James Van Der Beek to miss ‘Dawson’s Creek’ reunion but taps a ‘ridiculously overqualified replacement’
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James Van Der Beek is “gutted” he is missing the live “Dawson’s Creek” reunion, which reportedly sold out in 12 minutes last month.
The actor, who played Dawson Leery on the hit teen drama, announced Sunday on Instagram that he is unable to make the trip from Austin, Texas, to New York City for the Monday event because of two stomach viruses.
“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,” Van Der Beek wrote. “Despite every effort… I won’t get to be there. 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.”
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Van Der Beek was expected to join his “Dawson’s Creek” cast mates Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps for a live reading of the show’s 1998 pilot episode. The series, which aired for six seasons, followed aspiring filmmaker Dawson, his childhood best friends Joey (Holmes) and Pacey (Jackson), and his new neighbor Jen (Williams) as they navigated school, romance and a full range of coming-of-age issues. (Smith, Monroe and Philipps, who joined the series in later seasons, will be reading as other characters from the pilot.)
To mitigate any disappointment, Van Der Beek said he will be replaced by his “ridiculously overqualified” understudy: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Miranda is “someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me,” he joked. “Plus, he already knows how to get to the theater. So that’s convenient.”
The actor said he is ‘privately dealing’ with the diagnosis and ‘there’s reason for optimism,’ according to People magazine.
Taking place at New York City’s Richard Rodgers Theatre on Monday, the ticketed event is a benefit for F Cancer and in support of Van Der Beek, who revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer. “Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson told Variety that the benefit was Williams’ idea and will also include an auction and photo ops for charity.
“She enlisted me, Thomas [Kail] and Greg [Berlanti] to help,” Williamson said. “Jason Moore agreed to direct [and] our entire ‘Dawson’s Creek’ family was excited to do this and very accommodating and generous with their time.”
