After growing up together on the set of Dawson’s Creek, Joshua Jackson has made his first public comments about his late co-star James Van Der Beek in the wake of the actor’s death from cancer last month.
“The tragedy of that loss for his family is enormous,” Jackson told the Today show Tuesday morning. “He became what we used to just call a good man. [A man with] the kind of faith that allowed him to face the impossible with grace, an unbelievable partner and husband, just a real man who showed up for his family, and a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father.”
Van Der Beek died Feb. 11, aged 48, after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2024, leaving behind his wife, Kimberly, and their six young children. His family has received more than $2.7 million in donations through GoFundMe after the costs of Van Der Beek’s medical care left his mourning wife “out of funds.”
Jackson starred alongside Van Der Beek over six seasons in the popular series Dawson’s Creek, which aired between 1998 and 2003. Jackson played Pacey Witter, and Van Der Beek was the titular star, Dawson Leery. The two young men lived as roommates during the course of filming in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Though they fell out of touch after wrapping the teen drama, Jackson previously said the two reconnected in the wake of his diagnosis. “It was formative for us,” Jackson said as he reflected on the men’s time on the show. “I know both of us look back on that time with great fondness. But I will also say is [that] I know that I’m just a footnote in what he actually accomplished in his life.”
From Rolling Stone US
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