James Van Der Beek’s wife, Kimberly, is raving about the recent Dawson’s Creek reunion, despite her husband’s absence.
Kimberly shared an emotional message on her Instagram Story about attending Monday night’s reunion without her husband. He was forced to skip the charity event in New York City at the last minute due to health issues amid his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis.
However, Kimberly made the trip with the six children she and James share, calling the evening “a gift.” She posted a selfie from the event, featuring herself, along with several of the show’s stars: Busy Phillips, Michelle Williams, and Katie Holmes.
“Going deeper with these ladies has been so bitter sweet. They are magic, kind, gifted, heart forward and… sacred. Missed my guy so. But the support and the love has been healing to the core. Will post more along the way,” she wrote. “This was a fun spontaneous one as we all ran up and down several flights of stairs to our dressing rooms.”
Kimberly also posted to her Instagram Stories shortly after the event, gushing about the evening.
“I just got off with James, digesting the whole night tonight, and Michelle Williams was the brainchild of this night,” she said. On Dawson’s Creek, Williams played Dawson Leery’s (portrayed by James) love interest, Jen Lindley.
Kimberly also thanked Williams’ husband, Thomas Kail, for making so many of her children’s “dreams come true.”
She gave special shoutouts to some of the other Dawson’s Creek stars at the reunion, including Joshua Jackson, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, Mary Beth Peil, and John Wesley Shipp.
“This night was so special to the whole family, and more importantly, like just feeling my husband fill the entire theater, and the love for him,” she said about James, who instead made a virtual appearance at the event. “We’ll be unwinding this one for a while, but thank you for the love and support and for the prayers.”
“Cause right here, front and center, is my husband on my heart,” she continued, while rubbing her hand over her heart. “And it was a beautiful night, and I miss my husband. I can’t wait to go see him tomorrow.”
The original cast of Dawson’s Creek reunited on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre to perform a live reading of the show’s 1998 debut episode. The event was to raise money for the F Cancer charity and James, who announced his Stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis last year.
James was originally scheduled to join his castmates for a special reading of the pilot episode. However, the day before the event, he posted to Instagram to reveal that he wouldn’t be at the reunion because of “two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission.”
“I won’t get to be there. I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most,” he wrote, revealing his titular character of Dawson would instead be read by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Despite his illness, James made a special appearance in a pre-recorded clip that played on the screen. In the video, he introduced his replacement, Hamilton star and creator Miranda, and thanked fans for buying tickets to the event, which was put together by Williams in support of James.
