When James Van Der Beek announced via social media last November that he’d privately been receiving treatment for Stage 3 colorectal cancer, a generation of Dawson’s Creek fans were stunned and devastated. They’d grown up with this guy, and loved how, in his many family-centric social media posts, his real-life persona reflected the earnestness of Dawson Leery offset with warmth, wisdom and a great sense of humor. How could this be happening to someone so positive and healthy?
But the star’s inner circle had already been rallying around the actor, 48, for months — not just his friends and family, but also his Dawson’s crew. Because, while many stars of the golden era of teen shows may occasionally “like” each other’s Instagram posts, bonds go deeper than that for this group, proving that what happened in Capeside — actually, Wilmington, North Carolina, where the show filmed — didn’t stay in Capeside. They made meaningful relationships that have supported them through serious ups and downs since.
That’s why their long-awaited public reunion is as exciting for them as it is for the hordes of fans who clamored for tickets (it sold out in 12 minutes!). The September 22 event, which takes place on Broadway, will see the original cast performing a live reading of the show’s iconic 1998 pilot episode to benefit the nonprofit F Cancer and Van Der Beek, as well as raise awareness of the importance of early detection.
“We grew up in Capeside, and that’s a bond that will last a lifetime,” Van Der Beek’s costar Michelle Williams said in a statement announcing the reunion, which will also feature creator Kevin Williamson. “We wanted to gather around our dear friend James and remind him that we are all here. We always have been, and we always will be. And I know the fans of Dawson’s Creek feel the same way.”
Coming Back Together
Since the show wrapped in 2003, the core cast has gone in different directions — professionally, personally and geographically. Van Der Beek has settled in Texas with wife Kimberly and their six kids, taking on sporadic acting gigs and a memorable run on season 28 of Dancing With the Stars; L.A.-based Joshua Jackson (Pacey Witter), 47, has become a big, serious actor, starring on TV dramas like The Affair and Little Fires Everywhere while also romancing a string of Hollywood beauties; Williams (Jen Lindley), 45, has blossomed into a respected indie actress who leads a quiet, private life in Brooklyn, New York, not too far from arguably the show’s biggest name, Katie Holmes (Joey Potter), 46, who lives in Manhattan and is now an empty nester since 19-year-old daughter Suri — her only child with ex-husband Tom Cruise — has left for college.
Despite their individual paths, the four stars still have plenty in common — not least the unique, life-altering shared experience of shooting to fame in such a well-loved and critically acclaimed show along with their other good friends, Busy Philipps (Audrey), Meredith Monroe (Andie), Kerr Smith (Jack) and, of course, Mary-Margaret Humes and John Wesley Shipp, a.k.a Gail and Mitch Leery, who will all be at the Broadway reunion. Humes exclusively tells Us that this enduring bond is why the group didn’t hesitate to sign up to support TV’s most verbose aspiring filmmaker.
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“The first phone call I got was from James himself,” Humes says. “He told me that Michelle was spearheading this, and it was a way for us to actually have a reunion, all of us together, and celebrate James’ life. Because he’s dealing with a very difficult situation; very optimistic, but a difficult situation. Together as a TV family, we just thought we needed to be there for him and rally around him.”
Smith, 53, also heard from Van Der Beek directly about Williams’ plans. “Back in April or May, we were doing a convention together in Pittsburgh and he had mentioned that Michelle wanted to do this and put it together. It’s Michelle’s baby — she gets the credit,” Smith tells Us. “When I was pitched, I said, ‘Of course, I’m in. This is fantastic.'” He last saw the group in person for the 2018 Entertainment Weekly reunion photo shoot, but has been in touch with several cast members for his upcoming book about his journey on the beloved show.
“We went out to dinner before we did the photo shoot for that 2018 reunion. And I sat down next to Katie and one of the first things we said was it feels like no time has gone by at all. We just dove right back into a conversation,” Smith says. “It’s just easy.”
Parental Figures
Humes, 71, tells Us that Van Der Beek’s diagnosis resonated with her more than most, due to her own private battle with colon cancer in 2007, something she hasn’t previously shared with the media. “It was just about ready to break out of the wall,” she reveals. “It could’ve been a terrible situation, but we caught it in time. My doctor said we dodged a bullet, and it was all because of early detection. Cancers are survivable, but go out and get screened — thankfully, that’s part of James’ journey.”
Humes vividly remembers the moment Van Der Beek called her to share his sad news. After playing mother and son for six years, the pair have stayed close. “Since [then], we’ve had multiple conversations that are very uplifting and spiritual. He knows I’ve got his back 100 percent. He’s going to get through this, and we’re all coming together.”
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The actress has long assumed a maternal role over her younger castmates and has, in many ways, been the glue that’s kept them together. She still stays in regular contact with most of the actors — and it all goes back to those early days on set. “Our executive producer Paul Stupin used to call me the ‘den mother’ because I was like the elder, with the exception of Mary Beth Peil [Grams],” she recalls. “I did take the kids under my wing, but they didn’t need much guidance. We all just fell into this. Everybody just gelled as a family and came together. There were no ego problems — there were tense moments behind the scenes from time to time, but that will remain a mystery!”
Her onscreen husband Shipp — who, as Dawson’s dad, was cheated on by Gail and was later brutally killed off in that infamous ice cream incident (we’re still not over it!) — tells a similar story. “We were cocooned from Hollywood in this southeastern coastal town,” he tells Us. “We were out of the glare of the bright lights, and it was a really special experience. Not that they would have engaged in any bad behavior, our young cast was too smart for that.”
Like Humes, Shipp, 70, says that his parental role extended beyond the script, recalling that he and Humes even took Van Der Beek to watch his first big movie, Varsity Blues, since his IRL family couldn’t make the trip to Wilmington. “I remember when James signed his first autograph!” he says. “It’s just incredibly dear. Everyone was on the same level, regardless of experience, and even after they shot up to superstardom that surpassed mine and Mary-Margaret’s, it was still the same dynamic, and I think that’s testament to each and every one of those kids, now in their 40s.”
First and Lasting Loves
Of course, there was occasional drama on set — not least when, early on, Jackson and Holmes became a real-life couple, which the actress talked about in a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone. “I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always,” she said. “And that I feel so fortunate because he’s now one of my best friends.”
Shortly before the show wrapped in 2003, Jackson made a rare remark of his own about the relationship. “In the very beginning, Katie and I did have a romance, which is ancient history now. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to have an actual romance and then we broke up and then a year later to have an onscreen romance because there’s nothing more fun than going to work with your ex-girlfriend every day. Sorry, Katie, I love you, but it was a little difficult there for a while,” Jackson said as then-Late Night host Conan O’Brien joked that the writers did it to torture them. “You’re reading the scripts and you’re actually like, ‘Didn’t I say that to her? That’s not healthy!'”
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That meaningful connection is why Dawson’s mania hit a new crescendo recently, when the pair reunited to shoot their forthcoming movie trilogy, Happy Hours. Joey and Pacey, pictured together, grinning and pushing a stroller? It doesn’t get better than that for Dawson’s fans — especially if you were always Team Pacey! (While Smith stays neutral as a “team Jack” in the great debate, he admits of Holmes and Jackson: “It seems like it’s a natural relationship, and I can’t wait to see it.”)
But they’re not the only stars who’ve stayed incredibly close — Williams and Philipps, 46, are also certified BFFs. When Philipps joined the cast in 2000, playing party girl Audrey Liddell throughout the show’s college years, they hit it off straight away. “She’s proof that the love of your life does not have to be a man!” Williams told People in 2016, adding, “Someone had said, ‘When you two meet, there is going to be a chemical reaction.’ I had been really excited for this girl to land in Wilmington. She was so beautiful and cool… I said to her recently, ‘You have really saved me from ever being lonely because you are always right there.’”
Philipps is just as smitten. “Michelle is a very easy person to fall in love with,” she wrote in her 2018 memoir, This Will Only Hurt a Little. “Anyone who really knows her will tell you that. And probably anyone who barely knows her would say that, too.” Philipps was there for Williams when her former partner, Heath Ledger, with whom she shared daughter Matilda, now 18, died in 2008, just three months after their breakup. “I understand the public’s fascination with Heath’s death, with him in general, as a cultural icon or as the greatest actor of a generation or whatever,” Philipps wrote. “But you know, for me it was really simple. He was my best friend’s love and the father of her child. My beautiful, magical goddaughter.”
Ebbs and Flows
It’s only natural that with such a big, talented group of actors, there have been ups and downs. Both Shipp and Humes note how different Van Der Beek and Jackson approached the show.
“James was always prepared. He took his job very seriously, and he asked a lot of questions because he was searching for authenticity,” Humes says. “So he would make a lot of phone calls to Kevin to search out the route that he should take to bring what Kevin’s dream was to his character. Josh was such a seasoned actor — he had worked more — and he was the life of the party on set. He was joking around with everybody and with the crew, and then the cameras would roll, and he was just magical. He’s smart, he’s intelligent. I always used to say, ‘You could ask Joshua what time it is, and he would build you a watch.’ I mean, he knew his stuff. He knew everybody’s stuff.”
Shipp also recalls Van Der Beek being “very analytical.”
“He was very script analysis oriented … And I’m not saying that Josh wasn’t, because certainly he maintained a consistent character, but he was very improvisational, you know, up to the last minute before action,” he says.
More recently, during an April appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s on Me” podcast, Jackson admitted that, at the end of the day, he and his costars are essentially a family. While they aren’t always in touch — “it’s not a daily call” and “sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call” — it’s like no time has passed when they’re together. “There is, you know, these moments, these major moments in life [that]… there’s probably no other people in your life that you are that forged to,” he explained. “’Cause you had to go through good and bad and happy and ‘F*** you’ and ‘Don’t talk to me’ and ‘I love you.’”
When it comes to the reunion, Jackson noted that it’s been the show’s female stars who’ve done the organizing (why doesn’t that surprise Us?!). “James is going through something really, truly terrible right now,” he said. “And, I wish I could take credit for this, but I was kind of the absentee partner here, but the girls all got together and were like, ‘We need to do something to help this guy out.’” Philipps echoes his sentiments. “I’ve been helping organize it. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s so exciting to bring everyone together for James,” she tells Us. “It’s going to be amazing.”
As for Van Der Beek himself, while his diagnosis has clearly been devastating, he feels grateful that it’s brought the gang closer together again. “We all went our separate ways and, you know, just didn’t speak for years because we’re just living our lives and doing our things,” he said on Jana Kramer’s “Whine Down” podcast in March. “And to just reconnect and be like, Oh, wow. I love who you’ve become… [has] been so great. It’s just been so great to talk to them and catch up with who they are now, this many years out, and to have that shared experience from back in the day.”
It’s a sentiment shared by the show’s millions of fans all over the world, which is why the forthcoming reunion hit such a viral chord online. “Not only will we be having a lot of fun seeing each other on stage, but we know we’ll be doing it for a worthy cause,” Shipp tells Us, stressing the importance of raising awareness for cancer screenings and early detection. We have a feeling there won’t be a dry eye in the house, so get your Dawson crying meme lined up for the group chat, fast!