Katie Holmes Honors James Van Der Beek in Emotional Handwritten Note Following His Death

Katie Holmes is paying tribute to James Van Der Beek following the death of her Dawson’s Creek co-star on Wednesday at the age of 48.

Holmes took to Instagram with an emotional, handwritten tribute on Wednesday as she said that Van Der Beek’s death was “a lot to process.”

“I formed some words with a heavy heart. This is a lot to process,” she wrote in the caption. “I am so grateful to have shared in a piece of James’ journey. He is beloved.”

Holmes added in an aside to Van Der Beek’s wife, with whom he shares six kids, “Kimberly, we love you and will be here always for you and your beautiful children.”

In the note, Holmes looked back on her time playing Joey Potter opposite Van Der Beek’s Dawson Leery on Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2003.

“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 wrote, “These are some of the memories, along with laughter, conversations about life, James Taylor songs — adventures of a unique youth.”

Praising Van Der Beek for his “compassion, bravery, selflessness and strength,” Holmes added, “An appreciation for life with the integrity that life is art — creating a beautiful marriage, six loving children — the journey of a hero.”

Holmes continued 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.”

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Van Der Beek was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023 and announced his diagnosis publicly in 2024.

Holmes isn’t the only Dawson’s Creek star to pay tribute to Van Der Beek. Busy Philipps, who joined the WB drama in Season 5, took to Instagram on Wednesday, calling her late co-star “one in a billion.”

“My heart is deeply hurting for all of us today…every person who knew James and loved him, anyone who loved his work or had the pleasure of meeting him, all of his dear friends and community that surrounded him as he battled this illness, especially his parents and brother and sister,” she wrote. “But I am profoundly heartbroken for his incredible wife Kimberly and their six magical children.”

Directing people toward a GoFundMe account set up to support the Van Der Beek family, Philipps concluded, “James Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed and i don’t know what else to say. i am just so so sad. He was my friend and i loved him and i’m so grateful for our friendship all these years.”