James Van Der Beek married his soulmate 15 years ago. The couple welcomed six children together
James Van Der Beek will be remembered as husband and father who lived for his family.
James Van Der Beek, the actor best known for his role as Dawson Leery on Dawson’s Creek, has passed away at the age of 48. The father of six died on February 11, following a private battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in August 2023.
The heartbreaking news was confirmed in a statement shared by his wife, Kimberley, on social media. “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace.”
It continued: “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
Joshua Jackson reflects on James Van Der Beek as “a beautiful, dedicated father”
Joshua Jackson has remembered his Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek as “a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father.”
“I think it hits in a variety of different ways,” Jackson said during an appearance on the US Today show overnight.
“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 ongoing.”
“He and I shared this very amazing time … and it was formational for us,” he said.
“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 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, right?” Joshua said.
“Just a real man who showed up for his family and a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father. And so while on the one hand that’s beautiful and I think he did lead a very good life and he was a good man, it is also, the tragedy of that loss for his family is enormous.”
“She’s been amazing”: His gratitude for Kimberley
Throughout his battle with cancer, James often spoke about his family’s support, especially Kimberley. In a 2024 Good Morning America interview, he said: “She’s been amazing. She’s really showing me what unconditional love is. I’m someone who’s always tried to do everything for everybody and never asked for help myself, and this has put me in a position of having to ask for help and having to receive help. The beautiful blessing of that has been seeing how many people in my life have shown up.”
A love story that began in Israel
James Van Der Beek met Kimberley Brook while travelling in Israel with friends, a moment he later described as life-changing. In a 2020 Instagram post marking their 10th wedding anniversary, he reflected on the timing.
“I was done being single. I wanted a real relationship. A soul mate. Someone with whom I could build a family,” he wrote, recalling how Kimberley interrupted a conversation he was having with a friend.
“I was annoyed. Who the hell was stepping all over my moment? I turned around… it was Kimberley. Three days later, I asked her what she was looking for in a relationship. Her answer: “I’m not looking for a relationship.” Six months later we were living together. Two weeks after that we were pregnant, and almost exactly one year to the date after she’d first interrupted me (on the spot where we’re standing in the last pic)… we were married.”
The couple wed in a small ceremony in Israel in August 2010 and went on to build the large, close-knit family he had once envisioned.
From teen heartthrob to to devoted dad
Born on March 8, 1977, James Van Der Beek rose to fame as Dawson Leery on Dawson’s Creek, starring alongside Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams for six seasons from 1998 to 2003. He also appeared in Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 and How I Met Your Mother, before going on to appear in filmssuch as Varsity Blues and The Rules of Attraction.
While his career made him a household name, fatherhood became his greatest role. James shared six children with Kimberley, including Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7 and Jeremiah, 4.
James publicly shared his diagnosis in November 2024, explaining he had been privately managing his illness while continuing to work and support his family.
“Being a father has been the most treasured honour of my life”
In 2025, James shared a heartfelt tribute to his family on Instagram. “Being a father has been the most treasured honor of my life. Thank you to my kids for re-teaching me how to live, laugh, love, and show up in my own life and in the world. And thank you to my super hero of a wife @vanderkimberly who constantly exceeds the boundaries of what I thought was human capacity. I love you all with all my heart.”
Just weeks before his death, he shared a final post celebrating daughter Annabel’s 12th birthday on January 26, a date she shared with his father, also named James. His mother passed away in 2020. The tribute ended with the touching words, “I love you with all my heart.”
“The thing that’s made me happiest”
In a 2023 interview with Good Morning America, James described becoming a parent as “the craziest thing I’ve ever done” but also “the thing that’s made me happiest.”
“What you genuinely want is to take care of them, to make them feel safe, to keep them safe, to connect with them and feel that joy,” he said. “Your life becomes shared and your joys become shared joys, and in a really beautiful way, that expands your level of circuitry out to other people instead of just keeping it all for your own gratification.”
“The lessons,” he added, “they keep on coming.”
Life with six kids: “I just feel so lucky”
Speaking previously about raising six children, he described it as a “humbling” experience.
“When you think you’ve got it down, you get one that throws a curveball at you,” he said. “And it’s regulating our own emotions when things do get hectic and chaos ensues, which is inevitable at times.”
Of watching his children care for one another, he shared: “They all take care of each other… And the moment I see them looking after their baby brother, I really feel like, ‘Oh man, for whatever I’ve done wrong, I’m doing something right here.’ ”
In a later interview, he reflected: “I just feel like we won the great cosmic lottery that these souls chose to have us as their parents… And I just feel so lucky as they reveal to us who they are, stage by stage, bit by bit.”
James Van Der Beek leaves behind a legacy not only as a beloved actor, but as a devoted husband and father who openly shared the joys, challenges and deep love of family life.
