TELEVISION
The Beek is back and ready to riff on his fame
Nearly a decade and a half after Dawson’s Creek made him an international phenomenon, James Van Der Beek is back on TV.
The 35-year-old husband and father of two says he’s finally ready to come to terms with his place in the pop culture lexicon and, to prove it, he’s taking on the role he was born to play: himself. And he does so with an effervescent flair on the new ABC sitcom, Don’t Trust The B---- in Apt. 23.
“When I finished the sixth season of Dawson’s Creek, I was burnt out. I just needed some time to be completely rested and figure out who I was without this thing. I needed to plan my life,” says Van Der Beek.
“Eventually, I got to this point where somebody offered me something and it sounded like fun, whereas before I would justify or rationalize why that might not be a good idea, or make a decision out of fear of what other people might think.
“So I started to say yes and have a blast.”
After getting “enough distance” from his time as Dawson Leery — the aspiring, continually heartbroken filmmaker he inhabited from 1998 to 2003 on Dawson’s Creek — the actor embraced his former fame and rebranded himself as someone who could poke fun at his former teen idol image, and be simultaneously self-effacing and callus with more than a dollop of winking sardonicism.
According to the Connecticut-born star, this phase began with a comical turn as a past-his-prime aspiring Canadian rock star on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The role demanded the former pinup don a fat suit and speak in an overly affected Canadian accent.
“I think it was a bad Canadian accent that did it,” he laughs. “Honestly!”
Once he warmed to the possibility of self-mocking comedy, it wasn’t long before he took control of his public persona, creating a series of ‘Van Der Memes’ for the comedy website Funny or Die.
He also appeared as “James Van Der Douche” in pop singer Ke$ha’s video Blow, where they shoot rainbow-coloured lasers at each other and accidentally kill unicorns.
The video and his bit on Funny or Die earned the actor some much-needed attention as well as an older fan base.
It was during this period of resurrection, he says, that he got the call for . . . Apt. 23.
“They said, ‘We want you
The fact that none of us are in jail is pretty staggering JAMES VAN DER BEEK
to play a version of yourself kinda like you did in the Funny of Die videos,’ ” he recalls. “I wondered how that’d work in a series format so I went in, met with them, laughed for 45 minutes, and bonded instantly. It was hands down the funniest script I had read in years.
“There was about half a second’s hesitation and I said, ‘These are the kind of people I want to work with, this is the kind of thing I want to be doing right now.’ ”
The James Van Der Beek that appears on the sitcom is a twisted version of the real-life guy. The sitcom Van Der Beek is a single bachelor who is the best friend, ex-boyfriend and enabler of the series’ titular sociopath Chloe (Krysten Ritter).
“I told all the other writers, ‘Don’t be afraid of offending me. Just go for what’s funniest and if we absolutely have to pull it back I’ll let you know,’” he says. “I’d tell stories about stuff that’s actually happened and they’d incorporate it or just use a twisted version of it, and the rest they just make up.
The writers, in turn, came up with a character who is a former star, who beefs with James Franco, appears on Dancing with the Stars and regularly uses his Dawson costume (and theme song) to entice and encourage sexual escapades.
So how much truth lies in the humour?
“Anyone who wanted a shirt and sang a song, that was game over right there,” he laughs. Though he’s quick to add that, embarrassing memes aside, he looks back fondly of his time on the Creek.
“I have so much fun with it now. I think I was incredibly lucky and so fortunate to have that kind of success thrust on me,” says Van Der Beek. “You need to really maintain a level of appreciation for all that, but it’s a little tricky to navigate sometimes in terms of what does it mean and who you are, especially in your early twenties when you define yourself by people’s reaction to you, and you’re kind of staking out in life as to what kind of a man you want to be.
“It’s a little trickier whenever a stranger has a completely full set of expectations as to who you are and how you’ll react that are completely false and totally made up. I think for me there was a real effort to divide the two, at least in my own head, whereas now so much time has passed and I’ve gotten married and I’ve had two amazing kids, thank God.
“Now I can look back at all that stuff and luckily appreciate it, but also just enjoy it a little bit.”
Of course, he’s not the only former cast member of Dawson’s Creek enjoying success these days. The most successful of the group is, of course, three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. Joshua Jackson currently stars in the TV series Fringe, and Katie Holmes married Tom Cruise and last appeared opposite Adam Sandler in the comedy Jack and Jill.
“It’s a surprise. As popular as the show was, the fact that people are still all relevant however many years later . . . the fact that none of us are in jail is pretty staggering,” says Van Der Beek of the success of the series’ four breakout stars.
“The odds that four people that young who got that famous that quickly would all turn out OK is pretty rare,” he continues.
“I think a lot of it had to do with shooting in North Carolina and being away from a lot of the pitfalls that come in Hollywood. We all kept each other honest to a degree. It’s really nice to look around and see everybody doing well.”
As for the prospect of possibly having to play a televised version of himself who still pines for Dawson-like success for the next six seasons, Van Der Beek says he wouldn’t mind.
“Why not?” he says, echoing his new life mantra. “If people are responding to it and it’s funny, then yeah. I would be happy to do it and I think it’s good for me. It never hurts to assassinate your ego every day.”
Anyone who wanted a shirt and sang a song, that was game over right there. — JAMES VAN DER BEEK ON HIS POST- DAWNSON’S CREEK DATING LIFE