Joshua Jackson spoke for the first time about his late “Dawson’s Creek” co-star James Van Der Beek’s death, one month after the 48-year-old lost his battle to cancer.
The “Mighty Ducks” star, 47, opened up to “Today” show viewers Tuesday about how his grief “hits in a variety of different ways.”
Jackson explained, “For me as a father now, the enormity of that tragedy for his family hits me in a very different way than just as a colleague. So I think the process is ongoing.”
He went on to call his friend’s passing an “enormous” loss.
Jackson and Van Der Beek played Pacey Witter and Dawson Leery, respectively, on the show for six seasons.
While filming the teen drama, which aired between 1998 and 2003, the actors were roommates in Wilmington, N.C.
“I didn’t have any money yet because the checks hadn’t cleared,” Jackson, 47, recalled in a 2018 Entertainment Weekly interview. “So I was kind of rescued by having somebody to sign up with.”
He noted that “high jinks happened afterward.”
At the time, Van Der Beek apologized for “letting the f–king alarm clock go off 70 times.”
While he and his fellow cast members didn’t talk for years after the series wrapped, Van Der Beek told “Whine Down” podcast listeners in March 2025 that they’d “recently … reconnect[ed].”
Jackson, in turn, said on “Dinner’s on Me” the following month that despite “f–k you and don’t talk to me” moments, the co-stars were bonded for life through their “formative experience” and did keep in touch.
He clarified, “Sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call.”
After Van Der Beek’s August 2023 colorectal cancer diagnosis, however, the “whole gang” got “a little group text going.”
During an April 2025 episode of the “Jennifer Hudson Show,” Jackson said, “He’s doing a little bit better, but it is obviously very, very scary. … [I’m sending] thoughts, prayers and just anything that can be done for him — and his family.”
Van Der Beek, notably, was married to wife Kimberly Van Der Beek, with whom he shared Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 8, Gwendolyn, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.
Kimberly, 43, and the six kids attended a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion in September 2025, which raised money for James’ treatment, amid his absence.
James made a surprise appearance via video after dropping out, telling concerned fans in his final interview three months later that he looked thin onscreen because of a stomach virus — “not [a] cancer-related” reason.
He got emotional discussing the event and seeing the standing ovation his family received.
News of James’ death broke in February, with Kimberly posting via Instagram about the “courage, faith and grace” her husband “met his final days with.”
Holmes and more “Dawson’s Creek” stars, as well as creator Kevin Williamson, have since mourned James on social media.
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