James Van Der Beek Interviews

UltimateTV: Do you feel any added pressure being THE Dawson from "Dawson's Creek"?

James Van Der Beek: I don't really have to carry the show, it's an ensemble. Kevin Williamson
[the writer] is the real star.

UltimateTV: What would you say "Dawson's Creek" is about?

James Van Der Beek: Dawson's Creek is an hour drama series of four teenangers in a suburb
of Boston coming of age...Dealing with teenage issues. So in other words sex, sex, more sex.
It's honest and it's fairly resonsible without being preachy.

UltimateTV : How has starring in this show changed your life?

James Van Der Beek: I was an English major - "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
I can afford to eat, now. It's funny... being in the show was our day to day reality.
Now it's getting weird. It's really comforting that it's all done. Fortunately, the
distraction comes after the work.

UltimateTV : What kinds of mistakes does Dawson make on the show?

James Van Der Beek: He makes any number of mistakes. The mistakes Dawson makes stems
from ignorance. The whole boy girl thing....He's finding his way.

UltimateTV : Do you think you are presenting an accurate portrayal of how it is to be a teenager today?

James Van Der Beek: I think so, yeah. Absolutely. I think it has a lot to do with the writing.

UltimateTV : Have you ever been compared to River Phoenix?

James Van Der Beek: No. Although Entertainment Weekly called me Ethan Hawke with better hygiene.

UltimateTV : If you weren't an actor, what would you do with an English major?

James Van Der Beek: I'd probably be a teacher. Middle school teacher. I had a real mentor
from middle school, and it's such a miserable time for any kid.

UltimateTV : How often do you get recognized by fans on the street?

James Van Der Beek: Not yet.

UltimateTV : Is "Dawson's Creek" looking for the same audience as 'Buffy?'

James Van Der Beek: I think so. They're both high school. We were thrilled to follow 'Buffy.'

UltimateTV : Do you go online?

James Van Der Beek: I actually don't have a computer. The internet is also much more important
to this industry than it's given credit for.

UltimateTV : Do you really not want to be on the cover of Tiger Beat?

James Van Der Beek: Oh, geez. It was taken a little bit out of context.
[Entertainment Weekly] asked me if I was excited about that,
I said I wouldn't consider that the apotheosis of my career. It's not why I started acting.

From ktnb: What's it like to be walking around and have people you don't even know come up and
talk to you, and ask for autographs?

It's quite strange. Flattering and exciting, but strange. I always feel so detached from the people
who recognize me, because they know the Dawson persona. They don't know me at all. I'd be lying
if I said I didn't think it was pretty cool, but I'm never quite sure how to react.

From smoocat: How do you think mass-media phenom Steven Spielberg reacts to Dawson's small
obsession with him on the show?

Rumor has it he saw the first episode and loved it. He also gave his blessing to use his name
and image.

From pixie: Are you at all like your character?

I definitely relate to my character. He's a lot like I was at 15--innocent, idealistic, impassioned
and often clueless.

From phs321: What's it like working with Kevin Williamson. Is he the kind of guy to play jokes on
you and stuff like that?

Kevin is great--one of the nicest, most humble people I've met in this business. He picks on me
constantly, and we joke around all the time.

From ashutterbug: I was wondering about the origin of your name--and do you have any
nicknames?

Van Der Beek is Dutch for "by the brook." When I played football, the coaches called me "Beek," and
when I was the youngest actor in my first professional musical (and one of four Jameses),
the older cast members dubbed me "Baby James." (They were all big James Taylor fans.) Most of
them still call me that to this day.

From cwynne: Do you feel any pressure competing with all the other young-adult shows out there?

As an actor, my main responsibility is simply to show up to work on time and be prepared. I can't
afford to worry about the whole ratings game. It's not my job, and I really can't do anything about it.

From twink: How do you feel about all the controversy surrounding the social issues on sex
in the program?

I'm shocked that the show has been called controversial. The content is so mild compared
with trashy talk shows that are on at 3 in the afternoon, and we deal so much more intelligently
and responsibly with these issues than anyone on those shows ever does. I think our show is honest,
and I'm not ashamed of anything that happens on it.

From lunasola: What do you think is the most important thing for an actor or actress starting
out in the business to know?

That acting is the most unstable, unreliable, heart-wrenching career to choose. If you can do
anything else and still find fulfillment, do it. Should you find yourself cursed with the undying
passion to act, then the most important thing is to keep your eyes and ears open. Ask questions.
Learn from everyone you can. The minute you stop learning, it's time to quit.

From skeeter14: Who is your favorite director?

I'd love to work with Mr. Spielberg, or directors like Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, Milos Forman.

From fair73: What do you do in North Carolina when you're not on the set?

I'm teaching myself how to play the guitar. I'll read, write, or in the case of this show, catch up
on my sleep. I'll also join in whatever pickup games are going on.

From smileyface1: Hey, James...boxers or briefs?

Boxers.

From cristabl: As a fellow English major, I think the books people read tell a lot about who
they are. What's your favorite book, and what do you think that says about who you are?

Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce. It's more a study in metaphor than a
page-turning story, but I really identified with Stephen Dedulas. It was fascinating to watch him
stumble his way to his true passion, having already discovered mine.

From leah_m: What's up with Dawson and Joey? Will anything romantic happen?

It's one of those really strong bonds, but neither one of them are quite sure exactly where it lies.
You can't really put it into words.

from E! Online

Sweet Baby James

By Jeff Yorio

"We'd be running around NYC in the hot summer, dropping off head
shots at agents' offices. They'd open the door a crack and we'd
feel the air conditioning. And they'd just grab the head shot,
thank you, and shut the door."--James on the pre-Dawson's days
"There was a party at Kevin Williamson's and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer came up and said hey, I love your show. That was really
weird. Then I heard Steven Spielberg saw it and loved it. That
was another weird moment. Steven called."--James on the doors
Dawson's opened.

During a break from shooting I caught up with James in his
trailer on the set in Wilmington, NC. Polaroid pictures of the
four stars from Dawson's covered the wall, snapshots of their
off-camera antics. James was wearing a flannel shirt and baggy
pants, and he talked warmly of his parents and friends from
home. Every once in a while, he would run his hands through his
hair, and there was little doubt as to why he'd been cast as the
star of Dawson's Creek.

Total TV: When did your career first start taking off?
James Van Der Beek: Well, I did a movie, and everybody was
telling me oh wow, this is going to be huge for you, you're going
to be a big star. OK, cool, and I waited. And nothing happened.

That was how long ago?
It's 2 or 3 years ago, yeah, senior in high school. Actually I
really came out as a freshman in college.

And you went on some auditions and stuff like that?
Yeah, well I mean basically the movie didn't do very well, it
didn't propel me to where they said it would. So now I kind of
take all this type with a grain of salt.

There's so much hype, I mean I don't know how common that really is.
I don't--I've got nothing to compare it to. This is the first
series I've ever done. We've gotten quite a bit of reaction, so
I've been trying to do our best on it.

When did you first realize the extent of the hype for the show?
With the network announcement. I went down and did the pilot, I
went back to school and did a play in New York and all this tuff.
And then I heard yeah, we're going to get picked up. I thought
you know that's great, you know, that's wonderful. I mean you
know the odds of getting a pilot and having it picked up are very
slim, so that was really exciting. And so I went to this--it
was at this hotel, they wanted me there the night before, they
said for a rehearsal. And I walked in, and there was this movie
screen, they were playing 4-minute trailers of all the shows. And
they started playing, you know, the Dawson's Creek trailer and I
heard my voice and boom, there was the four of us, and we're all
doing our thing and there's music in the background and it's
really cool. I was like wow, and I turned around and like every
network exec I think was there. So I ran back to my friend's
apartment and called the other three, I was oh my God, you guys,
you got to listen to what people are saying about this. And that
was quite a trip. And then watching the trailer in front of about
2000 people and hearing other people's reaction to it was really
incredible. And then the press tour, there were so many critics
there. We're sitting up on the dais and there were people
standing up in the background too. Actually one of the other
really weird moments, there was a party at Kevin Williamson's and
Kevin to me was Kevin. And you know the other three were there
and a bunch of other people started coming and then I was sitting
there and Buffy the Vampire Slayer came up and said hey, I love
your show. That was really weird. I'm amazed me the number of
people who had actually seen the pilot. Mind-boggling. Then I
heard Steven Spielberg saw it and loved it, had his secretary
call Kevin and say that he liked it. But that was another weird
moment. Steven called.

Was the press tour the first time you had to deal with people asking you questions about--
About the show, yeah. And they were all freaked out about the
content, which I thought was ridiculous.

Yeah. What about all the sex talk?
There's one kiss, there's one almost kiss. I think--I mean you
know, my response to that is always, you know, we're not giving
these kids any ideas, we're not talking about things they aren't
already thinking about. I think it's good that we talk about them
and that we talk about them responsibly. I mean, who had a really
great adolescence, I mean really, nobody did. I was really
baffled by the number of people who were upset.

What do your friends at home think?
Well I got a whole core group of friends who are excited for me
because I'm doing what I want to do. But you know they're really
not any more impressed than they would be if I was promoted to
assistant manager in McDonald's. But it's really great. I'm
very, very lucky in that respect. And they're not fazed by this
at all. They still make fun of me.

They're still in college?
They're right in the midst of school. I left when I was a
sophomore. I'd be a second semester junior now.

Do you guys--do all of you hang out together off set?
Yeah, probably more than is healthy. But yeah, we definitely hang
out. I mean we're all isolated down there, we're away from our
homes, our families, our friends, the rest of the business.

And who are you rooming with?
Josh.

How was that?
We're the odd couple.

Whose decision was that? That you guys kind of come to--
Well I mean we--we got along very well and we just--he had a dog
and we were both looking for apartments and we found this really
cool place that we split.

Any problem seeing each other 24-7?
Normal. Nothing beyond the norm. I mean you know, I shower first
and I'm eating up hot water, you know, all the normal stuff. We
watch football on the weekends, that's about it. That's the only
thing we watch.

What do you do to kick back? Do you guys have free time?
Sleep. Sleep, read, you know, listen to music. I'm teaching
myself how to play the guitar.

Any actors, current actors, young actors that you look up to? Admire what they're doing?
Young actors, let me think. Edward Norton, who I met. He and I
worked at this little theater when I was in New York and he--I
mean he's great, it's so cool to watch him take off. And rightly
so, I mean he's incredibly talented. But it really doesn't hurt
you to see another New York theater actor suddenly get an
opportunity and watch everyone appreciate the fine work he's
done.

What does your family think of all this stuff?
They're incredibly cool about it. My brother is a phenomenal
athlete so he's got his own thing that he excels at, completely
independent of what I do. And my sister as well. I mean really
she's made a name for herself. She's a straight A student, the
smartest kid and really great--and they're both--yeah, they're
both thrilled, they're both really excited about it. They really
like the show. They've seen things that I'm in that they'll watch
just cause I'm in it but this they were like-- their reactions
are incredible to some of this stuff.

Like what?
My brother's watching the show, he was like, Dawson does all the
things like you think about doing that you want to do but you're
afraid to do because of what will happen, Dawson does that and he
does it and then it happens anyway, and then you watch--you know.
Which is--he's the dork in all of us, I think.

How accurate is Kevin Williamson's dialogue?
He's incredible. It's dead on accurate. Yeah.

In terms of what's going on in high school right now.
In terms of what's going on, what kids are thinking about, what
kids are talking about, how they really feel about issues versus
what they actually say. I think one of the great things is that
the dialogue that we have is what kids are thinking about and
coping with, aren't necessarily talking about. He gives them kind
of a--a great voice. He lets them speak eloquently about the
things that are plaguing them and teenagers aren't always
necessarily able to do that. What people keep on saying is you
know these characters talk the way I feel. They--they're going
through the same things that 15-year-olds go through but they are
able to verbalize it in a way that many 15-year-olds can't.

Right, well that's I think that's what I've heard, criticisms of--you know, of the script.
I think the intentions behind the words are absolutely real and
absolutely honest, and I don't think they're exaggerating. I
think kids are a lot smarter than the media gives them credit
for. Especially growing up with the Internet and all the
information is so accessible. I think they really are a lot more
aware than adults often give them credit for. I think it's really
great that they are able to--on this show, that they're able to
speak about--about such confusing things. I mean it's
adolescence, it's hard, it's tough, it's confusing. Nobody knows
what the hell's going on. And I don't think that we say
anything in this show that 15-year-olds aren't thinking or
feeling. I don't think there's been a thing said on the show that
isn't, you know, a fairly universal issue.

How is Kevin Williamson to work with?
Kevin--the coolest thing about Kevin is that he's a great
collaborator. I mean he's--he's an incredibly talented writer and
he's sure enough he doesn't have--he's not married to his own
dialogue. If I read--usually because it's Kevin and because
there's so much respect for Kevin I'll see a line and if I
don't--can't figure out how to make it work, I'll think, OK, that
must be my fault then and I'll definitely try and make it work.
And then if we're playing a scene and it's not working, he's the
first one to change his own dialogue. It's--no, that's not
working, it's my fault, we'll throw it out, here's something
else. Or why don't you try that? And if there's ever something
that I'm uncomfortable with, I'll change it or even ask Kevin and
he'll say yeah, just make it work. I remember one time I changed
some things and I called him and said, I don't want to step on
your toes but this is what I--and I said, oh yeah. He said, I
would rather hear you--I'd rather watch a scene that works than
hear my own words garbled in dailies, you know. He said, I'd
rather watch this scene work than watch my own words not work.
Kevin never lets his ego get in the way of getting the work done.
If you look around--if you ask around the set you'll just find
unabashed adoration for Kevin around there. He snuck down here
recently--unbeknownst to Miramax.

Any movie opportunities on the horizon? Is that the direction you'd like to go in?
Absolutely, yeah, I mean if--you know, if the show is--I'd love
to do a film in the off season. I'd love to play somebody other
than Dawson in the off season, just for my own sanity.

What have you been looking at?
Yeah, I mean you know I'm working on stuff with my agent, reading
scripts and sending in tapes from here and--doing what we can to
try and strike while the iron's hot. We're in the right place at
the right time right now, it just happened coincidentally. If we
can take advantage of that, great. If not, I mean we've still got
a really cool job here. So it's not like I feel this absolute
pressure, oh, I have to go get a movie, have to do this. Yeah,
I'd really like to and I'd really love to play a film role. And
if Dawson's Creek allows me to get to work and learn from people
who I admire in the film industry, then I'd be ecstatic.

Who would you most like to work with?
There's so many--so many different directors and actors that I'd
love to work with.

Spielberg?
Oh, I'd love to work with Spielberg, please, yeah. Spielberg, I'd
love to work with Kubrik, Milos Forman, I mean Scorsese. And
actors, I mean there's a huge list there. There's so many actors
whose work I respect and admire, who I'd just love to be able to
work with.

When did you first get involved in acting?
I got a concussion in gym class in 8th grade and I ended up doing
a play, a musical, instead of playing sports that year. And I
loved it. I mean just absolutely loved it. I had my first
girlfriend in that production, you know, I was getting my whole
social life going and it was just--I just did community theater.
And then I really started developing an intense interest in
performing and it was just this whole new world I was incredibly
excited by. My mother kind of noticed my interest in it and
realized, wow, he's really into this, and said, if you want to
try this, I will give you the opportunity this summer to go in
and have a shot at it. I think kind of secretly she hoped that
maybe I would go in and realize it's a very tough business and
it's very difficult and not want to do it. But it ended up
working out.

And I guess it's been a rocky road.
I had a string of unemployment spans when I was in college. And I
just wasn't doing much and I wasn't auditioning well, you know,
I--I just did terrible. What I did was I took 6 weeks off, I just
packed up and took 6 weeks off from being an actor and traveled
around Europe and came back and said yeah, this is exactly what I
want to do.

Any epiphany-like moments in Europe? Stoned in a hash house in
Amsterdam, proclaiming, 'I'm an artist!"
No comment on that last one. I think it was all those experiences
put together. I think it was just the fact that you know my
thought process did not revolve on my next audition. By the time
I left here I was so fed up with all the other stuff, the
business end of it that I lost sight of the potential joy.

So what's the greatest challenge for you?
The greatest challenge is trying to come up and consistently do
good work in such a short amount of time. The pace is really
very, very difficult. Here we get a script, we're shooting
something, first of all, and then we get a script, we read that,
OK, and then you get--maybe if we're lucky we get a read-through.
And then we start actually shooting and it becomes--actually
the sheer memorization part is hard, you know, just to try and
sit there and memorize 8 pages of dialogue after you've been
working 14 hours and you've got to get to bed if you want to get
8 hours' sleep, just cause you have to and you'll die if you
don't, you know, really try and get enough sleep. Plus you really
don't have as much time to think about it. And it's hard--the
temptation is to kind of take shortcuts sometimes as an actor.
And it's really scary because you really don't have time to do
all--any real preparation. So a scene that you would have loved
to have had a week to kind of just think about and have in the
back of your head and get ideas, but you got to do it that night
and you got to come to the set and sometimes it's just got to
happen on the set. It's kind of frustrating sometimes.

How about maintaining personal relationships?
Oh, Sarah.

Is she back in Connecticut or--
No, she's at Drew.

How's that working, you down here and her up there?
Oh--we're best friends, it's really cool

So there's no strain with you being down here all--
No, no, I mean--I mean we're not--we're not romantically
involved.

What do your mom and dad do?
Well, my mom actually was a dancer and my dad was a baseball
player before I was born. And my mom teaches gymnastics.

Baseball?
Yeah, he played for the Dodgers.The coolest thing in the world,
man, you play in little league, Dad was a pitcher for the
Dodgers.

Oh, my God, wasn't there a lot of pressure?
Not at all. He's like the coolest guy in the world.

Was he young when he was pitching?
Yeah, I mean he actually--he graduated college first. He finished
college. I think he was 22 when he signed with the Dodgers.

This was like early 70's?
Yeah. Early 70's.

He wasn't around for the World Series for, then?
No. They really weren't looking to bring up pitchers at that
point so he was kind of stuck in the minors.

And your mom--did she have any contacts in the acting business at
first?
No, not at all. I mean she knew kind of how it works and how not
to really get screwed and kind of how to start.

She must have been around for all those struggling times.
Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean it's really kind of cool, I just remember
taking trips in NYC. We'd make our sandwiches before we'd go and
get on the Metro North train and go and then walk instead of
taking cabs. We'd be running around in the hot summer, dropping
off head shots at agents' offices. They'd open the door a crack
and we'd feel the air conditioning. And they'd just grab the head
shot, thank you, and shut the door.

Well it's especially good I think that you weren't pressured into
it. I've seen way too many stage mothers in my life and they're
scary.
Yeah, they really are and it's awful but I see it at auditions in
New York and at studios, every time I auditioned there for
something. inevitably during a commercial audition there would be
a little boy and his mother's combing his hair , 'don't say it
like that, say it like that' --and I'm so glad my mother didn't
start me out that way. She jokes about, you know, she had two
boys and so my dad is like all right, and then she had a little
girl, my sister, she was like oh great and when my sister was 6
and my mom brought her to dance recital and asked my sister,
'Isn't this exciting?' My sister's like no. You don't like
this? And she's like, 'not really.' I don't think I want to do
this next year. So my mom was like, OK. Then she kind of resigned
herself, well I guess I won't have, you know, anybody in the
family--I won't have anybody dancing who will share the passion
that I have. And then all of a sudden I was like 15 years old and
I was doing a show, I needed to tap dance. My mother bought me
tap shoes and she's going, you know, I never thought I'd be
buying tap shoes for any of my kids, least of all my first-born
son. So it was really kind of funny the way it worked out.

from Totally Teen TV

Golden Boy
A chat with Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek proves he's
more than just another pretty face.

By Judy Maitland

Racier than Beverly Hills, 90210, less depressing than Party of
Five, the WB's new drama Dawson's Creek has all the makings of a
hit--including a camera-friendly young cast led by hunky new star
James Van Der Beek (who plays sweet 'n' sensitive 15-year-old
protagonist Dawson Leery) and envelope-pushing plotlines (a
teacher-student sexual relationship, parental infidelity) from
creator Kevin Williamson (Scream) that sparked the network to
move the show out of the controversial eight o'clock family hour
to the more adult time of 9 p.m. (where it also has the benefit
of the hugely popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer as its lead-in).
We caught up with the 20-year-old Connecticut native on the
Wilmington, North Carolina, set of his show to chat about about
sex, zits and impending teen-dream status.

Total TV: What did you think about the way your show was received
by the television critics at the press tour last summer?
James Van Der Beek: I couldn't believe they were calling it a
"racy new drama." To me, Dawson is so innocent. A good deal of
the criticism focused on the subject matter and emphasis on sex,
saying the cast members sounded more like 30-year-olds than
teenagers. I think they're probably not giving teenagers enough
credit. If you hang out on the set, maybe it's just us, but we
don't talk too differently than our characters do. I think it's
great that these characters talk so intelligently. I think it
makes it much more interesting. Look at Friends, look at soaps,
look what's on Oprah at four o'clock. It's good that we're
dealing with these issues because that's what teenagers are
thinking about, and I think it's a lot more responsible to deal
with it and bring them out rather than pretend they don't exist.

You were the last member to be cast?.
Yeah, I was the last piece of the puzzle.

Do you feel any sort of kinship with your character?
I definitely relate to Dawson on some level. We both shared a
passion at a very early age. I also identify with his innocence a
little bit. When I was 16, I was at a private school and was kind
of blown away by what I was seeing.

Drugs and sex?
[Laughs] Yeah, and I was just so out of that loop!

Should Dawson be a role model for teens?
I don't know if he's designed to be a role model, but I don't
think he's a bad role model. He's not the golden standard by
which everyone else should be judged. But I think he's somebody
that a lot of kids can relate to.

Your bio says you couldn't land a commercial to save your life
when you first started acting as a teenager. What was the
problem?
I just think I took [them] really seriously. To this day, if I
went in to audition for a commercial, I wouldn't get it. I only
got one in my entire career, and it was something I was totally
wrong for.

What was it?
It was for Oxy [acne cream]. I was totally broken out, but I was
supposed to be the guy with the clear skin, so they had to
totally cover me with makeup.

I hear buzz that you're pegged as the next big heartthrob.
[Laughs] That's great if it helps the show, but I don't aspire to
be on the cover of Teen Beat.

from Totally Teen TV

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