James Van Der Beek

James David Van Der Beek (; born March 8, 1977) is an American actor. Known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery on The WB's ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), he also played a fictionalized version of himself on the cult ABC sitcom '' Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23'' (2012–2013), starred on '' CSI: Cyber'' as FBI Agent Elijah Mundo (2015–2016), and appeared as Matt Bromley on the first season of the FX drama '' Pose'' (2018).

His film credits include '' Varsity Blues'' (1998), '' Texas Rangers'' (2001), '' The Rules of Attraction'' (2002), '' Formosa Betrayed'' (2009), ''Labor Day'' (2013), and '' Bad Hair'' (2020).

Early life

Van Der Beek was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, the son of Melinda (; 1950–2020), a former dancer and gymnastics teacher, and husband James William Van Der Beek, a cellular phone company executive and former minor league baseball pitcher. He is of Dutch, German, English, Scots-Irish, and French descent; his last name translates to " from the creek" in Dutch.

Career

Theatre

Van Der Beek played the role of Reuben in his middle school production of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. At the age of 15, he asked his mother to take him into New York City to get an agent and try his hand in professional acting. He made his professional debut off-Broadway at age 16 in 1993 in the New York premiere of Edward Albee's play ''Finding the Sun'' with the Signature Theatre Company. He played the role of "Fergus". Both he and the production, which was also directed by Albee, received positive reviews. A decade later, in 2003, he appeared again off-Broadway, briefly, in the play ''Rain Dance''.

At 17, while still in high school at Cheshire Academy, he performed in the musical ''Shenandoah'' at the Goodspeed Opera House, made his feature film debut as a sadistic bully in ''Angus'' (1995) and shot a small role in the independent film '' I Love You, I Love You Not'' (1996).

He attended Drew University on an academic scholarship, where he participated in an all-male a cappella group, but dropped out once ''Dawson's Creek'' was picked up to series. He performed at the Vineyard Theater in New York in Nicky Silver's play, ''My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine'', and he played a supporting role in the independent film ''Cash Crop'', which was originally shot in spring of 1997 and originally titled ''Harvest'' until released in 2001.

Television and film

In early 1997, Van Der Beek auditioned for three television pilots. One of them was for the fledgling WB Network show ''Dawson's Creek''. Van Der Beek won the title role of Dawson Leery, and the show's 1998 debut was a success that helped to establish the network and its cast. The series ran for six seasons and was syndicated worldwide. In 1999, he starred in the teen football drama '' Varsity Blues'', which held the number 1 spot at the U.S. box office for its first two weeks. He won an MTV Movie Award for his role.

Around this time he was selected one of ''People'' magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World", and he appeared in several other films, including '' Texas Rangers'', ''Scary Movie'', and '' Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back'', playing himself playing Jay in the film within the film opposite Jason Biggs as Silent Bob. In 2002, he played Sean Bateman (younger brother of ''American Psycho'' protagonist Patrick Bateman) in the film adaptation of the novel ''The Rules of Attraction'' by Bret Easton Ellis, written and directed by Roger Avary. The film was an initial box office failure but found a cult following on DVD.

In 2006, he appeared on the Direct-to-DVD thriller '' The Plague'', which was produced by Clive Barker and was panned by critics. After ''Dawson's Creek'' ended in 2003, he returned to off-Broadway, in Lanford Wilson's ''Rain Dance''. He completed an unproduced screenplay titled ''Winning''. Since then, he made a few appearances on television, including a role on ''Ugly Betty''. In 2007, he guest-starred in a two-part episode of the series ''Criminal Minds'', playing a serial killer with dissociative identity disorder called Tobias Hankel who kidnaps and drugs one of the main characters, Spencer Reid. In 2008, he made a guest appearance on ''How I Met Your Mother'', in which he played Simon, one of Robin Scherbatsky’s early boyfriends, multiple times.

In 2008, he began a recurring role on '' One Tree Hill'' as a filmmaker who was largely the satirical opposite of Dawson Leery. He appeared in an episode of the fifth season of '' Medium''. In 2009, he portrayed real life kidnapper Anthony Steven "Tony Zappa" Wright in the Lifetime network television film '' Taken In Broad Daylight''. In 2009, he won Best Actor at the 8th Annual San Diego Film Festival for his portrayal of FBI agent Jake Kelly working in Taiwan in the political thriller '' Formosa Betrayed'', which also won Best Picture. The film was distributed theatrically in the United States starting February 26, 2010.

On January 5, 2010, TVGuide.com confirmed that Van Der Beek had been cast in a major recurring role on the television series ''Mercy''. He played Dr. Joe Briggs, the new womanizing ICU chief who harbors a dark secret. He starred alongside Rhona Mitra, Josh Lucas, and Jon Hamm in the Anders Anderson thriller film '' Stolen''.

In 2011, he portrayed Kesha's nemesis in her music video for " Blow". He portrayed a fictionalized version of himself on the television series '' Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23''. The show debuted to critical praise, with Van Der Beek earning particularly good notices for his comic timing and sendup of his own image. The show was cancelled after two seasons but remains popular on Netflix and on Logo TV, which picked it up in syndication.

On March 4, 2015, he began his role as Senior Field Agent Elijah Mundo on '' CSI: Cyber''. In 2017, Van Der Beek appeared in the British comedy series '' Carters Get Rich''. He made a cameo in the film '' Downsizing'' (2017), starring Matt Damon, and voices Boris Hauntley in the Disney Junior show '' Vampirina''.

As a writer, Van Der Beek co-created, wrote, produced and starred in '' What Would Diplo Do?'', in which he portrays producer and DJ Diplo. It was Van Der Beek's first foray as a showrunner of a series. The show debuted on Viceland to positive reviews, both for the writing and Van Der Beek's performance, was called, “The Veep of DJ Culture” by the L.A. Times and scored 90% on Rotten Tomatoes

In 2019, Van Der Beek was cast in the Emmy-nominated '' Pose'' as Matt Bromley on FX, a role he played for one season.

Van Der Beek joined the cast of the 28th season of ''Dancing with the Stars''. He was paired with professional dancer Emma Slater. A surprisingly good dancer, Van Der Beek was consistently scored in the top spot and favored to win until he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing in fifth place. That night, he revealed that his wife, Kimberly, had suffered a miscarriage forty-eight hours prior. The judges scored him lowest, and then, in a decision that was controversial with fans, sent him home.

In 2025, Van Der Beek competed on season thirteen of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Griffin" which featured wings that spread open at some points during his performances. There was a reference to Van Der Beek's illness in the clues. He was eliminated in the "Group B Finals: Grand Ole Opry Night". As an added bonus, Nick Cannon surprised Van Der Beek by bringing his wife Kimberly Brook and their children out.

Personal life

Van Der Beek was married to actress Heather McComb from 2003 until their separation in April 2009. Van Der Beek filed for divorce in the fourth quarter of that year; the divorce was finalized in the second quarter of 2010.

Van Der Beek married business consultant Kimberly Brook on August 1, 2010, in a small ceremony at the Kabbalah Center near Dizengoff Plaza in Tel Aviv, Israel. The couple have six children: four daughters (born 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018) and two sons. He has spoken about a miscarriage Brook suffered in November 2019, just a month after announcing she was pregnant. Following the birth of their sixth child, he disclosed that she had actually suffered two miscarriages at 17 weeks or later, explaining in a November 22, 2021, announcement on Instagram that the couple had waited five weeks to publicly announce the arrival of their sixth child. In September 2020, he and Brook announced that they were leaving Los Angeles and moving to Texas.

Illness

On August 31, 2023, Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer; he did not make his diagnosis public until November 2024. He stated that he has "been privately dealing with this diagnosis and asbeen taking steps to resolve it" with the support of his family.

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and nominations

;MTV Movie Awards

, -
, , 1999
, , ''Varsity Blues''
, Best Breakthrough Male Performance
,
, -
, 2001
, ''Scary Movie''
, Best Cameo in a Movie
,

;Teen Choice Awards

, -
, rowspan="2", 1999
, , ''Dawson's Creek''
, Choice TV Actor
,
, -
, , ''Varsity Blues''
, Choice Movie Breakout Star
,
, -
, 2012
, ''Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23''
, Choice TV: Male Scene Stealer
,

; Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

, -
, 2000
, ''Varsity Blues''
, Favorite Actor – Newcomer (Internet Only)
,

;San Diego Film Festival

, -
, 2009
, '' Formosa Betrayed''
, Best Actor
,

; NewNowNext Awards

, -
, 2011
, ''JamesVanDerMemes.com''
, OMG Internet Award
,

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Der Beek, James
1977 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American people of Dutch descent
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American people of French descent
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Drew University alumni
Living people
Male actors from Connecticut
People from Cheshire, Connecticut
American male web series actors
Streamy Award winners
Cheshire Academy alumni