James Van Der Beek’s defining performances—Dawson’s Creek, Varsity Blues, and later TV roles that reshaped his image

James Van Der Beek’s death on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at age 48 has prompted a rapid reassessment of a career that began with one of teen TV’s most recognizable faces and ended with a body of work that repeatedly challenged the “heartthrob” label. The tributes have centered on three lanes: the sincerity of “Dawson’s Creek,” the underdog leadership of “Varsity Blues,” and later roles that turned his image into a punchline—then into a tool.

Dawson Leery made him an icon

Van Der Beek became a household name as Dawson Leery, the aspiring filmmaker at the center of “Dawson’s Creek” (1998–2003). The performance worked because he played earnestness without irony. Dawson’s big speeches, intense self-scrutiny, and romantic idealism could have felt pretentious in weaker hands; Van Der Beek grounded them with a kind of anxious intelligence that matched the show’s hyper-articulate tone.

Over time, Dawson became shorthand for a certain late-’90s sensibility: sensitive, verbose, occasionally self-absorbed, and deeply sincere about feelings. That sincerity is also why the role remains sticky in public memory—especially in today’s clip-driven culture, where monologues travel faster than context.

Even the internet’s long-running “Crying Dawson” meme ultimately reinforced the same point: his face could carry an emotional moment in close-up, whether played straight or replayed as comedy.

“Varsity Blues” showed leading-man grit

If “Dawson’s Creek” gave Van Der Beek his defining identity, “Varsity Blues” gave him a different kind of credibility: a leading role built around pressure, authority, and refusal.

As Jonathan “Mox” Moxon, the backup quarterback forced into the spotlight, he played an underdog who isn’t wide-eyed—he’s alert, strategic, and increasingly unwilling to be controlled by a win-at-all-costs system. The movie’s cultural footprint often gets reduced to quotes and big moments, but Van Der Beek’s performance is what holds the arc together: a young man learning to lead while pushing back against a machine.

It also hinted at a pattern that would define his later career. Even at peak popularity, he seemed drawn to characters negotiating how they’re perceived—how a public role can become a trap, and how to break it without losing yourself.

Reinvention through self-parody

Years after Dawson, Van Der Beek made one of his smartest moves: he started playing a heightened version of himself in comedies, leaning into the idea that the world already “knew” him—then twisting that expectation.

His work in “Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23” became a pivot point. The joke wasn’t just that he could be silly; it was that he could turn celebrity into character work. He played vanity, insecurity, and performative charm with precision, exposing how fragile the teen-idol image can be once the spotlight shifts.

That self-awareness reshaped how audiences read him. Instead of “former teen star trying to stay relevant,” he became “actor with control of the narrative,” someone willing to puncture his own mythology for a better scene.

Later TV roles broadened the range

In the 2010s, Van Der Beek kept building credibility through supporting and recurring roles that moved far from Dawson’s softness.

On “CSI: Cyber,” he took on a procedural role that emphasized competence and steadiness over charisma. In “Pose,” he appeared in a drama rooted in a specific cultural world, showing up as an actor comfortable being a component of an ensemble rather than the center of attention.

He also kept popping up in sitcom and guest roles that used his persona as a shortcut—then complicated it with timing and edge. That willingness to be “the joke,” without playing it as cheap mugging, was part of what made his second act stick.

The performances fans are revisiting now

A lot of the renewed viewing is converging on a handful of roles that map his evolution:

• Dawson Leery (“Dawson’s Creek”): earnestness as a superpower—and a liability

• Jonathan “Mox” Moxon (“Varsity Blues”): leadership under pressure, moral pushback

• Himself, exaggerated (“Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23”): self-parody with real craft

• Elijah Mundo (“CSI: Cyber”): grounded, procedural authority

• Matt Bromley (“Pose”): ensemble work that widened perception

A legacy defined by taking control

Van Der Beek’s career now reads less like a rise-and-fade teen-star story and more like a long negotiation with typecasting. He didn’t erase Dawson; he reframed him—first by proving he could carry a very different kind of leading role, then by weaponizing the public’s assumptions for comedy, and finally by settling into steady, varied television work.

In that sense, his defining performances aren’t just individual roles. They’re chapters in a deliberate reshaping of what “James Van Der Beek” meant on screen.

Sources consulted: Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, Vogue, Associated Press