From ‘Dawson’s Creek’ to ‘Varsity Blues’: James Van Der Beek’s most beloved roles

From Dawson Leery to Jonathan “Mox” Moxon, James Van Der Beek’s career has been marked by characters who embodied the spirit of high school teenagers, along with supporting roles on some of the popular TV shows of his era.

Van Der Beek’s roles in “Don’t Trust the F—- in Apartment 23”, and “Rules of Attraction” along with more films and high-profile roles added to Van Der Beek’s impressive resume in Hollywood for several decades.

After Van Der Beek publicly announced his cancer diagnosis in 2024, He died at 48Here’s a look at some of the actor’s most famous roles in film, television, and theater.

Dawson Leery in “Dawson’s Creek”

Van Der Beek’s most famous role came in the form of the starring role of Dawson Leery in the 1998 WB network show, “Dawson’s Creek.” Van Der Beek dropped out of college to star in the film’s six-year run, opposite fellow cast members and future stars Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson.

In Leary, Van Der Beek portrayed an aspiring director dealing with the pathologies of adolescence and young adulthood.

“That was when life was at its craziest,” Van Der Beek says of his time on the hit show in the film A 2020 interview with “Good Morning America.” “When I was 20, I was very lucky and found myself on a TV show that was a zeitgeist and cultural phenomenon, and suddenly I became famous.”

Jonathan “Mox” Moxon in “Varsity Blues”

Van Der Beek parlayed his success in “Dawson’s Creek” into a starring role in the 1999 coming-of-age sports drama “Varsity Blues.”

The actor took on the role of Jonathan “Mox” Moxon, the backup quarterback for West Canaan High School in Texas. Van Der Beek’s performance as the smart-ass quarterback earned him Outstanding Male Performance at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards and Choice Movie Star at the 1999 Teen Choice Awards.

“It was a movie I really cared about, and it was a role I really cared about,” Van Der Beek said “Good morning, America,” he said. “It was a role I really had to fight for. I had to fight for this role, no one wanted me to do this role initially,” he said.

“rules of attraction”

In 2002, Van Der Beek starred in the comedy film, based on Bret Easton Ellis’ book “Rules of Attraction”, as Sean Bateman, a drug dealer at a New Hampshire college whose misadventures he has with several classmates. Van Der Beek’s character in the film is the younger brother of the main character in the film “American Psycho” Patrick Bateman. Ellis also wrote “American Psycho.”

The film also stars Shannen Sossamon, Kip Pardue, Jessica Biel and Ian Somerhalder.

“Don’t trust Person B in Apartment 23.”

Van Der Beek played a comical, exaggerated version of himself in two seasons of the ABC comedy Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.

In the show, Van Der Beek plays a struggling actor looking to recapture the success of his younger years.

Van Der Beek, who scored a Teen Choice nomination for the role, starred alongside Krysten Ritter, Dreama Walker and more in the role.

“Texas Rangers”

In 2001, James Van Der Beek starred in the Western film “Texas Rangers”, where he played the role of Lincoln Rogers Dennison. The role marked his first major film performance, portraying him as a serious, morally motivated lawman-in-training.

The film follows a group of rebellious young men who become Texas lawmen and must abandon their outlaw past to stop a violent crime ring in post-Civil War Texas. Van Der Beek co-stars alongside Ashton Kutcher, Dylan McDermott, Rachel Leigh Cook, and Usher Raymond.