Men's Lifestyle March 2, 2026 0 Comments

James Van Der Beek’s Secret Plan to Revive Dawson’s Creek—And Why It Almost Changed Everything Forever

Ever wonder what happens when the vibrant youth of the ‘90s, captured so vividly in Dawson’s Creek, meets the relentless march of time—and tragedy? James Van Der Beek wasn’t just an actor; he was Dawson Leery for an entire generation, a character who mirrored the curious, questioning soul of the show’s creator, Kevin Williamson. Their bond wasn’t just professional—it was a brotherhood that weathered the years and the harshest realities. They once flirted with the idea of bringing Dawson’s world back, a revival that sadly never saw the light of day. With Van Der Beek’s untimely passing, that dream closed forever, leaving us to wonder—could the creek ever run again, perhaps in the form of a nostalgic musical filled with the hits that defined an era? This isn’t just a story of TV; it’s about friendship, legacy, and the “what-ifs” that linger long after the cameras stop rolling. LEARN MORE

4 min read

There was a brotherhood between the late James Van Der Beek and Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson. Once upon a time, they even seriously considered revisiting that world. Time got away from them, though.

Both saw themselves in the title character from that classic ‘90s coming-of-age drama—which became a pop culture touchstone because fans could so easily identify with Dawson Leery too. The character was a film-obsessed dreamer who loved his friends deeply and used storytelling to grapple with the ups and downs of life. “He was Dawson,” Williamson says with a tearful smile. “He was always questioning every script!”

The two never lost touch, he says, even at the end. “Kimberly was wonderful about that,” Williamson says of Van Der Beek’s wife, and mother of their six children. “She was very in touch.” The 48-year-old actor died on February 11 after battling colorectal cancer. Only three weeks later, the loss is still raw. Williamson talks about him only haltingly before becoming choked up.

They worked together for six seasons and 128 episodes, all made between 1998 and 2003 when they were both still starting out. At that time, Van Der Beek had appeared in only small roles in a handful of movies and TV shows, while Williamson had just broken through with the runaway success of 1996’s Scream.

“I knew him when he was so young,” Williamson says. “I can remember him coming to audition.” As the creator of the show, he recognized they’d found their Dawson right away, but the network and other producers were hesitant. “I don’t know what they said about him, but they didn’t want him,” Williamson recalls. “And I was like, ‘Are you crazy? What’s wrong with you? That’s Dawson. Trust me.’”

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Kevin Williamson (left) and James Van Der Beek (right) worked together for six seasons and 128 episodes on Dawson’s Creek, all made between 1998 and 2003 when they were both still starting out.

He was more right than he realized. Dawson Leery was a curious soul, forever second-guessing everything. So was Van Der Beek. “He was always questioning the lines, ‘Why am I saying this? Why am I doing that? Why don’t I go over there? Why am I going over here?’” Williamson says. “I would be in L.A., he’d be [shooting] in North Carolina, and he would call from the makeup chair and be like, ‘Are you awake? … Okay, page 32 …”

In Esquire’s wide-ranging Q&A with Williamson, discussing his return to the Scream universe as the director and co-writer of Scream VII, Van Der Beek came up naturally as he discussed whether he’d ever want to revisit other storylines he created.

“I’ve always been resistant to Dawson’s Creek,” Williamson says. “I always felt like, ‘Well, we did that. We finished it.’ In the last episode, we jumped five years. We went to the future. The last episode of that show was the remake. So I feel very okay with that. And I don’t feel the need to go back to that world, as much as I love them and would love to.”

That possibility closed forever with Van Der Beek’s passing. “James and I talked about rebooting Dawson’s Creek several times,” he reveals. “He wanted to do it. And in fact, there was a moment where he was going to write it—and he had a really great idea for it. He had a beautiful plan. Then I think he got on a show and everybody got busy. It never happened. But there was a lot of talk about it.”

He estimates this was around 2016, about 13 years after Dawson’s Creek ended. “It was back when Vampire Diaries was still on the air. I remember that,” Williamson says. “So it was back a while. We talked about it, but Michelle Williams’s character was already gone. Four had already become three. So we talked, but it didn’t happen.”

I told Williamson that I also knew James as a friend. We were in a camping group of dads and kids that would go out every now and then. His death took me by surprise because, although I knew he was sick, I had also heard he was getting better.

“Sorry,” Williamson says, wiping away tears. After a moment, he gets out what he’s trying to say. “He always bounced back, yeah. And I thought that was what was going to happen.”

He doesn’t remember the specific plot points that Van Der Beek had in mind for the revival. “I think it was funny. I remember I had a conversation with Katie [Holmes] and him once, but I just don’t remember. I don’t want to misspeak,” Williamson says. “I think it was a little along the lines of This Is Us. We envisioned it to have that kind of tone, because that was very popular at the time when we had been discussing it. So this [happened around] season 1 of that show.”

james van der beek on set for 'dawson creek'

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“He was Dawson,” remembers Kevin Williamson. “He was always questioning every script!”

The studio behind the original series was also eager to revive it. “Sony called and asked me a couple of times if I’d be interested in developing it, and I just didn’t want to go back there. I don’t know what that would look like.”

Williamson does think the series could come back in a different form, retelling the original story in an abbreviated way—as a musical. “I could see it more as a Broadway show, quite frankly,” he says, adding with a laugh: “You could do it with Scream too.”

He suggests it could be a jukebox musical, weaving its story amid established pop songs. Dawson’s Creek is especially suited for this, given that the WB series was a powerhouse hitmaker, popularizing everything from Paula Cole’s theme song “I Don’t Want To Wait” to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” and more.

“We broke so much music on that show, so many ’90s hits. There’s a very nostalgic trip down memory lane with that show,” Williamson says. “You could do the first couple of episodes and then jump to the end. And you could fill in the blanks and just do a musical out of it, but … I can’t write music. I can’t sing.”

Someone else will have to pick up the Dawson’s Creek baton for that.