After James Van Der Beek passed last month, there was a huge outpour of love and tributes from his friends and colleagues, including his Dawson’s Creek co-stars. Katie Holmes shared a handwritten letter to her Instagram page, Michelle Williams spoke about him to the press at the Actors Awards, Busy Phillips also made a lovely tribute post, and creator Kevin Williamson praised him in a recent profile with Esquire. On Monday, Joshua Jackson made his first public comments about James. During an interview with the third hour of the Today show, Joshua spoke about his friend, how he’s processing his grief, and promoted the Get Body Checked Against Cancer campaign, which he’s an official ambassador for.
“I think it hits in a variety of different ways,” he said. “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 is ongoing.”
“He and I shared this very amazing time … and it was formational for us,” Jackson continued on TODAY. “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, just a real man who showed up for his family and a beautiful, kind, curious, interested, dedicated father,” he added.
Jackson, 47, has partnered with the NHL and AstraZeneca as part of the pharmaceutical company’s Get Body Checked Against Cancer campaign, which highlights the importance of getting screened for cancer.
“I’m at the age, right? Like so many people, my family has been touched by cancer,” he said about how he got involved.
“Obviously, when James got his diagnosis, and now I’m thinking about a contemporary of mine going through something like this, and when the AstraZeneca folks reached out, I also have a lifelong connection to hockey.”
Jackson emphasized how vital it is to get treatment sooner rather than later.
“Guys don’t like to talk about this. We don’t like to go to the doctor, we don’t like to deal with this stuff. And I know a lot of ways in your life, like that stiff upper lip thing can be helpful, but in this it’s not helpful at all,” he added.
Van Der Beek also became an advocate for cancer screening following his diagnosis. He filmed a prerecorded video when he missed a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion due to stomach issues last September to raise money for the nonprofit F Cancer, and he was a paid spokesperson for Guardant Health, which offers a blood test to screen for colon cancer.
Jackson said coming to Van Der Beek’s aid at the reunion was a special moment for him and the cast.
“We were there to be able to … help his family through his treatment,” he recalled on March 10 during the 3rd Hour of TODAY.
“The purpose of it was beautiful, and I think for all of us, it’s easy to forget the impact that the show has because your experience of making the show is your experience, right? So for our little crew of people, that’s just something that we shared. But when you have 1,400 people sitting in a theater … you are reminded that it actually went out there into the world and had impact on other people.”
“For us to get together is a bit like a college reunion,” he added. “To share that experience with the audience, but also to be able to witness (Van Der Beek’s) kids, witness the impact that he had on other people was really impactful,” he said.
Obviously, Joshua does not owe us any public comments about James. He’s absolutely allowed to grieve in private, but it was nice to hear from him. Those were really kind words that echo what a lot of other people have said about James. I completely understand what Joshua means when he says losing a loved one hits you differently when you have children. There are different things to think about, and people get scared about their own mortality and leaving their children behind. I think James having such young children is part of the reason why the GoFundMe set up for his family took off in the way that it did.
Signing on to do a cancer screening campaign is also one of the best ways for Joshua to honor James’ memory, since he was such an advocate for screenings after his diagnosis. His commercial with Gritty is great. When it comes to going in for routine screenings or going in to get checked out when something feels “off,” there can never be enough awareness. Doing an NHL campaign is a perfect fit for him, too, and I’m not just saying that because of The Mighty Ducks! Joshua is a lifelong hockey fan. Hopefully, the campaign will reach a lot of people and inspire them to get those important screenings.
photos credit: Getty Images and Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Everything with him and his past relationship and marriage jus makes me side eye this guy now. Sorry about him losing his friend though and it’s good he did a PSA.
From his careful wording throughout this interview, I didn’t get the sense that he and James were ever actually friends, or that they stayed in touch beyond professional reasons after the show ended. Nevertheless, he recognizes that there are cultural expectations of him and that he has a role to play in the situation at hand, and he is stepping up to it.
Agreed, and I think this is ok. He called JVDB a colleague in the interview. I prefer this to performative displays of mourning from celebrities who were maybe not really close to someone who has passed, who profess a friendship when there was none. There are a lot of people I worked with 20 years ago. Some of them I still call friends, most of them I do not.