James Van Der Beek, best known for his role as Dawson Leery in the hit series Dawson's Creek, has announced that he will be unable to attend the highly anticipated Dawson's Creek reunion event due to health issues. The actor, who revealed his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in November 2024, shared the news on his Instagram, expressing his disappointment at having to miss the event.
The reunion, a charity event organized by Michelle Williams to benefit the organization F Cancer and to support Van Der Beek, is set to take place on September 22, 2025, and will feature a live reading of the show's pilot episode. Original cast members, including Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, Kerr Smith, Mary Beth Peil, Meredith Monroe, John Wesley Shipp, and Busy Philipps, are expected to be in attendance.
Van Der Beek explained in his Instagram post that he had been looking forward to the reunion since Williams began organizing it in January. However, he was unfortunately sidelined by "two stomach viruses" that left him unable to travel and participate. "So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment," Van Der Beek wrote. He expressed his regret at not being able to thank everyone in person for their support against cancer.
Despite his absence, the show will go on, with Lin-Manuel Miranda stepping in to fill Van Der Beek's role as Dawson for the live reading. Van Der Beek praised Miranda as a "ridiculously overqualified replacement" and thanked him for stepping in.
Van Der Beek's cancer diagnosis came in August 2023 and was detected via colonoscopy. He shared the news publicly in November 2024. In July 2025, he admitted that fighting cancer is "a full-time job". He has made several lifestyle changes, including practicing yoga, stretching, and switching to a ketogenic diet.
The Dawson's Creek reunion marks a rare gathering of the show's original cast, 23 years after the show ended. The series, which aired for six seasons from 1998 to 2003, catapulted its young stars to fame.
