James Van Der Beek, best known for his role in the hit 1990s teen drama Dawson’s Creek, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 48 following a battle with cancer. The news was shared by his wife, Kimberly, in a heartfelt post on social media.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” she wrote on Instagram.
In 2024, the actor publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which was discovered during a routine colonoscopy the previous year.
At the time, he shared that he had been managing the illness privately while undergoing treatment and focusing on improving his overall health.
“I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” he wrote in a social media post.
Van Der Beek continued to document his cancer journey online, offering updates and reflections until his passing.
A native of Connecticut, Van Der Beek rose to fame in the late 1990s for portraying Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek, alongside Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, and Katie Holmes. The series ran until 2003 and cemented his status as a teen idol of the early 2000s.
Beyond Dawson’s Creek, he appeared in films such as Varsity Blues, where he played Mox, and The Rules of Attraction, in which he portrayed Sean Bateman.
