The Real Reason James Van Der Beek Ditched the Dawson’s Creek Reunion
In a left-field shakeup, the Dawson’s Creek reunion planned for Sept. 22 is moving ahead without James Van Der Beek, with Lin-Manuel Miranda stepping in as Dawson Leery in the WB staple that ran from 1998 to 2003.
Well this is not how anyone pictured a Dawson reunion going. James Van Der Beek is out, and yes, Lin-Manuel Miranda is stepping in as Dawson. That sentence is real.
What happened
Van Der Beek said on Instagram that he is skipping the Dawson's Creek charity reunion because he got hit with, in his words, two stomach viruses. He had been gearing up for this since January, when Michelle Williams started putting the event together. The 48-year-old says he tried everything to make it work, but he is sidelined and will be watching from home in Austin, Texas.
The role of 'Dawson,' usually played by James Van Der Beek... will be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Van Der Beek called Miranda his understudy and joked that the EGOT-adjacent, Pulitzer-winning multihyphenate is a wildly overqualified replacement — the kind of fill-in he would have put at the top of his wish list, if he thought there was any chance. He also cracked that his kids will see this as an upgrade, and that Miranda already knows how to get to the theater. That last part is some inside baseball for you.
Why this reunion exists in the first place
Series creator Kevin Williamson said Michelle Williams came up with the reunion idea after Van Der Beek announced he had Stage 3 colorectal cancer. Van Der Beek first spoke about the diagnosis publicly in November 2024 in an interview with People. So yes, this whole thing is a fundraiser with very personal stakes.
The event details
The reunion is set at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York and will benefit F Cancer and Van Der Beek. The plan is a live reading of the Dawson's Creek pilot — the show originally ran six seasons on The WB from 1998 to 2003 — with Williamson, Joshua Jackson, Williams, Katie Holmes, and more on hand. And for one night only, Miranda will be Dawson Leery.
- Where: Richard Rodgers Theater, New York
- What: Live reading of the Dawson's Creek pilot
- Why: Charity event benefiting F Cancer and James Van Der Beek
- Who: Kevin Williamson, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, and others — with Lin-Manuel Miranda subbing in as Dawson
Is it unexpected? Absolutely. Is it also a pretty sweet, very theater-kid solution to a last-minute crisis? Also yes.