FROM drug-dealing parents to unexpected deaths and heartache galore, it was the difficult storylines that earned teen drama Dawson’s Creek an army of fans.
And now, those who loved the US show, which ran for five years until 2003, will be devastated to learn one of its biggest stars James Van Der Beek has cancer.
The father-of-six, 47, who played Dawson Leery in the drama, confirmed to People Magazine that he has been getting treatment and kept his battle private.
While admitting the journey had “been quite the initiation” in an emotional Instagram post, including a video (below), he added there was “reason for optimism” and he is “feeling good”.
James has colorectal cancer – which develops in the tissues of the colon or rectum, affecting the large intestine and digestive system – and used his platform to spread awareness.
He wrote: “Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I’m one of them. There’s no playbook for how announce these things.”
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As James bravely faces this difficult new chapter in his life, we look at where the rest of the Dawson’s Creek cast are now – and many of them have faced their fair share of struggles too.
Katie Holmes
Katie, now 45, played Joey Potter, a tomboy who was mates with Dawson and lived with her sister across the creek.
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Since Dawson’s Creek wrapped up, Katie has remained in the spotlight.
After dating co-star Joshua Jackson, she married Tom Cruise in 2006. He gave her a stunning oval diamond, 5.5 carat engagement ring worth $2.5million.
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They had daughter Suri a year later and eventually split in 2012.
In 2013 Katie was pictured with Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx – it’s claimed she had a six-year romance with him but they kept it out of the spotlight before splitting up in 2019.
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Aside from Dawson’s Creek (trailer below), she notably appeared in Batman Begins, when she played Rachel Dawes, Gotham’s assistant district attorney and Bruce Wayne’s childhood sweetheart.
In 2011, she played Jackie Kennedy in miniseries The Kennedys, and reprised that role in The Kennedys: Decline And Fall in 2016.
In 2016 she also released her debut feature film as a director, All We Had, a family drama based on a novel by Annie Weatherwax.
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Then in 2018 she starred in Ocean’s 8 as herself. Most recently, her career appears to have slowed but she has starred in Brahms: The Boy II, The Secret: Dare to Dream and Rare Objects.
Katie dated chef Emilio Vitolo for a year until 2021 and the following year, was seeing musician Bobby Wooten III for seven months. He’s a bassist who played for the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Sabrina Carpenter and Post Malone.
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Joshua Jackson
Pacey Witter’s relationship with Joey had viewers swooning at their TV screens – but his most memorable storyline was when he had an affair with his teacher in season one.
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Dawson’s Creek wasn’t even his first big break, having starred as Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks films – yet, Joshua struggled with life after leaving the hit TV show.
In 2002, Joshua was arrested at an ice hockey game after a row with a security guard and was charged with assault and being intoxicated.
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Despite this, he has been able to maintain a career in the spotlight.
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The People’s Choice Award nominee saw his star soar when he landed the role of Cole Lockhart in The Affair in 2014. He left the show in 2020.
Joshua, now 46, also appeared as Peter Bishop in Sky One’s Fringe.
Dawson’s Creek’s battle to get on air
IT was widely considered among the best teen dramas of all time.
Dawson’s Creek ran for six seasons, which spanned five years to 2003, and in the process made the actors playing the angst-ridden teens massive stars.
Among the most successful are James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes, all of whom have landed big film and TV projects since the show.
Dawson’s Creek, which is based in fictional Capeside, Massachusetts, was groundbreaking and tackled daring issues with storylines – as well as featuring TV’s first passionate same-sex snog.
Before it aired in 1998, consumer watchdogs were concerned about the “racy” plots and even urged co-producer Procter and Gamble Productions to pull out of the project.
Amusingy columnist John Leo argued the show should be renamed “While Parents Cringe” due to its daring themes.
He wrote: “The first episode contains a good deal of chatter about breasts, genitalia, masturbation, and penis size. Then the title and credits come on and the story begins.”
Despite the controversy, the show was a hit and while it never scooped the big TV award gongs, it did win and was nominated for many smaller ceremonies.
They included the Teen Choice Award for Choice Drama twice; GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Drama; a SHINE Award; and multiple gongs for the cast including Joshua Jackson, who won Choice Actor three times.
The show earned renewed popularity in recent years since all of the seasons were uploaded to Netflix.
He’s since starred in Dr Death, TV series Fatal Attraction, Dr Odyssey and Excessive.
Last year, Joshua filed for divorce from wife of four years Jodie Turner-Smith, with whom he shares daughter Juno, three.
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They cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ but appear to be on good terms as he described her as “one of the most amazing beings to ever walk the earth!”
Michelle Williams
Bad girl Jen Lindley was portrayed by Michelle.
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Probably the most successful of the Dawson Creek stars, the 40-year-old actress has been nominated for an Oscar four times.
She has starred in a reel of cult movies including Brokeback Mountain, My Week With Marilyn and Shutter Island.
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And she continued to star in blockbusters like The Greatest Showman, Oz the Great and Powerful, Venom and The Fabelmans.
The experienced star of the screen has also given impressive stage performances on Broadway’s Cabaret and Blackbird.
Michelle dated Heath Ledger (below) for three years, from 2004, and the couple had a daughter, Matilda, now 19. She was devastated when the Joker actor died of an overdose, at 27, in 2008.
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Michelle, 44, is now married to theatre director Thomas Kail and had a son Hart, now four, with him 2020.
They got together after falling for each other on the set of Fosse/Verdon, months after she had split with her fiance and he broke up with his wife.
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Kerr Smith
Kerr joined Dawson’s Creek in season two, and went on to be one of the leading characters.
He played Jack McPhee (below), the first openly gay character to smooch on screen.
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Now 52, the actor has appeared in Agents of SHIELD, Charmed, NCIS, two CSI series – NY and Miami, and The Resident.
For years years, he starred as Principal Holden Honey in hit teen drama Riverdale until 2020.
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When he’s not acting, Kerr enjoys the perks of being a certified pilot and also started a holistic health and wellness business, TerraLife Wellness, with his second wife Lisa.
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Meredith Monroe
Meredith played Andie McPhee in Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2000 – interestingly, she was actually 28 when she played a 16-year-old.
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The former model continued to pick up acting roles after the cameras stopped rolling.
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Now 51, she is best known for portraying Haley Hotchner in Criminal Minds – and has had minor roles in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, CSI: Miami and The Mentalist.
From 2018 to 2020 she joined another teen drama, 13 Reasons Why, but this time playing a mother.
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Meredith, 54, has two children with husband Steven Kavovit, who for a time worked as crew on films including 28 Days, which starred Sandra Bulloch, Viggo Mortensen and Dominic West.
James Van Der Beek
Since revealing his cancer diagnosis, James, now 47, has been flooded with support and well-wishes from celebrities and fans of Dawson’s Creek.
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In the show he played, floppy-haired Dawson Leery – an angst-ridden all-American boy character.
Since departing the Creek, he has appeared in How I Met Your Mother, Ugly Betty, and Criminal Minds.
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He played a mock version of himself in the hilarious, short-lived comedy, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.
In 2017, James starred in Sky One series, What Would Diplo Do? and more recently, starred in Modern Family and Pose, while taking part in the 28th season of Dancing with the Stars.
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The actor has continued to work since his diagnosis and has two projects in the pipeline including film Sidelined: The QB and Me, which comes out this month.
James has been married to Kimberley Brook since 2010. The couple have five children, which followed a heartbreaking three miscarriages.
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