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\nJames Van Der Beek made a surprise virtual appearance at the Dawson’s Creek reunion charity event on Monday, Sept. 22Van Der Beek announced on Sept. 21 that he had to drop out of the live reading of the beloved WB show’s pilot episode, held in benefit of F CancerThe actor cited “stomach viruses” as his reason for dropping out, and he was previously diagnosed with colorectal cancer in November 2024<\/p>\n
James Van Der Beek<\/a> made a surprise virtual appearance at a Dawson’s Creek<\/a> reunion charity event held on Monday, Sept. 22, after previously dropping out due to illness.\n<\/p>\n While Van Der Beek, 48, was unable to attend the charity event held at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York City in person, he appeared via a pre-recorded video that was projected onstage. In the video, the actor thanked fans for purchasing tickets to the event, and introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda <\/a>as his understudy.\n<\/p>\n “I have been looking forward to this night for months and months ever since my angel Michelle Williams<\/a> said she was putting it together,” Van Der Beek began. “I can’t believe I’m not there. I can’t believe I don’t get to see my cast mates, my beautiful cast in person.”\n<\/p>\n James Van Der Beek.<\/p>\n Courtesy Breanne Heldman<\/p>\n He continued, “And just I want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight. From the cast to the crew to everybody who’s doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you \u2013 you are the best fans in the world.”\n<\/p>\n “Thank you for coming. It’s just absolutely humbling just how much you did for this night, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you to every single person here,” he said. “And, obviously, on Dawson’s Creek, I had no understudy, but this is Broadway, and I needed one. So we figured we’d try to find somebody who had never understudied in this theater before.”\n<\/p>\n Dawson\u2019s Creek Reunion at Richard Rogers Theatre in NYC.<\/p>\n Courtesy Rick Slusher<\/p>\n He then introduced his replacement for the event, Miranda, whom he joked his kids “would consider an upgrade.”\n<\/p>\n In an\u00a0Instagram post<\/a>\u00a0shared on Sunday, Sept. 21 \u2014 just one day before the one-night-only charity event \u2014 the 48-year-old actor wrote that he was “gutted” after developing two different stomach viruses, but assured fans that he would have an “understudy,” who he confirmed to be Miranda, 45. Van Der Beek cited “two stomach viruses” as his reason for dropping out.\n<\/p>\n Van Der Beek’s wife,\u00a0Kimberly<\/a>, said she still planned to attend with the couple’s children. “Was important to him we come!!” she wrote.\n<\/p>\n During the event, Kimberly and the couple’s children joined the cast onstage to sing Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait,” which served as the show’s theme song.\n<\/p>\n The cast of the beloved WB teen drama series \u2014 including Williams,\u00a0Katie Holmes<\/a>,\u00a0Joshua Jackson<\/a>, Mary Beth Peil,\u00a0John Wesley Shipp<\/a>,\u00a0Mary-Margaret Humes<\/a>,\u00a0Nina Repeta<\/a>,\u00a0Kerr Smith<\/a>, Meredith Monroe and\u00a0Busy Philipps<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 reunited at the Richard Rodgers Theatre for a live reading of the show’s pilot episode to benefit F Cancer<\/a> and Van Der Beek, who was diagnosed with\u00a0stage 3 colorectal cancer<\/a> last year.\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Dawson’s\u00a0alum Jason Moore directed the event, which was produced by Carl Ogawa, Moore, Williams, Thomas Kail, Maggie Brohn, Kevin Williamson and Greg Berlanti. The original show aired for six seasons from 1998 to 2003, and tackled pivotal topics in the coming-of-age genre.\n<\/p>\n Van Der Beek has been candid about his journey with cancer after he announced his diagnosis in November 2024.\n<\/p>\n While speaking about his health journey to PEOPLE in November 2024, Van Der Beek said he was feeling good and offered\u00a0some advice for others going through something similar.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMiracles do happen \u2014 and they happen all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s scary at the onset. It\u2019s overwhelming. Go easy on yourself. You got this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve really been so blessed with my wife and\u00a0kids<\/a>,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot to live for, and it\u2019s a beautiful life.\u201d<\/p>\n