Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek has announced he will miss the hit show’s one-night-only stage reunion Monday night and will be replaced by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Van Der Beek, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023, wrote in a social media post Sunday that he would miss the charity event due to two stomach viruses.
The actor shared his disappointment over missing Monday’s reunion, a charity fundraising event to support F Cancer and Van Der Beek.
“This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel [and former Dawson’s Creek co-star] Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January,” he wrote. “So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission.”
Van Der Beek expressed regret that he would not “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.”
Van Der Beek followed up the disappointing news of his absence with the update that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel would instead take his spot in the role of Dawson.
“But I DO have an understudy,” he wrote. “A ridiculously overqualified replacement who would have been #1 on my wishlist (had I ever dreamed he’d be available). Someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me.”
Van Der Beek signed off by asking the crowd to “enjoy all the love in that room” Monday night and to “shine some on my family.”
He added, “I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin. And thank you @lin_manuel. You were a hero to my kids before… now you’re a demigod.”
ABC News has reached out to a representative for Van Der Beek for comment.
Along with Miranda, Monday’s Dawson’s Creek charity show will feature former stars Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps.
The show will include a live reading of the Dawson’s Creek pilot episode, which first aired in 1998.
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