20 years old.

While the series cemented his place in pop culture, it also risked confining him. Determined to expand beyond the sensitive, Spielberg-obsessed Dawson, Van Der Beek pursued darker roles, including his performance in Varsity Blues, which showcased a more conflicted and intense persona. He later embraced even more subversive territory in 2002’s The Rules of Attraction, portraying a morally ambiguous college student.

After Dawson’s Creek concluded in 2003, Van Der Beek took a varied path through television, appearing in series such as How I Met Your Mother and Criminal Minds. One of his most notable reinventions came with Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, where he played a heightened, self-satirizing version of himself. The role demonstrated both comedic timing and a willingness to dismantle his teen-idol image.

Offscreen, Van Der Beek increasingly prioritized family life. He and Kimberly married in 2010 and had six children. He spoke candidly about the couple’s painful experiences with pregnancy loss and medical complications, describing fatherhood as transformative. His death closes a chapter on an actor who grew up in the public eye and, over time, reshaped how he occupied it.