Dawson Leary
James was born on March 8, 1977 in Chesire, CT and has a younger brother
and sister, Jared and Juliana.
Suffering a mild concussion when he was 13 years old, the athletic James
Van Der Beek(now a 20-year-old)from Chelshire, Conneticut,
wasn't permitted to play on the football team that year. So,
for the first time, he tryed out for the school play and landed the role
Danny Zuko in the school's production of "Grease". Bitten by the acting bug,
he continued to do local children's theater in his hometown of Cheshire,
Conn.
He was still focused on acting at 16, so his mother agreed one summer to
travel the 3 hours each way to New York City in order for him to pursue
acting prfessionally. While he landed an agent and a manager on their very
first visted, he didn't find much success auditioning for commercials.
The next year, he was cast in the Off-Broadway play, "Finding the Sun",
which was written and directed by Edward Albee. He describes this as the
defining experience for him as an actor, and commuted six hours every day
during the limited three-month run for rehersals and performances in the
middle of high school. James credits the play as the defining experience
for him as an actor and still managed to finish the school year second in
class. After that experience, he starred in "Shenandoah" at the Goodspeed
opera House.
His first on-screen performance came with a starring role in the 1995
feature film 'Angus", and he is featured in the 1995 release " I Love
You..I Love You Not" with Claire Danes. Last summer, he completed the independant
film "Harvest".
A dean's list student, James receiced an academic scholershop from Drew
University in Madison, NJ, where he majors in English with a minor in sociology
In what little free time he has, he enjoys writing and playing all kinds of
sports. Now, James is currently on a leave of absence while shooting
"Dawson's Creek" in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Quotes
- On "Dawsons Creek": "It's a cross between Northern Exposure and My
So-Called Life"
- On similarities with Dawson: "Dawson reminds me of myself when I was
15. I grew up in a small New England town and vacationed on Cape Cod. We
both come from loving, supporting homes.... We're very similar. I wasn't
cool. I played sports and also did theatre... the two worlds didn't exactly
overlap."
Dawson Leery
Dawson is the base of the show. He is a big movie buff, and is currently
writing, filming and directing the movie, in which Joey, Pacey and Jen
all star. He has been life-long friends with both Joey and Pacey, and
he has just recently met Jen, who it appears he likes. He has also been
disturbed by the knowledge that his mother has had an affair, and his
parents trying to solve their problem.
Filmography
- Dawson's CreekTv Series...Dawson Leery
- Mystery Alaska(1998)
- Varsity Blues(1998)
- I Love You, I Love You Not(1996)...Tony
- Angus(1995)...Rick Sandford
See Dawson Pictures
Return to Characters & Star Bios
Return to Creek Freaks
