Biography
Plucked from obscurity to become an instant heartthrob, James Van Der Beek played the earnest, hypersensitive high school kid Dawson Leery on the seminal teen soap "Dawson's Creek" (The WB, 1998-2003). The weekly foibles of Dawson and his adolescently-charged, anachronistically savvy friends made breakout stars of Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson. It provided the actor with a launchpad for roles in …
James Van Der Beek SlideShow
1 - 4 of 11
Career Milestones
2012 | Played a fictionalized version of himself on ABC comedy "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" | |
2010 | Cast as a doctor on the medical drama "Mercy" (NBC) | |
2008 | Played a recurring role on "One Tree Hill" (The CW) as a movie director | |
2007 | Cast in the two-part, post-Super Bowl episode of "Criminal Minds" (CBS) playing a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder | |
2006 | Co-starred in the indie comedy "Standing Still" | |
2003 | Returned to the stage in the New York Premiere of Lanford Wilson's "Rain Dance" | |
2002 | Played Sean Bateman in the film adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' "The Rules of Attraction"; written and directed by Roger Avary | |
2001 | Co-starred in the Western themed "Texas Rangers" | |
1998 | Co-starred with Mary McCormack in the independent drama "Harvest" | |
1999 | Played the leading role in the high school football feature "Varsity Blues" | |
1998 | Breakthrough role as aspiring filmmaker Dawson Leery on The WB teen drama series "Dawson's Creek" | |
1997 | Appeared in the independent film "I Love You, I Love You Not" opposite Claire Danes and Jude Law | |
1995 | Made film debut as a sadistic bully in "Angus" | |
| Appeared in a revival of the musical "Shenandoah" at the Goodspeed Opera House | ||
1994 | Made professional stage debut in the off-Broadway production of Edward Albee's "Finding the Sun" | |
| Starred as Danny Zuko in a community theater production of "Grease" | ||
Awards
1999 | MTV Movie Award for Best Male Breakthrough Performance in Varsity Blues |