James Van Der Beek, Dawson's Creek And Varsity Blues Star, Dies At 48

James Van Der Beek, the actor best known for playing eloquent heartthrob Dawson Leery on the teen drama "Dawson's Creek," has died at the age of 48. Van Der Beek was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in November 2024, and his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek announced his death via an Instagram post on February 11, 2026. 

Van Der Beek was a massive teen star in the 1990s and early 2000s, with starring roles in films like the football classic "Varsity Blues" and the acerbic black comedy "The Rules of Attraction." While many teen stars have a tendency to fade out after their fans age up, Van Der Beek continued to work and grow, starring in the cancelled-too-soon comedy "Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23" with Kristen Ritter and even having a fabulous cameo in the music video for Kesha's "Blow." 

Van Der Beek is survived by his wife Kimberly and their six children.

While many of the early projects James Van Der Beek was a part of took themselves very seriously, it seemed like the actor was pretty much the opposite. On "Don't Trust the B—- in Apartment 23," he played a fictionalized version of himself that wasn't exactly flattering, poking fun at himself and his celebrity in a totally fearless way. In one episode of the series, he goes on "Dancing with the Stars" and has a total meltdown, and then he actually participated in season 28 of the popular reality series a few years later. Thankfully, he was a much better dancer than his fictional counterpart, making it all the way to the semi-finals before being eliminated. 

Even in the music video for "Blow," Van Der Beek cheekily pokes fun at himself as Kesha's arch-nemesis, countering her calling him "James Van Der D*****" with "I don't appreciate you slander-Beeking my name, Ke dollar sign ha" before the two have a laser gun battle that ends with lots of dead unicorns. It's irreverent and silly and helped make the actor especially lovable long after his teen heartthrob years had passed. 

After he was diagnosed with cancer, he told People the outpouring of support he received was extremely touching. "I'm never the person who asked for any help — ever," he said. "It's not in my DNA. And I thought that was a fine way to be until cancer. The way friends showed up was such a beautiful experience — and I would never have otherwise seen how much people care about me."

Van Der Beek could be excellent in serious roles, like playing "American Psycho" killer Patrick Bateman's awful younger brother in "The Rules of Attraction," but his greatest strength was his humility and self-effacing humor. He will be deeply missed.