Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson breaks silence on death of James Van Der Beek
The pair starred together in the teen drama.
Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson has broken his silence on the death of his co-star James Van Der Beek, calling him a “good man” and “a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father”.
The actor died on February 11 at the age of 48 after suffering from bowel cancer.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his friend’s death, Jackson, who played Pacey Whitter opposite Van Der Beek’s Dawson Leery, said: “I think it hits in a variety of different ways.
“For me as a father now, I think the enormity of that tragedy for his family hits me in a very different way than just as a colleague. So I think the processing is is ongoing.”
Speaking on US morning talk show Today, he added: “He and I shared this very amazing time… and it was formational for us.
“I know both of us look back on that time with great fondness, but I will also say that I know that I’m really just a footnote in what he actually accomplished in his life.”
He continued: “He became what we used to just call a good man, a man of the kind of belief, the kind of faith, that allowed him to face the impossible with grace, an unbelievable partner and husband, just a real man who showed up for his family and a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father.”
Van Der Beek had six children with wife Kimberly: daughters Olivia, Annabel, Emilia and Gwendolyn, and sons Joshua and Jeremiah.
Kimberly marked what would have been his 49th birthday on March 8, saying: “I’m missing you tremendously.”
Van Der Beek rose to fame alongside Jackson in the popular US teen drama Dawson’s Creek, which ran for six seasons from 1998 until 2003.
They starred opposite Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams as the central quartet of hyper-articulate teenagers who were constantly embroiled in complex romantic entanglements.
A GoFundMe for the Van Der Beek family has raised more than 2.7 million US dollars (£2 million).
