{"id":177903,"date":"2026-02-14T12:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177903\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T12:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:20:21","slug":"dawsons-favorite-director-gives-to-james-van-der-beek-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177903\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawson’s favorite director gives to James Van Der Beek fund"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Support for James Van Der Beek\u2019s family continues to pour in. The GoFundMe created to support them following the \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d star\u2019s death<\/a> approached $2.3 million in donations Friday morning. <\/p>\n

Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw are among the celebrity donors who have contributed to the fundraiser<\/a> organized by the late actor\u2019s friends. The couple\u2019s donation is listed as $25,000. Those familiar with Van Der Beek\u2019s breakout role on the millennial teen drama know that Spielberg is Dawson Leery\u2019s favorite director. <\/p>\n

Originally airing from 1998 to 2003, \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek<\/a>\u201d was a seminal teen drama that followed four friends growing up in a small coastal town as they navigated their dreams, relationships and various coming-of-age milestones. Van Der Beek\u2019s Dawson was an aspiring filmmaker whose dreams were bigger than his small hometown. Along with friends Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Jen (Michelle Williams), Dawson grappled with very relatable teen dilemmas including heartbreak, betrayal and bad decisions. <\/p>\n

The fundraiser, which had more than 44,000 donors as of Friday morning, was organized to help support Van Der Beek\u2019s wife and children, who \u201care facing an uncertain future\u201d due to the financial strain of the late actor\u2019s medical costs. The late actor died following a battle with colorectal cancer. Funds will be used to \u201chelp cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children\u2019s education,\u201d the organizers wrote.<\/p>\n

Van Der Beek revealed in 2012 that he had been paid \u201calmost nothing\u201d for his work on \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d and had not received any residuals from the hit show. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no residual money,\u201d he told \u201cToday<\/a>.\u201d \u201cI was 20. It was a bad contract. I saw almost nothing from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before his death, Van Der Beek auctioned<\/a> off personal memorabilia and sold collectibles<\/a> to help pay for his cancer treatments. In September, his \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d co-stars helped organize and stage a reunion fundraiser to support Van Der Beek and his family \u2014 a reunion the actor had to miss<\/a> because of a virus. \u201cBlack Bird\u201d actor Paul Walter Hauser<\/a> had also been raising funds through Cameo videos and auctions to help the late actor prior to his death. <\/p>\n

Besides Spielberg, celebrity donors to Van Der Beek\u2019s GoFundMe also reportedly<\/a> include Zoe Salda\u00f1a, Jon M. Chu, Derek Hough, Busy Philipps, Jenna Dewan and others. <\/p>\n

Van Der Beek\u2019s \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d colleagues have also been among the many who have shared tributes<\/a> to the late actor. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral times today, from my heart, I\u2019ve tried to form the words to express the beautiful brilliance of James and what his presence has meant to my life,\u201d \u201cDawson\u2019s\u201d creator Kevin Williamson<\/a> wrote Thursday in a post shared on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cBut I am truly at a loss for words. I will have to trust that one day those words will come… But today, all I can think about is Kimberly and the entire Van Der Beek family.\u201d <\/p>\n

Holmes, meanwhile, shared a handwritten note addressed to Van Der Beek on Instagram<\/a> Wednesday. She was the first of \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u2019s\u201d surviving core quartet to publicly acknowledge Van Der Beek\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d Holmes wrote in her note, which was addressed to Van Der Beek. \u201cTo share a space with your imagination is sacred \u2014 breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each others\u2019 hearts are safe in their expression.\u201d <\/p>\n

In her remembrance, Holmes highlighted their shared \u201claughter, conversations about life, James Taylor songs\u201d and their \u201cadventures of a unique youth.\u201d She also highlighted Van Der Beek\u2019s \u201cBravery. Compassion. Selflessness [and] Strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mourn this loss with a heart holding the reality of his absence and deep gratitude for his imprint on it,\u201d wrote Holmes, who also sent love to Van Der Beek\u2019s wife and children in her message. <\/p>\n

Other members of the extended \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d family, including actors Chad Michael Murray, Kerr Smith and Sasha Alexander, have also been among those offering condolences and paying tribute to Van Der Beek and his family online. <\/p>\n

\u201cJames Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed and i don\u2019t know what else to say,\u201d wrote Busy Philipps in her Instagram<\/a> tribute. \u201cHe was my friend and i loved him and i\u2019m so grateful for our friendship all these years.\u201d <\/p>\n