This one hurts.
James Van Der Beekthe actor so many people first fell in love with on Dawson’s Creekwas quietly planning his subsequent chapter whilst he confronted the combat of his life.
The 48-year-old star, who handed away on Wednesday after a virtually three-year battle with colorectal most cancershad reportedly been engaged on a memoir earlier than his tragic demise.
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In accordance with sources who spoke to DeadlineJames had been writing about his life behind the scenes — reflecting, remembering, and, maybe, attempting to make sense of a journey that took him from teen idol to devoted husband and father of six. And he was doing all of it whereas persevering with to work steadily in Hollywoodbalancing remedy with scripts, units, and household time.
However nonetheless, whilst his well being declined, James saved exhibiting up. He had a recurring position within the upcoming Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios sequence Ellewhich is a prequel to the beloved Legally Blonde franchise. The sequence follows a younger Elle Woods, set years earlier than Reese Witherspoon’s iconic character headed to Harvard Regulation. Within the present, which premieres July 1, Van Der Beek performs Dean Wilson, town’s new mayoral candidate and a college district superintendent.
He was additionally concerned in Prime Video’s Overcompensating and in addition made appearances on Fox’s The Masked Singer. And that’s not all. James additionally accomplished work on the function movie The Gatesset to debut from Lionsgate Premiere in choose theaters on March 13.
To that finish, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios launched a press release honoring the late actor’s legacy:
“James Van Der Beek started his profession as a beloved teen icon, and audiences have related together with his breadth and depth of labor ever since. He was a husband, father, consummate skilled, and, most just lately, a vocal advocate for most cancers consciousness. We’re proud to have labored with him as a artistic companion on Overcompensating and the upcoming Ellethe place his present for comedic timing led to memorable performances. We’re deeply saddened by his passing and ship our heartfelt condolences to his household, his buddies, and his many followers.”
Behind the scenes, James was reportedly carving out time to put in writing his memoir between these aforementioned filming commitments and treasured moments at residence. It’s unclear how a lot of the e book was accomplished or whether or not it’s going to ever even be printed, however the actual fact that he was placing his story into phrases feels important.
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John Burrthe writer-director of The Gatesadditionally spoke to Deadline about working with James throughout what would turn out to be his last movie position. Burr began by saying:
“Earlier than all else, I need to ship sympathy and like to James’ household; his spouse, Kimberly, and his kids, Olivia, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, Joshua, and Jeremiah. Thanks for granting us the valuable time with him that we had.”
After which Burr continued:
“We have been extremely lucky to have labored with him on this movie. He introduced expertise and perspective to the position, and he constructed profound relationships together with his fellow solid members and with the crew. And whereas he was deeply devoted to his efficiency because the flawed, amoral antagonist of our story, between scenes he effortlessly morphed again into the grounded, charming conversationalist he was at his core.”
And in a element that feels particularly poignant now, Burr mirrored on his and James’ current textual content exchanges in the previous few months:
“His phrases have been crammed with vitality and punctuated with exclamation factors whilst his well being will need to have been in decline.”
Wow.
For a lot of followers, Van Der Beek will endlessly be the earnest dreamer from Capeside. However within the years since that breakout position, he grew to become one thing deeper and extra layered: a working actor who by no means stopped evolving, a father who adored his kids, and a person who spoke brazenly about his most cancers battle in hopes of serving to others really feel much less alone.
The concept that he was writing a memoir suggests he understood the ability of his personal story. We, and the remainder of Hollywood, are going to overlook him so, so, so a lot.