James Van Der Beek pushed for a revival of “Dawson’s Creek” in conversations with series creator Kevin Williamson before his death last month.
In a recent interview, Williamson said the actor expressed repeated interest in revisiting the WB drama that aired from 1998 to 2003.
“James and I talked about rebooting ‘Dawson’s Creek’ several times,” Williamson said. “He wanted to do it.”
Van Der Beek, who starred as Dawson Leery, wanted not only to reprise his role but also to help shape the direction of a continuation.
“There was a moment where he was going to write it — and he had a really great idea for it,” Williamson said. “He had a beautiful plan. Then I think he got on a show and everybody got busy. It never happened. But there was a lot of talk about it.”
The proposed project would have reunited cast members, including Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, Busy Philipps, Kerr Smith, and Meredith Monroe, along with others open to participating.
Williamson said he once spoke with Holmes and Van Der Beek about what a revival might feel like and the tone it could take.
“I think it was funny. I remember I had a conversation with Katie and him once, but I just don’t remember … I think it was a little along the lines of ‘This Is Us.’ We envisioned it to have that kind of tone, because that was very popular at the time when we had been discussing it,” he said.
Despite those talks, Williamson said he did not feel compelled to return to the fictional Massachusetts town of Capeside.
“I always felt like, ‘Well, we did that. We finished it,'” he said. “In the last episode, we jumped five years. We went to the future. The last episode of that show was the remake. So I feel very okay with that. And I don’t feel the need to go back to that world, as much as I love them and would love to.”
He also pointed to story challenges that complicated the idea of bringing the show back.
“We talked about it, but Michelle Williams’ character was already gone. Four had become three. So we talked, but it didn’t happen,” he said.
According to Williamson, Sony, the studio behind the series, contacted him more than once about potentially reviving the drama.
“Sony called and asked me a couple of times if I’d be interested in developing it,” he said, adding that he did not know “what that would look like.”
Van Der Beek died February 11 at 48. In November 2024, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer and had been undergoing treatment privately.
Before his death, he auctioned memorabilia from projects including “Dawson’s Creek” and “Varsity Blues” to help cover medical expenses. After his death, friends organized a GoFundMe campaign to support his wife and their six children.
