James Van Der Beek bows out of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ reunion due to illness. Lin Manuel Miranda to pitch in

Remember when “Dawson’s Creek” replaced its theme song with another one? Well, now they are having to employ an understudy for one of its stars for a special event.

James Van Der Beek, who played Dawson Leery on the hit teen drama which ran from 1998 to 2003, has announced that he won’t be able to participate in their planned “class reunion” due to illness.

“This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January…,” Van Der Beek wrote on his verified Instagram. “So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission and keep me grounded at the worst possible moment.”

Multiple co-stars, including Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson, are scheduled for a reading of the show’s pilot at New York City’s Richard Rodgers Theatre Monday to raise funds for the nonprofit F Cancer and Van Der Beek, who announced in November 2024 that he is living stage 3 with colorectal cancer.

“Despite every effort… I won’t get to be there,” he shared in his post. “I won’t get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most.”

Instead he announced “an understudy. A ridiculously overqualified replacement who would have been #1 on my wishlist (had I ever dreamed he’d be available).”

“Someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me… Plus, he already knows how to get to the theater. So that’s convenient,” Van Der Beek wrote. “The role of ‘Dawson,’ usually played by James Van Der Beek… Will be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.”

The actor thanked the Broadway star for stepping in and had some parting words for fans.

“Everyone please enjoy all the love in that room,” Van Der Beek wrote. “Shine some on my family. I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin.”