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James Van Der Beek is not playing because of his health. As he fights stage 3 colorectal cancer, the 48-year-old revealed he will have to miss the scheduled Dawson's Creek cast reunion on September 22 due to two stomach viruses.
On Instagram on September 21, he wrote, "This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January." "So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment."
"Despite every effort… I won’t get to be there," he added. "I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most."
In support of the F Cancer foundation, the one-night event will include a live reading of the Dawson's Creek pilot episode at the Richard Rodgers Theatre by original cast members of the WB teen drama series, including Michelle, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, and Busy Phillips.
Despite being excluded from the special event, James revealed that Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton will replace him in the reading.
After writing, "I DO have an understudy," "A ridiculously overqualified replacement who, had he ever been available, would have been at the top of my wish list. My children would undoubtedly think of someone better than me. Furthermore, he is already aware of how to get to the theater.So that’s convenient."
"The role of 'Dawson,' usually played by James Van Der Beek," James went on, "will be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Can’t believe I just got to type that."
The father of six—who shares kids Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 3, with wife Kimberly—went on to send well wishes to everyone attending the reunion.
"Everyone please enjoy all the love in that room," he said. "Shine some on my family.I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin. And thank you, @lin_manuel.You were a hero to my kids before… Now you’re a demigod."
In the comments of the post, Kimberly said that she'd still be attending the reading with her children because it "was important to him that we come!!"
James had previously opened up about how much he appreciates still being able to work amid his cancer diagnosis, which he received back in 2023 but announced in November 2024.
"The greatest thing about work is cancer doesn't exist between action and cut," James told Today in July. "It was fun to drop in and just have a blast because it's such a great cast, a great production, and everybody out there is really talented."
That being said, living with cancer has become his "full-time job," as he's had to work to "take things a little bit more slowly and prioritize rest and really allow that to be the job."
"I'm just on the journey," James said. "It's a process. It'll probably be a process for the rest of my life."
