James Van Der Beek’s final performance, in the ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel ‘Elle,’ will premiere later this year

James Van Der Beek died on Wednesday following a years-long battle with colorectal cancer. But before his death, he filmed one final project: He’ll appear in the upcoming Prime series Elle, a prequel to the 2001 film Legally Blonde, set to premiere later this year.

Van Der Beek, whose wife, Kimberly, announced his death on Wednesday, lived with colorectal cancer for more than two years before his death. Despite his August 2023 cancer diagnosis, the Dawson’s Creek alum has continued to work. In the upcoming show Elle, he portrays the school superintendent and mayoral candidate Dean Wilson.

In May 2025, Van Der Beek announced his casting, writing in an Instagram post, “So, this is exciting… I’m going back to work for a bit. Super excited to join this awesome cast in such a fun project. Almost as excited as my wife and girls are that I’m doing this 😍 #LegallyBlond #Elle.”

Producer Witherspoon wrote in the comments section, “YES!! Best news ever! Welcome to our show.”

Production on Elle reportedly began in April 2025, and the series is set to premiere on July 1, 2026. The show follows Witherspoon’s Legally Blonde character, Elle Woods, during her high school years, with newcomer Lexi Minetree as the star. It received an early Season 2 renewal in January.

In an interview with Today in December 2025, Van Der Beek explained why he chose to work on Elle despite his health struggles.

“The greatest thing about work is cancer doesn’t exist between action and cut,” he said. “It was fun to drop in and just have a blast because it’s such a great cast, a great production, and everybody out there is really talented.”

Elle is not the only project that Van Der Beek worked on in the wake of his cancer diagnosis. He also appeared in Prime Video’s Overcompensating, reality series The Masked Singer and Tubi’s Sidelined: The QB and Me, as well as the sequel Sidelined: Intercepted.