The “Legally Blonde” universe was supposed to welcome a fresh new chapter with the prequel series “Elle.” Instead, for an entire generation that grew up on “Dawson’s Creek” and Elle Woods’ pink ambition, the show has become something far more fragile. It will hold James Van Der Beek’s final scripted TV performance, and Reese Witherspoon is publicly grieving a colleague she calls kind, gracious, and extraordinary.
TLDR
Reese Witherspoon is mourning James Van Der Beek, who died of colorectal cancer after filming his final TV role in the Amazon prequel series “Elle,” turning a nostalgic “Legally Blonde” project into an emotional farewell for longtime fans.
A Final Role With Reese
In her tribute, Witherspoon did not sound like a distant executive producer checking a box. She sounded like a peer who had just lost someone she admired. Sharing a photo of Van Der Beek on Instagram, she told followers she was “devastated” by the news of his death after his battle with colorectal cancer, which he had been fighting since August 2023, according to Page Six. She remembered him as “an extraordinary, talented man who also showed great kindness and grace in every action” and added that she was “praying all the angels watch over his family during this difficult time.”
The timing deepens the loss. Before his death, Van Der Beek had already completed his work on “Elle,” the “Legally Blonde” prequel ordered at Amazon with Witherspoon among its executive producers. According to Variety, the series will follow Elle Woods in her high school years, long before Harvard Law and the pink courtroom victories that made the franchise a touchstone for early 2000s moviegoers. What was once announced as a playful origin story is now also the last on-screen chapter in Van Der Beek’s television career.
In “Elle,” Van Der Beek plays Dean Wilson. The character is described as “the city’s new Mayoral candidate and current school district superintendent,” a figure of authority dropped into Elle’s teenage world as she begins to realize that her instincts and intellect might carry her far beyond the expectations around her. That dynamic, pairing a beloved teen icon from one era with the creation that defined another, felt like a clever casting move when it was first reported. Now it reads as something more poignant: a veteran of one generation of teen storytelling helping usher in the coming-of-age story of another, one last time.
From Teen Heartthrob to Father
For many viewers, Van Der Beek will always be the earnest, conflicted Dawson Leery from “Dawson’s Creek,” the late 1990s drama that followed a tight-knit group of friends as they stumbled into adulthood. That series turned him into a mainstay of bedroom posters and magazine covers, but in the years since, his public image shifted into something more grounded. He leaned into self-aware comedy, appeared in shows like “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23,” and, most visibly, became a devoted family man.
Van Der Beek married Kimberly in a ceremony that, over the following decade and a half, would quietly anchor his life. The couple were married for 15 years and raised six children together: Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 8, Gwendolyn, 6, and Jeremiah, 3. On social media, he often traded Hollywood gloss for scenes of ranch life, playtime, and parenting misadventures. The image was not of a former teen idol chasing the next headline. It was of a working actor who had built a busy, sometimes chaotic, but loving home.
That is the man Kimberly wrote about when she announced his death. In her statement, she said he “passed peacefully” and explained that “he met his final days with courage, faith, and grace.” Her words painted a picture of a husband and father confronting the end with the same steadiness his co-stars now attribute to him. “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity, and the sacredness of time,” she continued. “Those days will come. For now, we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
Co-stars Rally Around His Family
As news of his death spread, the tributes arrived from the people who had worked closest with him during his meteoric rise. According to Page Six, “Dawson’s Creek” cast members Kerr Smith and Busy Philipps were among the first to post public remembrances, turning their social feeds into digital memorials and gathering points for fans who had grown up with them.
Smith, who joined “Dawson’s Creek” in Season 2 as Jack McPhee, described the bond that formed over years of shooting long days in close quarters. “I’m so grateful for being able to call James a brother,” he wrote. “I’ll miss him deeply. Rest easy.” The message, simple and unadorned, underscored how the show had evolved from a job into a kind of extended family, one marked now by a very real loss.
Philipps, who arrived in the “Dawson’s Creek” orbit in Season 5 as Audrey Liddell and later reunited with Van Der Beek for the Season 2 premiere of “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23,” acknowledged both the collective grief and the intimate circle most affected. “My heart is deeply hurting for all of us today, every person who knew James and loved him,” she shared. “But I am profoundly heartbroken for his incredible wife, Kimberly, and their six magical children.” Her words mirrored what many fans seemed to feel. The loss exists on two levels, as the death of a figure who shaped pop culture and as the disappearance of a father from a very young family.
That family is now facing not just emotional upheaval but financial strain. A GoFundMe campaign created after his death explains that “in the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future.” The organizers note that “the costs of James’s medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds” and that they are “working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time.” It is a candid glimpse into the financial realities that can follow a long illness, even for those who once led hit shows.
How ‘Elle’ Honors His Legacy
For Reese Witherspoon, the grief is now intertwined with the professional responsibility of shepherding “Elle” into the world. According to Variety, the series was conceived as a bright, character-driven exploration of Elle Woods before she stepped into a Harvard lecture hall. It promised familiar pink palettes, early hints of the fierce optimism that defined the movies, and a chance to revisit the tone that first made “Legally Blonde” a cultural staple.
Van Der Beek’s presence in that world instantly bridged two timelines in pop culture memory. On one side, there was Dawson with his camcorder and his tidal creek in the background. On the other, Elle, whose glittery determination convinced many viewers that ambition and kindness could coexist. By casting him as Dean Wilson, a civic leader and authority figure in Elle’s high school orbit, the series effectively placed a guardian of one generation’s teen storytelling inside the origin story of another.
With his death, that creative decision takes on a commemorative weight. When “Elle” premieres on Amazon Prime Video, audiences who watched “Dawson’s Creek” during its original run and discovered “Legally Blonde” in packed theaters will be seeing more than a clever crossover. They will be watching Van Der Beek’s final work in a medium that shaped his life, and one where he, in turn, shaped theirs. Witherspoon’s remembrance of his “kindness and grace in every action” now lingers over his scenes in advance, a reminder of the person behind the performances.
In an industry that often rushes from project to project, “Elle” now asks for something different. It invites viewers to spend time with a character just beginning to understand her power, while also saying goodbye to an actor who spent much of his career helping audiences make sense of their own growing up. Between Reese Witherspoon’s executive role, the enduring pull of the “Legally Blonde” brand, and the chorus of tributes from co-stars, the series will likely be received not only as a nostalgic prequel but as a quiet memorial stitched into a world of pink, law books, and second chances.
Join the Discussion
How will knowing that “Elle” contains James Van Der Beek’s final TV performance shape the way you experience the series and remember his earlier work?
