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James William Van Der Beek, Jr. (born March 8, 1977) is an American television, film and stage actor, known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the WB Network drama series Dawson's Creek.

Early life and stage career

Van Der Beek was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, the son of Melinda, a former dancer and gymnastics studio manager, and James William Van Der Beek, Sr, a cellular phone company executive and former professional baseball pitcher.¹ He attended Norton Elementary School, Dodd Junior High School, and the Cheshire Academy. At the age of 15, he asked his mother to take him into New York City to get an agent and try his hand professionally.

Van Der Beek made his professional debut in the New York premiere of Edward Albee's play Finding the Sun at the Signature Theatre Company in which he played the role of "Fergus." The production, which was also directed by Albee, received good reviews. ^{2 3} At age 17, while still in high school, he performed in the musical Shenandoah at the Goodspeed Opera House, and made his feature film debut with a bit part as a bully in the teen-oriented 1995 film Angus. The following year, he shot a small role on the independent film I Love You, I Love You Not which starred Claire Danes, Jude Law and legandary French film star Jeanne Moreau.

Van Der Beek attended Drew University but later dropped out to pursue acting. He performed at the Vineyard Theater in New York in Nicky Silver's play, My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine, and played a supporting role in the independent film Cash Crop, which was originally shot in spring of 1997 and originally titled Harvest released until in 2001.

Television and film career

One day in early 1997, Van Der Beek auditioned for three television pilots. One of them was for the fledgling WB Network. The show was Dawson's Creek. Van Der Beek won the title role of "Dawson Leery", and the show's 1998 debut was a success that helped to establish the network and its cast, which included Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. The series, shot in Wilmington, North Carolina, ran for six seasons, was syndicated worldwide, and made household names of the cast.

In 1999, he starred in the teen football comedy Varsity Blues, which held the #1 spot at the US Box Office for its first two weeks.⁴ Van Der Beek won an MTV Movie Award for his role.

During this time, Van Der Beek was chosen as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World", and appeared in several other films, including Texas Rangers, Scary Movie, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.

In 2002, he played Sean Bateman (younger brother of American Psycho protagonist Patrick Bateman) in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction, written and directed by Roger Avary. The film was an initial box-office failure, but found a cult following on DVD.⁵ In 2006 he also appeared on the Direct-to-DVD thriller The Plague, which was produced by Clive Barker and was panned by critics.

After Dawson's Creek's run ended in 2003, Van Der Beek immediately returned to the Off-Broadway Stage, in Lanford Wilson's Rain Dance. He completed an unproduced screenplay titled Winning. Since then he has made a few appearances on television, including a role on Ugly Betty, and a performance in 2007 in a two-part episode of the series Criminal Minds in which he played a fanatic religious serial killer with dissociative identity disorder called Tobias Hankel who kidnaps and drugs one of the main characters Spencer Reid. In 2008, he made a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother. Since 2008, he has also had a recurring role on One Tree Hill. He recently appeared on The Storm a NBC miniseries, and in an episode of the fifth season of Medium. In 2009, Van Der Beek portrayed real life kidnapper Anthony Steven "Tony Zappa" Wright in the Lifetime network television movie Taken In Broad Daylight.

In 2009, Van Der Beek won Best Actor at the 8th Annual San Diego Film Festival for his portrayal of FBI agent Jake Kelly in the political thriller "Formosa Betrayed", which also won Best Picture. The film will be distributed theatrically in the US starting February 28, 2010. ⁶

On January 5, 2010, TVGuide.com has confirmed that James Van Der Beek has snagged a major recurring role on Mercy. James will play Dr. Joe Briggs, the new womanizing ICU chief who harbors a dark secret. The role could become a regular gig for the 32-year-old actor.⁷ He stars alongside Rhona Mitra, Josh Lucas and Jon Hamm in the Anders Anderson thriller film Stolen.⁸

Personal life

In July 2003, Van Der Beek married actress Heather McComb. In June 2009, Van Der Beek's representative confirmed that the couple had separated after six years of marriage.⁹ On November 20, 2009, Van Der Beek filed for divorce.¹⁰

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James Van Der Beek

• James Van Der Beek's Official Website
• James Van Der Beek at the Internet Movie Database
• James Van Der Beek at Allmovie