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James Van Der Beek tragically died on February 11; however, he still has a project that will be premiering on the 2026 TV schedule, and that show is the Legally Blonde prequel, Elle. So, in honor of her colleague, Reese Witherspoon paid a “devastated” tribute to the late star of the series she’s executive producing.
News of the Dawson’s Creek actor’s passing came after a long battle with Stage 3 colorectal cancer. The news of his death was announced on his Instagram, and immediately, a flood of loving comments and tributes came in. This included one from Reese Witherspoon, as she took to her Instagram story to repost the news and share a tribute. She wrote:
Devastated to hear about James Van Der Beek. What an extraordinary, talented man who also showed great kindness and grace in every action. Praying all the angels watch over his family during this difficult time.
Along with these touching and tragic words, The Morning Show star also reposted the following video that Van Der Beek had uploaded to his Instagram in March of 2025:
The video, which you can watch above, shows the actor talking about the last year of his life and his battle with cancer. He was candid about how hard the year had been, and he explained that he realized he was “worthy of God’s love, simply because [he exists].” And with that in mind, he realized he was worthy of his own love. Over on Witherspoon’s IG story, she commented “Beautiful” over the video.
Adding to the love and support Witherspoon has shown on social media during this tragic moment, she also left the following comment on the Instagram post that announced Van Der Beek’s passing:
Sending all my angels to help carry him home 🕊️you and your beautiful family are in my heart 💗
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Now, all this comes in the months leading up to the release of Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel series. The show, which will be available with an Amazon Prime subscription starting July 1, is being executive-produced by the actress who originated the role of Elle Woods. It will follow her iconic character through high school before her days at Harvard Law, and the younger version of Elle will be played by Lexi Minetree.
Van Der Beek will play Dean Wilson in Elle. He’s a mayoral candidate for the city as well as the school district superintendent. So, it sounds like he has a major part to play in the prequel series.
While Elle will be Van Der Beek’s final on-screen role, it is not his only project that will come out after his death. This other project is a film called The Gates, and it will be released on the 2026 movie schedule on March 13. Directed by John Burr, the flick also stars Mason Gooding, Algee Smith and Keith Powers, with Van Der Beek set to play a character named Jacob.
So, as we mourn the loss of this wonderful actor, thankfully, he still has some exciting work to look forward to. Specifically, if you’d like to see the project he worked on with Reese Witherspoon, which will also serve as his final on-screen role, you can start streaming Elle on July 1.