Joshua Jackson Breaks His Silence on ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Co-Star James Van Der Beek’s Death

Joshua Jackson is still “processing” the death of his Dawson’s Creek castmate, James Van Der Beek, following the actor’s death last month at age 48.

Jackson, who played Pacey Witter opposite Van Der Beek’s Dawson Leery on the beloved WB drama from 1998 to 2003, broke his silence about his late co-star’s passing during an appearance on the TODAY show Tuesday.

“I think it hits in a variety of different ways,” he said of the grief he’s felt since Van Der Beek’s death on Feb. 11. “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.”

Van Der Beek, who shared six children with wife Kimberly, died after a battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2023.

“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 of Van Der Beek’s legacy.

Jackson is just one of the Dawson’s Creek stars to pay tribute to Van Der Beek since his passing. On Feb. 12, Katie Holmes took to Instagram with a handwritten letter addressed to her former castmate and friend.

“James, thank you. To share a space with your imagination is sacred — breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each other’s hearts are safe in their expression,” she began the letter. “These are some of the memories, along with laughter, conversations about life, James Taylor songs — adventures of a unique youth.”

Holmes added later that she mourns the death of Van Der Beek “with a heart holding the reality of his absence and deep gratitude for his imprint on it,” concluding her note with a message to the late actor’s wife and children. “We are here for you always,” she wrote. “And will always be there to shower you with love and compassion.”