American actor best known for his role in the television drama Dawson’s Creek
For a worldwide generation of young television viewers in the 1990s, James Van Der Beek, who has died aged 48 after suffering from cancer, provided the role model of a sensitive male teenager. As the fresh-faced Dawson Leery in the American drama Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003) – shown in the UK on Channel 4 and then on Channel 5 – he starred in a series portraying friendship, first love and the trials and tribulations of adolescence in the fictional coastal town of Capeside, Massachusetts.
The nerdy Dawson’s idealism and habit of over-analysing often give him unrealistic expectations and a tendency to make long emotional speeches. “It’s not about the kiss – it’s about the journey and creating a sustaining magic,” he reflects in an early episode.
With the ambition to be a film director, Dawson has posters from Steven Spielberg’s blockbusters on his bedroom wall and sees life in terms of movie moments.
Van Der Beek was 20 and studying at college in New Jersey when he landed the role of the 15-year-old high-school student.
