Katie Holmes’ Non-public Previous With James Van Der Beek Revealed

The 2 younger stars grew to become family names on “Dawson’s Creek,” however behind the scenes, their connection ran deeper than followers realized.

Now, every week after his demise, new particulars are shedding gentle on their quiet romance, the bond they carried for many years, and the emotional moments that adopted earlier than and after tragedy struck.

From the very starting, James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes felt a pure connection. As a young person, Holmes admitted that her bond with the actor on “Dawson’s Creek” in 1997 “simply type of occurred.”

In keeping with her, they’d rather a lot in widespread and had mutual emotions. On the time, a then 20-year-old Van Der Beek mentioned they “simply type of clicked from the learn by.”

“We bought actually fortunate I feel as a result of we met one another like two days earlier than we began taking pictures,” he shared per the Day by day Mail.

That spark rapidly translated onscreen as Dawson Leery and Joey Potter when the hit teen drama launched in 1998.

The present ran till 2003 and have become probably the most in style collection amongst teenage women, averaging six million viewers.

Followers have been drawn to their love story, unaware that the chemistry they noticed on display mirrored one thing very actual behind the scenes.

Whereas viewers watched their romance unfold on tv, insiders now say James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes briefly dated in secret.

In keeping with sources, they saved the connection quiet whereas filming in Wilmington, North Carolina.

One insider advised theDay by day Mail that the actress has advised shut associates that James was her “teen love.”

“James and Katie dated for a bit,” the supply mentioned. “They tried to maintain their relationship secret however everybody on the set knew about it. Then information of them being a pair started to filter out.”

On the time, Holmes was a shy 19-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, adjusting to sudden fame. “Katie was a shy 19-year-old and James was simply into his twenties,” the insider continued. “They didn’t wish to discuss their love lives in public, so that they determined to maintain quiet about it.”

The solid had grown shut throughout these early years. A second insider defined, “The set was highschool for the solid. Everybody had crushes on one another, and everybody at one level or one other would date and hookup. Katie and James had a quick fling with one another.”

The supply added that the 2 realized rapidly they have been higher as associates and by no means made it a difficulty by any means.

After the present ended, James and Holmes moved ahead in very other ways.

The 47-year-old later married Tom Cruise in a lavish ceremony in November 2006.

Practically six years later, she filed for divorce and was granted full custody of their now 19-year-old daughter, Suri Noelle.

James then again married Heather McComb in 2003, the identical 12 months the present ended, earlier than they divorced in 2010.

He later married movie producer Kimberly Van Der Beek. Collectively they share six kids, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah.

The actor ultimately left Los Angeles along with his household for a quieter life in Texas. Throughout that point, he skilled deep private loss, together with the demise of his mom, Melinda Weber, in July 2020.

Kimberly additionally endured a number of miscarriages, together with two late-term.

Household remained central to James’s life, even accompanying him whereas filming his last function within the upcoming horror film “The Gates.”

Regardless of their totally different journeys, insiders say the bond between James Van Der Beek and Holmes by no means disappeared.

One supply shared that though they went on to have very totally different lives, Holmes admitted, “There would all the time be a powerful bond between them. Particularly for her as he was her teen love.”

In September 2025, a lot of the “Dawson’s Creek” solid reunited in New York Metropolis for a script studying benefiting F Most cancers.

The occasion was organized to assist James after his 2023 prognosis. Although he was anticipated to attend, he pulled out on the final minute attributable to a abdomen virus.

As a substitute, he despatched a video message, whereas Lin-Manuel Miranda stepped in to learn his function. His daughters additionally carried out a candy shock solo tribute throughout the theme track singalong.

In keeping with an insider, “Katie was upset she didn’t get to see James when the solid bought collectively in New York final September for a particular studying of the pilot episode.”

After the occasion, Holmes posted once more, writing, “I’ll by no means discover the phrases for what these three stunning people imply to me. For our shared journey. For our eternal bond. James, Josh, Michelle… from April 1997 — I really like you. James, you bought this. We bought you.”