“My baby first day and let’s just say kindergarten won.”
James Van Der Beek’s family made a special appearance in his honor at the “Dawson’s Creek” reunion.
The 48-year-old actor, best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery on the beloved series, wasn’t able to join his cast members on Sept. 22 for a live reading of the show’s 1998 pilot episode in New York City.
Instead, actor Lin-Manuel Miranda filled in as Van Der Beek’s replacement, per E! News.
At one point during the event, the entire cast took center stage as they joined hands and sang the show’s iconic theme song, “I Don’t Want To Wait” by Paula Cole — and Van Der Beek’s family joined along.
A video shared by People shows the actor’s daughters — Olivia, 14, and Emilia, 9 — singing alone before the rest of the cast joined in.
James Van Der Beek’s wife Kimblerly eventually joined in with the couple’s other children — daughters Annabel, 11, and Gwendolyn, 6, and sons Joshua, 13, and Jeremiah, 2.
According to People, the family greeted fans as they arrived at the event — which was meant to raise money for F Cancer in honor of Van Der Beek, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2024.
READ MORE: James Van Der Beek reveals how he told his kids about his cancer diagnosis
James Van Der Beek’s cancer diagnosis was revealed in an exclusive statement published by People on Nov. 8.
On Sept. 21, Van Der Beek took to Instagram to reveal that “two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment.”
“Despite every effort… I won’t get to be there. I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most,” he added in the post.
He went on to thank Miranda for filling in and apologized for not being able to attend.
“Everyone please enjoy all the love in that room. Shine some on my family. I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin,” he continued.
James Van Der Beek wasn’t there physically — but he was virtually
Prior to the reading, Van Der Beek made a surprise appearance at the event — albeit virtually.
The actor appeared in a pre-recorded video as he thanked attendees for supporting the cause and introduced Miranda as his understudy.
"Thank you for coming. It's just absolutely humbling just how much you did for this night, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you to every single person here," he said in the video, according to People.
“From the cast to the crew to everybody who's doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you – you are the best fans in the world,” he added.
His wife opened up about the importance of their family being there when he couldn’t.
"The night was so special to the whole family and more importantly, just feeling my husband fill the entire theater and the love for him... We'll be unwinding this one for a while,” she said on Instagram, per People.
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“But thank you for the love and the support and for the prayers because this right here, friends, centers my husband on my heart. It was a beautiful night, and I missed my husband,” she added.
